Parshat Shoftim, Deuteronomy 16:18 -21:9

One of the most famous passages in the Torah is found in this week’s portion, Shofetim. It comes in the context of the instruction to the Israelites to appoint magistrates and judges to administer a fair system of laws and administrative organization upon the land of Israel. The tribes will soon cross over and re-settle the land and once they have established their towns and villages, the Israelites will need a system to govern themselves and carry out the rule of law.

“Justice, Justice shall you pursue’ (Deut 16:20) teaches our Torah portion this week. Of course this can be viewed as only advice to those judges and magistrates and administrators who will be charged with these duties. This is according to the great commentator Rashi quoting the Sifre. He says the reason the word justice is repeated is to indicate that the judges should judge the people with righteous judgment. This means that they must be fair and honorable and scrupulous in their judgments.

But the great scholar Abraham ibn Ezra understood this verse in a deeper sense. This double command to pursue justice means one should do so regardless of the cost-whether to your advantage or loss. Speaking truth to power, pursuing justice means that it comes sometimes at great personal cost. That is the difficult part of truth telling. It isn’t always popular and justice isn’t simply that the majority agrees. But in Jewish tradition the idea of justice goes much deeper. It is a divine attribute that we must bring into our world through our actions, words and deeds. The prophet Isaiah teaches us, “Justice is the helmet of salvation upon God’s head” (Is 59:17). When we engage in justice we bring about life in the Messianic time.

This is the activist’s call. This is the judge’s call. A judge cannot merely interpret the law word by word. But must analyze and apply it on the larger stage that is justice. This is about righting wrongs when we see it and speaking up when the weak are under attack and transforming lives. Each of these examples is part of the pursuit of justice in our world and the rabbis and sages of our tradition would add that it brings justice in the Heavenly Realm as well.
We individuals can help make a difference—when we live as the Torah teaches this week. Justice Justice, pursue it!