The Dual Purpose of Justice
D’var Torah for Parshat Shoftim
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman
August 31, 2022
Justice is the foundation stone upon which society stands. When justice is perverted or politicized, the entire structure flounders. That is the warning Moses gives the Israelites in this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim (“Judges,” Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9).
This portion shows the remarkable evolution and development that the judicial system in ancient Israel had undergone in the first two centuries of its existence. “Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deut. 16:20) is the famous call that serves as a theme for everything that follows. Justice is elusive, and therefore must be pursued diligently. An appellate court system must be part of this configuration, leading all the way to the High Priest whose duty it is to make the final decision. Bribery, warns the Torah, “Blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous” (Deut. 16:19, NKJ).
Truths we normally would consider self-evident can easily become distorted and misrepresented. The power of evil to corrupt everything and everyone is the greatest danger facing individuals and society as a whole.
In this portion we learn why Moses is instructed by God to establish refuge cities. Primitive justice was—and among many societies still is—based on revenge. Blood vengeance invariably leads to the shedding of innocent blood, which the Torah deems an unforgivable sin. Refuge cities are meant to put an end to this primitive system. A person suspected of murder may find safety in a refuge city until such time as their guilt or innocence may be proven in court—by which time hot tempers may cool down sufficiently to allow reason and justice to be restored.
The Law must not only be fair; indeed, in a just society everyone must be held equally accountable. No one may consider themselves above the law—not even the king. In this, the Torah is nothing short of revolutionary. In other ancient cultures, the king was the law—he was the source and arbiter, jury and judge. In Judaism, only God has that privilege. The Torah’s vision of social justice applies to one and all, without exception. To ensure this, Moses instructs that there must always be two copies of the Torah—Israel’s earliest legal code; one is to be placed in the palace treasury; the other must always be at the king’s side. The Torah may be interpreted, but the ideas and ideals of justice that it contains are considered sacred.
Shoftim also begins discussion on yet another crucially important topic—conduct during warfare. The power of war is not only in the horrors and destruction that it causes. Wars give free rein to humanity’s worst impulses, degrading us from our potential as partners with God in holiness. In time, the basic rules of warfare found in Shoftim will be developed further; however, at this early point in history, a few basic rules are set: A besieged city must be given a chance to negotiate for peace; and trees of the field (especially fruit-bearing trees) must not be cut down. “Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?” (Deut. 20:19, NIV).
These laws have two purposes: the first of course is to limit the evil and violence that people are capable of. Beyond that, however, there is also the recognition that giving in to our basest impulses—hatred and bloodlust—reduces human beings to the lowest level of all nature.
Justice may be the underpinning of a prosperous and peaceful society; but in Moses’s grand vision it becomes even more than that: it is the footing upon which our much-vaunted humanity endures.
Maybe that’s why the word “justice” is repeated in the famous verse quoted above (Deut. 16:20). There’s societal justice, an institution which keeps civilization from toppling; but there is also individual justice, an ideal that holds human beings up to the highest expectations. Both must be diligently pursued.
© 2022 by Boaz D. Heilman
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