D’var Torah: Shof’tim
by Shoshana Goldberg
Sept, 7, 2024
In Honor of Rabbi Jodie Gordon
On her Installation as the Senior Rabbi at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire
Shabbat Shalom!
I am so delighted to be here with all of you for this extraordinary weekend.
In full disclosure, I have been so excited to have a chance to meet Rabbi Gordon’s friends and family…many of whom are also Rabbi colleagues. So when I first heard about the nature of Saturday morning I was really curious to which of her Rabbi Friends would be offering the D’var Torah. Never in my wildest dreams….
But I, too, never say no to my Rabbi, my Friend!
It All Started with a Rainbow
After the Flood, God made a promise to Noah:
‘I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth’ (Genesis 9:13). To be clear, this covenant comes with its requirements but the heart of it is God’s promise not to wipe out humanity, not to wipe out this world. (Remember-we’re told that the Flood was the result of ‘the Eternal regretted having made human beings on earth, and was heartsick. So the Eternal thought: “I will wipe out the humans whom I created from off the face of the earth - and then lists - the beasts, the reptiles, the birds of the sky - for I rue the day I made them. But Noah found favor in the Eternal’s sight’) - Deuteronomy 5: 6-8. And from Noah, humanity began anew.
Many generations and an epic deliverance later, the Israelites are moving towards the Promised Land. We are in the Book of Deuteronomy - whose literal meaning is second law - a second telling where many of the laws and most of the narratives are familiar but often with a twist or nuance not in the original.
Some have described the Book of Deuteronomy as Moses delivering his discourse or
God’s instructions, his final words, to the Israelites. I imagine his deliverance of these words to be along the weightedness and urgency of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have A Dream” and “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”. Words filled with longing and sadness, hope and promise, and the keen awareness that we live in both the Now and the Not Yet. Moses, the Reluctant Prophet, speaking to the People as God instructs him - recounts the lessons in the desert journey, b’midbar. And now, once again approaching the Promised Land - Moses is in full knowledge that he will not get there - reminding the people why they were delivered from slavery/ delivered from the narrow places - reminding them/us? how to be the People of the Covenant: You will be my people and I will be your God.
In the midst of all these words and instructions, God instructs Moses to speak to the people of a moment of Vision for a Path of Blessing - “See, this day I set before you blessing and curse.” (Deut. 11:26). This is kind of a guided “Imagine Your Happy Place” except with a major difference that it is not drawing on / remembering the past but rather envisioning a future in partnership with God and in peace and wholeness with one another. This is a moment that is both, and at once, individual as well as communal. How do we as a community, “see” have the vision - with our eyes and our Being - without each of us having a part of it in our heart, moving us, moving our lives forward together? For when we have a shared Vision, we can move our community forward - and change the world and ourselves in the process.
Like a long-distance mirror image, I hear echoes of this parashah “See, this day I set before you a blessing and curse” in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” - with the vision of Justice and Opportunity, a path of peace and liberation for our generation.
And after the Vision, the process of Choosing… not once but again and again and again… The parashah continues, as they often do, with a number of laws and instructions to help codify/shape this path of blessing; to point our choosing in the right direction.
This week’s Torah Portion brings even a sharper focus and clarity to our Choosing with the emphasis on the Pursuit of Justice.
Deuteronomy - whose literal meaning is second law - a second telling where many of the laws and most of the narratives are familiar but often with a twist or nuance not in the original. Parashah Shof’tim is no exception. It begins with Instructions that sound a lot like the advice Yitro, Moses’ father-in-law, gave to him way back at the start of this story. But here with a new emphasis on the Pursuit of Justice.
Deuteronomy 16:18-20
שֹׁפְטִ֣ים וְשֹֽׁטְרִ֗ים תִּֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ בְּכׇל־שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ לִשְׁבָטֶ֑יךָ וְשָׁפְט֥וּ אֶת־הָעָ֖ם מִשְׁפַּט־צֶֽדֶק׃ לֹא־תַטֶּ֣ה מִשְׁפָּ֔ט לֹ֥א תַכִּ֖יר פָּנִ֑ים וְלֹא־תִקַּ֣ח שֹׁ֔חַד כִּ֣י הַשֹּׁ֗חַד יְעַוֵּר֙ עֵינֵ֣י חֲכָמִ֔ים וִֽיסַלֵּ֖ף דִּבְרֵ֥י צַדִּיקִֽם׃ צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף לְמַ֤עַן תִּֽחְיֶה֙
וְיָרַשְׁתָּ֣ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָֽךְ׃ {ס}
You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that your God יהוה is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice. You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the just. Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that your God יהוה is giving you.
I was struck by something Cantor Elizabeth Sacks pointed out in her D’var Torah on Shof’tim about how the placement of this passage in Torah provides insight into its importance in our identity and its place in our community: As we approach Parashat Shof’tim, we find ourselves in the middle. Of the 10 Shabbat Torah portions in Deuteronomy, Shof’tim is number five. According to the quinate structure of Deuteronomy outlined in The Torah: A Modern Commentary, revised edition (p. 1,411), Parashat Shof’tim is included in the third section — the middle section. Of the 959 verses in the entire Book of Deuteronomy, the middle verse is in this Torah portion. We seem to have converged upon the center of our text; and indeed, for many, the subject matter of Parashat Shof’tim can and should be at the core of who we are as Jews.
That subject is justice. We read, “Justice, justice shall you pursue,” (Deut. 16:20). This is a clarion call to definition and purpose; a clarification of our uniqueness, and an articulation of our responsibility to make that uniqueness manifest in the world.
Rabbi Jacqueline Mates-Muchin reminds us that: We in the Reform Movement repeat this phrase over and over.
Tzedek, tzedek, tirdof - Justice, justice you shall pursue.
It is our battle cry whenever we go out into the world to do social justice work. It is part of the bedrock of our sense of purpose and responsibility as Jews.
This verse is given to us in the context of laws concerning the justice system. We are told that we must appoint magistrates to govern fairly, show no partiality, and refuse bribes. We are to pursue justice when we establish ourselves in a new land and in our new society. But we are also to realize that, due to the way the command is structured, justice is always something we will pursue, and not necessarily something that is possible to achieve. Our understanding of justice changes over time; it is not a fixed entity.
To pursue Justice is not for the faint of heart. It takes courage and tenacity, it takes vision and it takes a belief that redemption is possible. The Notorius RBG, Ruth Bader Ginsburg of blessed memory, is front and center in showing us a life dedicated to pursuing justice and bringing about a better society. We are not all magistrates - so where do we pursue Justice? If the myriad of laws and instructions have taught me anything - it is that the Pursuit of Justice takes us anywhere and everywhere. The pursuit of justice is a life-long calling; an active on-going imperative.
The pursuit of justice is woven into the fabric of our lives. With our family and friends, in business, the courtroom and state assemblies, union halls, community task forces, Construct, Peoples’ Pantry and Berkshire Bounty - in our synagogues and places of worship … and the Pursuit of Justice can take us to non-violent Protests and Demonstrations in the streets and solemn assemblies.
There is no static plateau of attainment in this pursuit. Nor is it a solo enterprise. My guess is that RBG would be the first to acknowledge the importance, if not necessity, of doing the work of justice together.
So what does all this have to do with the Rainbow?
From the Prophet Micah 6:8
חהִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָה־יְהֹוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י
אִם־עֲשׂ֚וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת
עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ:
8 It has been told to you, O man, what is good, and what the (Eternal) Lord demands of you; but to do justice, to love loving-kindness, and to walk discreetly with your God.
But we are not there. The world is a complicated and sometimes frightening place with violence, injustice - and heartbreak. Sometimes it can be hard to sing or pray or even hope - for we, too, are heartsick. And it is the rainbow - the one in the clouds and the one that is in our eyes and hearts and hugs - that helps me/us keep going. Small acts of kindness that say “I see you” and “I care for you”. And as we help each other find our way back to song and prayer, hope and the pursuit of justice - we might be able to look into the future and see a Path of Blessing…Just Beyond Us
And we might appoint a Rabbi with joy and hope, compassion and justice in her heart - who looks and sees a land - where there is justice and well-being for us all - just there - Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Shabbat Shalom!
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