Hagaon
Rav Moshe
Sofer zt”l on Parshat Shoftim
(from
Chatam
Sofer on Devarim, p. 71, "Tzedek")
Appointing
Your Own Judges
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"You
should surely pursue justice ("tzedek tzedek tirdof")
in order that you should live and inherit the land
that Hashem your G-d gives you."
Rashi comments, quoting the Gemara in Sanhedrin
(32), "The act of appointing proper judges is itself
worthy of sustaining Israel and settling them on
their land." Why is this mitzva (commandment) of
appointing judges treated with such weight? Why
does this particular element of setting up the judicial
system have such far-reaching implications?
If we think about this vividly, says the Chatam
Sofer, we will appreciate how powerful the appointment
of judges is. Imagine a community convening for
the task. All those gathered in the convention hall
know the import of their choices. The judges they
elect will enact laws limiting the community’s behavior.
Furthermore, when one person wrongs another judges
will enforce the penalties and punishments that
the Torah dictates for the situation. It is even
possible, those citizens realize, that they might
also one day sin and be found guilty by the court,
receiving a monetary punishment, lashes, or even
the death penalty – decided by judges they appointed
themselves. They appoint judges that might one day
punish them.
That act of appointing proper judges, whose authority
they unconditionally accept upon themselves, is
a tremendous statement of a community accepting
the yoke of Torah. Such an act is enough to merit
the Jewish people living on and inheriting the land
of Israel.
[prepared
by Eliezer Kwass]
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