Deuteronomy Cycle Four Shoftim

Shoftim

In Shoftim we are given rules for magistrates, for Kings, for Levites, for prophets, for witnesses and for war. What we’re looking at (therefore) are boundaries. Given a sacred ancestry however that revolves around love… just look at the wisdom of the Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Nachman (for example)…how can boundaries (we wonder) be so important? Isn’t love (we ask) the ability to break through boundaries, to move beyond them? Aren’t we all the same?

Let’s see what the rabbis of Talmud say. In Mishnah Peah 8:9 they quote from Jeremiah 17:7. Blessed is the man who trusts in God and whose hope is God. This quote (Mishnah says) applies to a judge who judges fairly with integrity and without partiality. This man (Mishnah says) is blessed. In other words, boundaries can exist as long as one group or set of people isn’t seen as better, richer, fancier, or more important than another.

The Sifre to Deuteronomy takes this even further. It interprets Deuteronomy 16:20….that you may thrive and occupy the land that God is giving you….as showing the importance of the appointment of judges because it could lead to the resurrection of Israel, their settlement in the land, and protection from enemies. What does this line on Israel have to do with judges, we wonder? Well, the close proximity of one subject to the next (in Deuteronomy) seems to have interested the sages. Finally though and most important what we see is that not only is it wise to avoid partiality but to appoint judges who avoid partiality so they can bring us to the land of Israel…the Promised Land..both figuratively (to the world to come) and literally (to a place of safety here and now in 2011). And this safety we certainly need.

Repeat. The acceptance of boundaries and impartiality among our various peoples, our tribes, the vibrations within the vibrations, the rich, the poor, the clique here, the clique there, the religious, the not-so-religious, the women, the men, the children, the adults, the orthodox, the reform, the Arabs, the Christians…this is the road to enlightenment. Destroying boundaries can only destroy us.

Why boundaries? Because they make us whole. Because when we know our rules and our pillars (that are already there) and we make for ourselves a structure that protects these boundaries (as we see in Shoftim)…we know who we are. And as Alan Watts says over and over again this knowledge, this understanding of self as a singular being and/or as a sect within a religion and/or as a religion and/or as a nation or as sub-cultures within one nation…this knowledge leads to wholeness. And wholeness within one vibration leads to the ability to merge with others.

When we are not whole though, we can’t merge. When we don’t have boundaries therefore, we can’t merge. Hence the importance of Shoftim. Hence the beauty of the advice of the Talmudic sages who speak so strongly against partiality. How can we merge if God (or some ultimate God-judge within ourselves) is partial one way or another?

Finally…how do we apply this to ourselves? First, focus on our bone structure, on our bodies. Feel the breathe, do yoga, see self-wholeness. See other people and see (quite clearly) that you are not them. Accept this reality (with both joy and sadness) and accept that others accept it as well. Merge with people one to one. Next, see the importance of the structure of your particular congregation, your denomination…reform, renewal or non-denominational. See and know the boundaries. Don’t confuse boundaries with barriers. Move on to the whole of the Jewish people. See the religion clearly. See how we are different from other religions. Move on to all humanity. See the boundaries of humanity. See how we are all the same but also see how we all have aspects that are not inherent in other life-forms. See what we are not in order to see how we are the same. Visualize a world without partiality. Know that your personal wholeness enables you to create macro-wholeness, a world of wholeness and love. Know what you can do, literally…in this world…and in prayer. Know who you are. Be the judge who leads us to the resurrection (of our heightened Israel) and absolute protection of the land of Israel here and now. Pray and act. Be patient and act now. Take part in tikkun olam by enabling yourself and your community. We are not broken. We are whole.

See this as God-action as Torah-action as love.