Deuteronomy Cycle Two 16:18-21:9 Shoftim

Shoftim


At first Shoftim feels coarse. All right, you think (like in VaYikra) why do we have to study words clearly meant for the big priests and judges?

Then you see they are meant for all of us. We are all somewhere on that continuum of judge and priest, of mercy and holiness, between benoni (the in-between) and tzaddick. And God wants us to witness ourselves moving to the holiest level.

How do we do this? Well, in Shoftim, we first look at the boundary and at the reflection of the center in it. It isn’t all one or the other. For example, your eye (19:13) is pronounced the same as your eyes (18:19). They sound the same. The boundary and the radiant core also sound the same. By observing the boundary-shield, therefore, we get to observe the very source of our beings, the place-name of God’s choosing, that breath of the tzaddick, and Adonai Yireh… the site of the Akeda… in a sacred mirror.

What we find is this: God is blinding, sometimes dangerous, comforting, satiating and shocking, beyond sweet, a heart vision of one moment that pierces through what we dare touch and taste, so pure we can’t say much. Cry, maybe. Laugh. Smile. In Torah we can read about God, read about writing God, and even write about having read. And while in VaEthChanan, Ekev and Re’eh we have spiraled in to this holy place of God’s choosing…to spiral in more would not give the same depth or intimacy as would a reflection. That’s because there isn’t an exact place. It’s an infinite action. And a verb cannot be clinched or caught in our midst. But it can be reflected.

That’s why tough Shoftim is here, to re-awaken us to the mystical, delicate and intense center of consciousness. This message is for each of us. For we’re the ones who wear the outer shield of light and use it to filter what we feed the world, body to soul. It’s for us as a group within groups. It’s for us as one being.

The traditional translation of the beginning of Shoftim is different than my own. Sh’ftaim v’sutriem titen l’cha. You will appoint for yourselves judges and officials. However, the word v’sutriem can also be read as (the present command) secure. And the word titen can infer the idea of under. Now we have a new meaning: Secure (plural) judges beneath you (singular).

I prefer to look at Shoftim with this translation. So first, what do we have? The present tense command. Even in Re’eh the command relates to the future. In Ekev and VaEschanon verbs are always future or past. A present tense command is an order now…the microscopic present of God hayom.

Now let’s look at the meaning of the words themselves. The securing of judges infers a protective layer. So, we have God now and a defined boundary. What’s being evoked here is not a dichotomy; it’s the connection created from the reflection. The idea of securing judges beneath you is a hint that this protection is as sacred as the core. It is the earth beneath our feet, what keeps us stable.

Next, why the repetition of the word tzaddick three times; tzaddickim tzaddick tzaddick (lines 19-20)? Tzaddick infers a purity so real that it reflects the place of God in human form. This purity is almost always lost in translation (righteousness). However, the idea that bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous can also mean that the bringing-in of darkness in exchange for light only twists the light flow itself.

More on the tzaddick: In Exodus 23:8 (in the same line) tzaddickim is spelled with two yuds while in Shoftim 16:19 with one. This seems reasonable. After all, a judge who decides a case with utmost honesty is regarded as God’s partner in the work of creation (Shabbos 10a). And a judge (Shoftim) who takes a bribe twists his own words while the man (Mishpatim) who takes a bribe twists the words (and creates a victim) of the judge. Therefore, it makes sense that the tzaddick in Shoftim is incomplete while in Exodus he is complete. Two yuds for the complete tzaddick. One yud for the incomplete. The question is if the incomplete is still God’s partner.

This also brings up a new circumstance. If this boundary doesn’t work, in other words, if a decision can’t be made from blood to blood (for example) the judges are to rise and go up (v’kamta v’aliyta) to the place that God shall choose…to the priests. It’s simple. If this boundary still can’t give a proper reflection (for whatever reason) the boundaries can always extend.

Soon, we move from the priests to the prophets. Then, we witness a squeezing out of darkness. The light energy moves to clean out the sphere. The message isn’t in the rules. These rules, in their inability to be cohesive (when it comes to the punishment for murder, for example) are about more then what they literally mean. And this more, this pushing out, this process is manifested in the word. In lines 18:17 to 18:20, for example, a piece that focuses on the work of the prophet, the word dabar is repeated nine times. The process is seen and heard.

Finally, Shoftim provides a practical way to apply the laws of God, to filter light from darkness and to protect the breath of the tzaddick in all of us.

So, like Shoftim, may we be the shield that we reflect and the center of God and consciousness. May we see the boundary as both a filter and a mirror. May we breathe the breath of the tzaddick, be a piece of the prophet, the judge, creators of peace and love. May we raise the momentum in this direction. Make it personal. May we move light and well being and charity on so many levels with community and the world. May we see beyond the coarseness of the boundary. May we carry God on our bodies to share with beauty and with words that serve.