By Rabbi Dario Feiguin
B´nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica
Parashat Shoftim confronts us with one of the pillars of our Jewish tradition: the value of Justice.
When we march as Jews in protest for the 30,000 missing persons during the military dictatorship in Argentina, we do not doubt to choose a well-known verse of our Parashah: Tzedek, tzedek tirdof – “Justice, Justice you will pursue.”
The rabbis interpret this repetition of the word Justice saying: you must pursue Justice, through righteous means.
A profound reading of the Parashah places us in an awkward position. Because the Torah is very harsh and very strict; because the Torah does not bear injustice; and because, in addition, punishments are terrible, including stoning and collective lapidation for delinquents.
Many years, and much History – including exile – had to go by, for the Talmudic rabbis to tone down their position and restrict the death penalty, though they preserved four types of capital punishments.
As of today, the death penalty no longer exists in the Halakha, in our Jewish Law. And the controversial sentence of the genocidal Eichman, executed through hanging several decades ago, continues to be a cause for ethical and philosophical debate in the Rabbinical World.
Apart from all of these, the harshness of the Torah regarding its Justice pronouncements is extremely interesting.
So much so that Christianity accused us throughout centuries of being a Nation that bases it way of Life on Justice, with no space or room for compassion, mercy, and love.
This accusation is clearly reflected in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”, where Shylock, the Jew, appears blindly latched to a ruthless Justice.
Today, in this world of “absolute relativism” and “anything goes”, we read the parashah, or at least I read it, from another perspective: Not everything should be allowed, not everything is relative, not everything is a “cambalache”, as the tango goes.
The harshness of the parashah clearly points to a misguided path that we take as society, because it tells us that there are things that should not be tolerated, neither from the ethical nor from the religious point of view.
It is written in our Parashah: Lo takir panim, which is literally translated as “You will not recognize faces” and which means that we all, without exception, are equal before the Law. In the Mishnah, from the water butt to King Agrippa, everyone has the same rights and duties.
But that is just a theory. In practice, that is not so. The color of the skin, social status, influence of one’s position, and many other stigmata and preconceptions, lead us to assume that the law can be different depending on the subject.
This revolutionary idea of the Torah is based on the principle that we are all equal before the law, for we are equal before God. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, black, white, yellow, red, Liberal, Conservative, we are all equal in our differences and thanks to them.
No possibility exists for a “supremacy” due to skin color, as the Nazis proclaimed in Charlottesville, Virginia, or through creed or cultural differences.
We are all equal, because even if our thoughts are different, our beliefs are different, and our traditions are different, we are all equal in God’s eyes.
This is also valid in the social sphere: No one is more valuable than any other just because he/she is famous, has more money, or is prettier. And the Torah is relentless and strict regarding this issue.
The Torah decrees that cities of refuge should be established in the land of Israel, so that those who have committed unintentional crimes can find shelter there.
Thus, the Torah attempts to cut off the “vendetta” and the “eye for an eye” idea.
Obviously, this legislation also evolved. There are currently no Arei Miklat; these cities of refuge.
But according to the Torah, if out of hate someone places an ambush to kill a neighbor, and does it, no city of refuge will protect him. That person will be delivered to the blood avenger, so Justice is done (Deut. 19:11).
There is no city of refuge for the murderers of Barcelona, nor for the terrorists of any bloc or ideology. According to the Torah, they are all assassins.
These laws changed and are not practiced today, but the concept did not. This Parashah includes, for the first time in history, a distinction between an accidental murder and a premeditated one. And regarding premeditation, or violence just because, the Torah is again unyielding.
Nobody can force others to fulfill the Mitzvah of loving your neighbor. But all of us must enforce the Law of not doing that which should not be done, and causing hurt to others. If we don’t do this, we become accomplices.
For Hillel, the old and wise Rabbi of the Mishnah, this is the foundation itself of Judaism.
There is a limit for tolerance and relativism, and that limit, which in my opinion we already crossed, is a Lav of the Torah; it is one of the fundamental Mitzvoth of our tradition. I am hopeful that the World will wake up and react in a more forceful way, facing the failure of tepid relativism before the bloodcurdling terror and inhuman shedding of blood.
This Shabbat, just at the beginning of the month of Elul, many of us begin to evaluate our Lives, prior to the day of judgment that is approaching in Rosh Hashanah.
As a society, we have a Justice-pending subject, which must become, once again, a pillar in our way of life.
Enough of ineffective coolness! The time has come to demand and fight for our right to live!
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Dario Feiguin
B’nei Israel, Costa Rica
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