Shoftim

We are beginning to study the weekly portion Shoftim, and we will read from verse 18 of chapter 16 of the book of Devarim.

In today’s language the word shoter means police officer, literally – patrolman or guard, a person who patrols a place and carries out the enforcement of the law on the ground.

We know that the word sha'ar (I talk about this very often) – is the gate of a city, it is the place where judgment takes place, where all kinds of decisions are made. We see this well in megillat Rut, many stories there take place in the gates. But in general, in the gates of a city, first of all, taxes are collected from those who enter, deals are made there, the elders of the city sit there. That is why it is also said about the successful wife (Mishlei 31:23, 31) that her husband is known in the gates, and her deeds will praise her in the gates (of the city). That is, in all the gates, everywhere, in every city of Israel, there must be a judicial system and a police system – those who establish the law, make decisions, and those who are responsible for enforcing the law.

 So, there is a commandment to set judges and police officers in every city, so that there is lawfulness and justice in the city. This phrase also has an allegorical interpretation, quite an interesting one. The body also has gates: the eyes, the ears, the mouth, the nose. At each of the gates (one can also picture this) a judge needs to be set to keep watch: do we want to look there, do we need to look there, do we need to say this, do we need to listen to this. It is good and useful to establish rules for what comes in and goes out through our gates. Developing this thought, the commentators say that it would be good to have people, some authorities, whom one could look up to and from whom one could learn the art of purity of speech and the art of guarding the eyes. It is good if these are people whom we trust. And, on the other hand, it is not good at all to let every person violate some boundaries of ours: not every person should make remarks to us, not every person has the right to influence us in some way. We must govern ourselves, decide for ourselves who is a judge and a police officer for us, and who is not. This is also an important element. That is, not every person is our judge, not every person is our police officer. This is a midrash, which, of course, is only an allegory on the simple meaning of the Torah in this case.

Let us figure out what the Torah commands here. When we sit in court (judge), we make a decision concerning a person: who is right, who is guilty, what punishment to choose for the person.

What does it mean to turn aside judgment? Imagine a judge whose car was stolen in the morning, and he was dealing with the police. He comes to court, and there they bring him a car thief. It is quite possible that no extenuating circumstances, no mitigating circumstances – nothing will be taken into account. Angry at all the car thieves in the world, the judge may distort the judgment, not hear the accused out, perhaps turn a blind eye to some procedural violations and so on. This is what turning aside judgment means.

And what does it mean to show partiality? Today, if a relative of the judge comes to court, or some business partner of his, a person with whom they crossed paths before, the judge, of course, must recuse himself. That is how it is under the laws of Israel, that is how it is customary today in all countries with a developed judicial system. One way or another, there are lawyers who work with a judge constantly. This may be a lawyer of an insurance or construction company who comes to the judge in court. And in this case a relationship develops between the judge and the lawyer that is, if not friendly, then at any rate amicable. On the one hand, this amicable relationship may not prevent the judge from carrying out a just judgment. On the other hand, a person who has ended up in court, and against whom a lawyer is acting with whom the judge speaks in a friendly way, this person may become confused, get muddled in his thoughts, get muddled in his testimony and conclude that the court is unjust. And it may also happen that the court really becomes unjust because some amicable relations or personal sympathies exist between the judge and one of the participants in this case.

Can one call a judge who took a bribe a righteous man? Most likely not. And it is clear why a bribe blinds: indeed, a judge who has received a bribe may turn a blind eye to some details or look at the whole court case with bias.

What is meant when a judge distorts the words of a righteous man? The Talmud tells a story about a man, a judge in Israel, whose name was Rabbi Anan. One morning a basket of fish was brought to him as a gift. He asked: “What is this basket?” And the man said to him: “Today I have a case before you, and so I have brought you a basket of fish as a gift.” Rabbi Anan said: “If I take this basket, I will not be able to judge you, because it is a bribe. I recuse myself, I will not judge you.” The man said to him: “Well, since you will not judge me, then at least take the fish, now you are not my judge, now you may.” And Rabbi Anan took this fish and went to his friend and colleague, also a judge, Rabbi Nachman, and said to him: “Rabbi Nachman, here is a man whom I cannot judge, but you can judge him. Please, hear his case.” Rabbi Nachman said: “Good, I will hear the case.” He did not know why Rabbi Anan had refused to judge this man, and thought: “So this is some friend, some acquaintance of Rabbi Anan.” He interrupted, postponed the court case he was in the middle of, a very important court case concerning orphans, and took up the case of the man who had brought the fish to Rabbi Anan. The fish giver’s opponent in court saw that suddenly such honor was being shown to him, an important court case was being interrupted, they were being called in out of turn. And he understood that this was not happening thanks to him, that much was certain, because he was not connected with anyone, had not brought fish to anyone and knew nothing about any bribe. He understood that the court was unjust and was somehow showing partiality to his opponent, and therefore he got muddled in his words and could not express his words properly. When a person sees that the court favors not him but the opposing side, it may happen that he begins to mumble, to get confused and, being righteous, being in the right, will not be able to prove that he is right. Here is one of the understandings of the meaning of the Torah here.

Seek justice in court first of all. This concerns not only judges, who must seek not how to please someone or how to satisfy some ideals of their own, some ideological bias of their own. This also concerns the people who come to court. I may look for a court where they will be merciful to me, where they will understand me better, but the Most High commands: “Seek justice, so that you may inherit the land that the LORD, your God, is giving you.” A just court is one of the means that allows us to achieve a secure life in the land, prolongs our life in the land of Israel, prolongs the presence of the people in the land of Israel, and that means it strengthens Divine protection.

From verse 21 a somewhat different question is raised.

Ashera is a goddess of the pantheon of the local peoples, the wife of the god Ba'al, and traditionally she is depicted in the form of a tree. Here the Torah forbids planting trees of Ashera, worshipping Ashera in any way. This did not help much. We read in chapter 6 of the book of Shoftim about how Gidon destroyed the altar of Ba'al, and the people were outraged. How could that be? Let us read, from verse 27: “And Gidon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him; but since he was afraid to do it by day because of his father’s household and the inhabitants of the city, he did it by night. And the inhabitants of the city rose early in the morning, and behold – the altar of Ba'al was destroyed, and the idol tree (that very tree of Ashera) beside it was cut down… And they said to one another: Who did this? And they asked around and investigated, and they said: Gidon, the son of Yo'ash, did this. And the inhabitants of the city said to Yo'ash: Bring out your son, so that he may die because he destroyed the altar of Ba'al and because he cut down the idol tree that was beside it. And Yo'ash said to all who stood by him: Is it for you to stand up for Ba'al, is it for you to defend him? Whoever stands up for him will be put to death (even) before morning. If he is a god, let him stand up for himself, because he destroyed his altar. And on that day he called him Yeruba'al, because he said: Let Ba'al contend with them, because he destroyed his altar.”

We see that despite the prohibition, altars to Ba'al and Ashera were built and planted. In the first book of Melachim (16:33) we read: “And Achav made an ashera…”, that is, Achav once again planted an idol tree. Even though the prohibition existed, trees were, unfortunately, planted everywhere. This concerns very many prohibitions. Often in conversations people ask this question: “How could this be, if it is forbidden by the Torah?” The people of Israel, unfortunately, constantly did what is forbidden by the Torah. As I usually say: if in Moscow it is forbidden to drive through a red light, that does not mean that no one in Moscow drives through a red light.

Since the worshippers of the cult of Ba'al planted a tree beside the altar, for the people of Israel there is a complete prohibition on such trees.

We know, we saw this in the era of the Patriarchs, we read a lot about it in the book of Bereshit, how Yaakov, for example, set up a matzeva, and Yitzchak set up a matzeva, and in general that was the custom. But because the nations began to use them and this became connected with the worship of idols, a prohibition appeared among the people of Israel. The LORD came to hate these matzevot, and therefore a prohibition on setting them up appeared.

Here chapter 16 ends, and we will continue reading from verse 1 of chapter 17.

That is, do not choose something poor in order to offer it as a sacrifice to the LORD. If something is offered as a sacrifice to the LORD, some animal, then it must be without blemish, otherwise this is an abomination in the eyes of the LORD.

From verse 2 of chapter 17 another topic begins.

This is a very important rule, which also concerns the court we are talking about today in general: to investigate, to check what you are told, to check people’s intentions, whether things really are so.

So, if someone in your city, in our city, serves other gods or the host of heaven, and we have examined this, checked this and found out that it is exactly so, then we take them out of the city, whether it is a man or a woman, and stone them – this is a commandment. There must be no idolater in Israel, but the question of idolatry, of an accusation, is a serious matter and requires a serious investigation. And in general, we learn this, that every matter requires a serious investigation. The Torah speaks about this, and the New Testament speaks about this too.

That is, in order to accuse a person, two or three witnesses are needed. What for? In order to check, in order to be able to compare the testimonies, in order to have two or three different views of the events. Even if this one witness is telling the truth, he cannot be trusted, because one person cannot fully convey the truth.

This is one of the possible understandings of what is written in the Gospel of Yochanan (3:7), in the story of the woman taken in adultery (let us not talk now about whether it is an insertion or not, what kind of story it is, how it is written). Yeshua says: “Whoever of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Whoever of you is a faithful witness, a witness who does not lie, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Perhaps what is meant is precisely a reference to our verse 7, to the fact that it is precisely the first witnesses who must throw the stones at her, thereby taking upon themselves responsibility for the truthfulness of their testimony.

From verse 8 another topic begins again.

If you do not understand something: whether it is right to act this way or to act differently, or you cannot make out which plague is clean and which is unclean, or you have a dispute with your neighbor and it cannot be resolved, then you will come to the place that the LORD will choose. This is not yet known to the reader of the book of Devarim, but we know that the LORD will choose Jerusalem as such a place.

Since we have, as we said at the very beginning, a just court, we have kohanim who are appointed to teach Torah, we have a source, our universities (that is how it was intended), it will be possible to ask a question regarding anything at all. And there is something obligatory: these kohanim, these Levites, these judges have the duty to hear your question and give you answers, they must take care of you. In this way you will be able to go and ask about a judicial decision, receive legal counsel on questions of Torah.

Why is this written? Often we go with a question and expect to get the answer that we want to get. In Jewish circles there is a joke about Rav Noach, Rav Convenient (the word noach means convenient), who gives exactly the answers that we want to get. Or they tell of a machine into which you put the question and the answer you want to get, and it tells you which rabbi, which teacher you need to turn to in order to get the answer you need. So it is both in today’s Jewish circles and in Christian circles: if you want to get some specific opinion, some specific answer, it is often known which of the teachers, of the mentors, of the pastors, of the rabbis to turn to. But here it says that you go precisely for a just answer and must do what they tell you. And they will tell you not the way you would like, but according to the Torah.

Naturally, there are commentators who say: “Even if they tell you about right that it is left, and about left that it is right.” Is this correct? In fact, it is correct in the sense that we ourselves often do not understand where right is, where left is, and only think that here – is right, and here – is left. And when we turn to a just judge, he can really surprise us.

That is, there is a very strict attitude toward those legal answers, toward those rulings that the kohanim and the judges will say. And if such responsibility lies on the people, then what responsibility lies on the judges and on the kohanim? And we will see later that the prophets have very many accusations, rebukes directed precisely at the judges and the kohanim for distorting judgment.

There are commentators who say that this is a kind of prophecy that, when the people come into the land, they will want a system of government like other nations have: not only judges and kohanim, but also a king, and the LORD permits this. Others say that this is a direct commandment to actually set a king. Although, when we read the story of the choosing of the first king (1 Melachim, chapter 8), and the LORD says: “It is Me they have spurned,” and the prophet objects to the choosing of a king, then one may wonder whether there really is a commandment here, this is a strong argument against considering it a commandment. But there are also some objections, and this is a long dispute, into which we probably should not plunge now. One way or another, the LORD permits the people to set a king and blesses the king himself (as we see, Mashiach is also the king of Israel).

If you have made up your mind to set one, then set the one whom God will choose. We will see in the future that this is just how it will happen.

What is this about? The point is not that the king is forbidden to have stables or cavalry. It is about, in the opinion of most commentators, a motorcade. We know that today, too, many rulers love armored trains, luxurious motorcades with motorcyclists or beautiful expensive cars in front, because of which the roads of the city are closed. Anything at all, in the most varied forms and in the most varied degrees of haughtiness and luxury. It is often noted: the poorer the country, the more luxuriously its kings travel. The king of Israel is forbidden to travel with luxurious motorcades. Some commentators say: “Even if one extra horse goes along, that is already a lot.”

And the king is forbidden to return the people to Egypt for the sake of some honor. A king may conclude some alliances, enter into some political ties in order to increase his own honor. That is, the king must not conclude some treaties and alliances (in particular with Egypt, with other countries) and put himself under a foreign yoke in order to obtain wealth and some privileges for himself.

Women are a great temptation for kings, of course, because kings often take the prettier girls from among the people. But also when concluding some alliances and treaties there is a desire to take girls of royal blood as wives. And the king must not rob the people, seize girls, some slave women, and must not take silver and gold away from the people, collect taxes (a separate conversation, of course, in this connection is about King Shlomo, who seriously departed from these rules with regard to women).

Most commentators say that the king, when he ascends the throne, must write for himself a book of the Torah before the kohanim and the Levites.

Just as the rulers of nuclear powers have beside them a briefcase with a red button, the main weapon of the power, so the king of Israel must have a Torah scroll with him.

Again we see that following the commandments, following justice prolongs days on the land, in this case the days of the king. So, the king, if the people have decided to set one after all, must be chosen and blessed by the Most High. The king – is not a business, he does not have the right to multiply chariots, does not have the right to multiply gold and silver beyond measure, does not have the right to take wives for himself either, as is customary among pagan kings, among pagan rulers, who, as a sign of their luxury, took wives for themselves to satisfy their own lust and for some political alliances. But, on the contrary, the king of Israel must make a Torah scroll and devote all his free time to studying the Torah, constantly check every step he takes against the book of the Torah. And the more faithful the king is to the Torah, the longer and the more just his reign will be; precisely through this his reign will be strengthened, will be made firm and will be prolonged.

With God's help we continue to study the weekly portion Shoftim and will begin to read chapter 18 of the book of Devarim. After we have talked about a certain structure of the state and about the courts, chapter 18 begins with a talk about the kohanim:

The kohanim, in terms of their sustenance, in terms of their allotment, belong to the heavenly. They are a kind of antipodes of the Jewish people, that part of the Jewish people which touches the heavens. And the Torah tries as much as possible to keep them in the heavenly and cuts them off from an earthly allotment – by the fact, for example, that a kohen does not touch a dead body, and by the fact that a kohen cannot marry a woman who was married before. That is, he is somewhat isolated in the heavenly, in order to connect the people of Israel with heaven.

The kohen eats directly from the table of the LORD, belongs directly to what is the LORD's, his citizenship is there. Of course, we can say that the Most High feeds all of us, and any food on our table is given by the Most High. The difference of the kohen is that he eats the food of the Most High, food that people dedicated to the Most High. Such is his special position: he stands before the Most High on behalf of people and therefore is nourished by the food that people dedicated to the Most High.

Also all the first yields the kohen receives, this is the basis of his sustenance.

That is, it is not the people who send the kohanim to stand before the Most High; more precisely, the people also send them to stand, but the initiative was not from the people, it was the Most High who chose the kohanim and said: “Aharon and his sons will stand before Me and will represent Me before you.” Therefore what is dedicated to the Most High is given to the sons of Aharon.

Here they also draw attention to the word la'amod (to stand) and say: this means that one must serve the Most High standing (in the kohanic service, of course).

From verse 6 – an internal question of the existence of the kohanim, but it will be interesting for us too.

Specifically it says levi, and here there is a hint at the kohen. In Scripture there are, as has been counted, twenty-four cases where a kohen is called levi. In this case it is even halevi, and the whole context says that it is about a kohen. But one can extend this to the Levite too, for the Levites also have some portion, some participation in the service. Therefore – yes, one can say: everything that relates here to the kohen will relate to the Levite too.

In other words, a kohen living in Tzfat, or in Eilat, or in Tveria, at one fine moment, when it pleased his soul, wanted to and went to serve in the Temple. And what to do with him? One can say: “Look, they've all come flooding in here. Jerusalem is not made of rubber.” One can set some limits and restrictions, one can try not to let him near the service. What instructions does the Torah give on this matter?

That is, no one will be able to say to him: “You weren't standing here, and now you've come here.” No hazing, no infringement can be. Just as the sacrifices are divided among all the kohanim, so they also share with him: the work, and the wool, and the grains, and the wine – everything that the kohanim share among themselves.

The end of verse 8 is a little unclear and requires in-depth study. What does it mean, levad mimkarav al-ha'avot?

One of the understandings goes back to the first book of Divrei haYamim (24:1), where it says that from the sons of Elazar there were sixteen heads of Fathers' houses, and from the sons of Itamar – eight, and accordingly the shifts were divided between them. And the Torah says here: except that the divisions that were made earlier are taken into account. The Levite who comes is himself in no way oppressed, but if there were some divisions into shifts earlier, then they are taken into account, and so many commentators hold.

Other commentators say (and I am more inclined to agree with them) that this place must be understood like this: except for what he received from the Fathers. That is, one could say that a kohen comes and they say to him: “Look at you, how rich you are, there you have three apartments and a dacha on the Kursk-Kazan railway line, how about you don't take so much.” But the Torah says: “Regardless of the state of his bank account, regardless of what he has, whether he is an oligarch or a commoner, he receives a share with all the kohanim. This concludes the part that speaks about the kohanim.

Understandably, when we come somewhere to live, we can adopt the traditions of the people among whom we have ended up. This happens often and happens unnoticed. And the LORD warns here that one needs to be careful not to adopt the abominations of those nations that live in that land.

From verse 10 begins the explanation of which abominations are meant.

We have talked about the fact that there is such a ritual of worshipping Molech. Some say that it is a literal sacrifice. Others say that it is like jumping over a bonfire. But in any case the Torah forbids it. In modern Hebrew kosem – is a conjurer. Here, most likely, it is a wizard, enchanter, who makes some predictions. Me'onen – one who predicts by some phenomena created by man, for example by how coins fell, how arrows fell. And another understanding of the word me'onen comes from the word ona (period, season) – one who knows the suitable or convenient time for some actions: when it is convenient to buy a house, when it is convenient to sell a car, and so on. People really strove to do everything as successfully, as luckily as possible, and believed that in one or another period the pulling of a tooth or the shearing of sheep would be successful. And at another time it would be not very good: on the waxing moon, on the waning moon, in retrograde Mercury, taking into account various other amazing factors which, in people's opinion, influenced the choice of the right time. Menachesh – is a diviner, one who guesses. And he, as some say, looks at some existing static data: the stars in the sky, the lines on the palm. Mechashef – is a magician, sorcerer, a person who practices magic.

Here I want to make a reservation. All these decipherings – there are many of them, they are different, and they may not coincide. On what basis is this done? On the basis that we try to examine the root of the word, to see how it is used among other nations or how it is used in other places of Scripture. Therefore we often only guess at what each of these specific magical professions means. Chover chaver – is one who composes some protective spells and incantations which his client must repeat. Sho'el ov – one who turns to dead men, one who summons dead men. The word yid'oni comes from the word yada, (to know, to have dealings with); most probably it is some kind of psychic, as it is customary to say today, who claims a connection with otherworldly beings (whether demons, angels or some beings of various other nations), which in turn also claim some knowledge. Doresh el-hametim (one turning to the dead) – is a medium, one who lets the dead enter into himself. All this, as we see, is called an abomination of the nations among whom Israel will find itself.

Verse 13 – is a very important verse:

That is, on the one hand, be simple and naive, on the other hand – be tamím, perfect and blameless. A person wants to know his future (as in the song: people are made that way, they want to know what will be), a person seeks answers to questions about his future. Our verse says: “Be blameless, be simple, do not strive to know the future, because if the LORD is always with you, if you are with the LORD, then do not worry. He will solve the problems, He will help you and support you, in any situation, whatever it may be, and that means any situation will be within your strength.” From this, conclusions are drawn by every person – according to the measure of his holiness, according to the measure of his spiritual level. Some believing Jews, let us say, ask not to be told the sex of the child (when the wife is pregnant and an ultrasound check is done). We rely on this: whomever the Most High gives us, that one it will be. Strictly speaking, when the child is inside the mommy, its sex is clear, it can no longer be changed. But people say: “We do not want to know.” This is how the commandment be simple before the Most High is fulfilled for many people. In just the same way, since we are talking about children, there are adoptive parents who say: “Well, whichever child you bring out to me, that one I will adopt. If I were giving birth myself, if God gave me a child, He would give me the one He wants, and not the one I want.” People do not wait for some specific predictions, advice, they simply live their lives, do their work and try to be ready for various situations; I have given such vivid examples here.

In verse 15 we read what other way is meant.

Who says here a prophet like me? Moshe says it. And where is Moshe called a prophet? In chapter 34 of our book, in verse 10: “And no more did a prophet arise in Israel like Moshe, whom the LORD knew face to face.” On the one hand, it is written will raise up, will give, on the other – it is said and no more did a prophet arise. This verse has many different interpretations. For example, the apostles related it to Yeshua Mashiach. And, of course, we accept that in Him the fullness of the Godhead is revealed and that He is the summit of all prophecy and of all Divine revelation.

As always, the verses of the Torah are many-layered. When the Torah speaks about a king, it speaks about many kings; in just the same way here, too, the Torah speaks about many prophets. But just as with kings – there are kings, and there is the King Mashiach, in just the same way with prophets – there are prophets, and there is that one unique prophet about whom the Torah speaks here, therefore one interpretation does not contradict the others.

Let us make a reservation here that the Muslim comrades also cling to this verse and say that it is precisely Yeshua who was not like Moshe, because he was not born the same way and did not live the same way, but Muhammad fits this position. This is nonsense. Nonsense because the word kamóni (like me) does not mean born the same way, having lived the same way, or who looks the same way and dresses the same way. Kamóni can mean in the same way, as I am – a servant of the Most High, as I am faithful to Him in all the house, so that prophet will be too. Turn to the one who is faithful to the Most High, who represents the Most High in himself.

And then we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews (1:1–2) that God, who spoke through the prophets, in the last time spoke in the son, and we see that the son is the quintessence of all the prophets. Yes, God spoke through the prophets; here there is a commandment that we not turn to all kinds of fortune-tellers who rely on who knows what, but turn to those who are connected with the Most High, that is, to His prophets. And there is a promise about a specific prophet in whom the fullness of the Godhead will be revealed.

You asked that there not be for you a constant open revelation of the Most High to the whole people, so that you would not die. This is not only fear, it is also a kind of humility, it is also a manifestation of modesty.

The Most High has an answer even to such a desire to develop the relationship.

Israel does not need wizards, fortune-tellers, predictors or anyone of the kind. But, on the other hand, Israel refused the direct revelation of the Most High, therefore the Most High says: “I will act through a prophet.”

The word yazíd means will act insolently, boldly.

Well, whenever I read up to this place, each time I myself say in my heart: “How shall we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?” And today, many, many centuries after these words were given, after these instructions were given, we see very many false prophets, very many people who themselves believe that they have received a word from the LORD, and speak, and preach in the name of the LORD. How then are we to know, to recognize the word that the LORD has not spoken?

 This means that one must fear true prophets, one must listen to them, try to grasp and bring oneself into line with their words. But if this is a prophet who speaks what is false, then such a prophet must be punished; there must be no false prophets in the midst of Israel.

Here it is important to repeat for those people who prophesy or say something as a prophecy: be very careful, because today, of course, we do not stone false prophets, but the punishment for this is great. Be careful, please, with prophecies, with uttering prophecies. The harm that can be done by people following a false prophecy – that is very great harm.

With God's help, you and I continue to study the weekly portion Shoftim, and we will read chapter 19 of the book of Devarim. After the Torah has given instructions regarding judges and police, the king, the kohanim and the whole system of governing the country, the Torah speaks a little in our portion about what priorities there are in the work of this system, what judicial system there must be in Israel.

Constantly remember that the whole system of dividing the country, administrative or any other, and everything that you do in your country, takes place on the land that the LORD has given you. The Most High constantly reminds: He gave it to you, He can also take it from you. You can go into exile if you use it wrongly.

In general, in Jewish history roads play a very important role. In the period of the Second Temple, when many of the people were in exile, on the fifteenth of Adar, right after Purim, special crews went out who repaired the roads, so that it would be easier for the people to go to Jerusalem. Three times a year one must come to Jerusalem, and that is no way – to walk over some bumps and potholes; one must walk on a good, proper road. And once a year the roads were repaired: both the roads to Jerusalem and the roads (let us say, running a little ahead) to the cities of refuge that are being talked about here.

Again the Torah speaks (after it already spoke in chapter 35 of the book of Bemidbar) about the cities of refuge. Very great attention was paid to the cities of refuge. The midrash says that the only road signs that existed in the land of Israel were the signs to the cities of refuge.

Quite great was the concern to protect a person who accidentally, unintentionally committed a killing, to protect him from vigilante justice. Israel was only just forming as a people. In the absence of a unified administrative system, each family, each clan, each kin group was responsible for itself and could quite well demand blood vengeance in the case of a killing. This was such a natural course of things. And in order to protect a person from reprisal, from vigilante justice, the Most High commands to set apart cities of refuge, to which anyone who has committed an accidental killing can flee. And these are not small backwater towns. As far as we know, these were cities with a developed infrastructure, in which there is trade, in which there is an occupation for a person; this is not “the hundred and first kilometer.” Nevertheless, a person left his family, and to some degree the stay in a city of refuge is a punishment; it was called galút (exile). That is, a person did after all receive a punishment, because he was removed from his accustomed environment, from his accustomed city, perhaps from some business of his, for a very long term.

Those who could not get sustenance in that city (as tradition says, as the midrash says) were fed by the mom of the high priest. Why so? We remember that the exile to a city of refuge had no fixed term. It ended not after a set term, but after the death of the high priest. And so that the inhabitants of these cities would not pray for his death, in order to appease them (so tradition says), the mom of the high priest fed them. Maimonides (Rambam) in his enumerations of the laws says that everything was directed toward the upbringing of the person, and the city itself is a Levite city, too. And if this person had a rav (mentor), then his rav had to move after him to this city. Well, this is, by and large, a private opinion of the Rambam.

And nevertheless we speak about a comfortable, perhaps, exile as still a punishment, but one that protects from vigilante justice, from Lynch law, from extrajudicial reprisal.

What is bivli-dá'at (without intention, without design)? It is if a person observed all the precautions, did everything possible so that the killing would not happen. If, for example, a person got behind the wheel drunk and he had no intentions at all, and he had no dá'at (reason) at all, and he ran someone over, then this is not called an unintentional killing, this is a killing through negligence. An unintentional killing is the name for a situation when a person did everything possible so that the misfortune would not happen, observed all the necessary conditions, the safety rules, and the misfortune happened nevertheless.

And further the Torah gives an example:

There he will be protected from extrajudicial reprisal by the relatives. It is clear that one goes into the forest not with some stranger, but with someone with whom the person is truly friends and can spend time together and work together.

Why does the Torah tell us to make good roads, and the midrash speaks about road signs, and again the Torah says that this city must be as close as possible, that one must divide the country and make such a city in each region? What is all this for?

What does the Torah say here? The Torah says: “It is necessary that the city of refuge be not far away, that it be close to walk to it and that there be a good road there. Because if a person spends several days or half a year getting to the city of refuge by relays, along some unknown paths, then nothing good will come of it, because the avenger will be able to catch up with him and vigilante justice will be done. But this person had no intention to kill, he did not harbor hatred.

These three cities within the country are an addition to what Moshe already did beyond the Jordan; altogether there are six cities.

Here the Most High, as it were, puts the people before a choice: if you want to show gratitude, if you want to express love for the Most High, then how is this to be done? How to act out of love and commandment – not simply by commandment, but out of love and commandment? To add cities that protect a person from extrajudicial reprisal, that is, to strengthen the judicial system.

God says repeatedly that when the people is in right, perfect relations with Him, righteous judgment is also done. And, conversely, the relationship with the Most High can be broken, as, for example, Yirmeyahu describes it (2:8–9): “The priests did not say: where is the LORD? And the teachers of the law did not know Me (that is, they distorted the judgments)... For this I will go to judgment with you everywhere.” And this is not the only place. We read at the very beginning of our weekly portion that justice is needed so that Israel can exist calmly, peacefully on its land. Service of the Most High is impossible without proper justice.

In the Jerusalem Talmud (Bereshit Rabba 33:1) there is such a story (a tale, an aggada, a historical tradition), which is not necessarily historically reliable, but is instructive. It tells how Alexander of Macedon in his travels came to a country called Katziya. It was somewhere far away, beyond the dark mountains. And the king of Katziya asked him: “Why have you come?” He said: “I want to learn just laws, I want to learn justice.” The king of Katziya said: “Well, sit down, be present at our court proceedings.” Two people came, and one said: “I bought a field from him and found a treasure in the field.” And the seller says: “But I sold the field and everything in it, so the treasure belongs to the buyer.” And the buyer says: “When I was buying, I saw only the field, but the treasure I did not buy.” And they want to give the treasure back, one to the other. Imagine that (translating this into modern language) a person sold someone a coat, and in the coat three gold coins are found. Whose will they be, these gold coins? That is the kind of court case they have. The king of Katziya asks: “Do you have children?” One says that he has a son, the other – that he has a daughter. The king says: “Then marry them to each other, and be blessed, let the treasure be their common property.” And, turning to Alexander of Macedon, he asks: “And how would they judge it where you come from?” He says: “With us both would have been executed, and the treasure would have been taken into the treasury.” The king of Katziya said: “And does the sun rise where you are?” The Macedonian says: “It rises!” – And does the rain fall? – It falls! – Strange thing! And goats? Do you have goats in your country? – Goats? There are goats! – Well, there you go, it must be for these goats that the sun rises for you!” This is such a tale, I repeat again, a historical tradition, but it speaks about the importance of justice. And the importance of justice (of one of its parts) is that justice be in the hands of judges, and not in the hands of anyone who wants it; that justice be done by judges and by a righteous court.

Therefore the Most High speaks here about protecting a person from reprisal, from reprisal by relatives, to whom it may seem that, perhaps, he is guilty after all and that all this is because of him, and the like, as often happens. Any person, even one who has gotten into the very greatest trouble, has the right to a fair trial.

The whole people, the whole judicial system is responsible for there being no vigilante justice in the country, for there being no extrajudicial reprisal, so that a person who committed a crime unintentionally would merit a court that will examine his case.

That is, an inquiry is held, and in the course of it they try to examine, to understand whether the person really committed this killing unintentionally, or whether he disguised as an accident what he had long intended to do. And if the person committed the killing intentionally, then he will be punished.

When we read about the refuges and about the Most High caring about judgment and about protecting the innocent, it may seem that the Torah says: “Pardon! And pardon everyone! If he has already fled, if he has reached the city – that means, so be it, in this city everyone is pardoned!” As they used to say in children's games: “And I'm – in the little house!” But here the Torah says that no, the city of refuge is a center of justice, which can also condemn, not only pardon. And the task is, on the one hand, to protect innocent blood, to protect from the shedding of innocent blood, to protect the one who committed an unintentional crime, and, on the other hand, not to leave unpunished the one who killed intentionally. That is, this is not some little island of safety, not some little house from a children's game, but a place where judgment takes place. And when judgment must be shown, and not mercy, then judgment will be shown.

The simplest meaning – do not quietly move the fence between two dachas and do not add territory to yourself, do not quietly take land away from your neighbor. But besides this, the commandment is also interpreted much more broadly.

If in a small town there is a shoe store and this store supplies the town with shoes, then may one come and open a second store? Take away the livelihood, take away some allotment or encroach on some allotment from which a person already feeds himself, where a person has already established his livelihood? May one undercut the business of a baker, a shoemaker, a carpenter? Must one respect a person's economic borders?

And the tradition of interpreting this verse says that yes, one must. If you are planning to open a business somewhere, to open some enterprise somewhere, and if this will completely deprive your neighbor of his livelihood, then consult with him. And it is better for you to open a different enterprise. But this is a separate and very deep topic: how important it is to take into account that next to us lives a neighbor who also needs to feed his family. If today he has no field, no orchard, but has a bookstore, a shoe repair shop, a sewing workshop, must we respect this, or – free market and free competition.

With verse 15 the next topic begins.

It is said that one of the indicators of the righteousness of justice is the number of acquittals, and to what extent a slander, a denunciation, a false testimony immediately, automatically leads to the accusation of a person, to the punishment of a person, sometimes to the death of a person. In judicial systems distorted, broken by dictatorship, we see that this is exactly how it works; we see this in the history of various countries. And the Torah protects a person from false slander, cares for a person who has gotten into an unpleasant situation. He may perhaps be slandered, his name trampled, he needs protection and has the right to this protection.

In other words, the witness wanted to bring his neighbor under some sentence, under some fine, under some punishment. And so, that very punishment which he wanted to bring upon his neighbor, that very punishment assign to him.

They will see that strict measures of punishment are applied to false witnesses. And today there are in various judicial systems some special articles under which a person can be accused on the basis of your words alone, and you remain unpunished, even if it turns out that your testimony is false.

The Torah, however, commands a strict attitude toward false testimony. Our whole portion, everything we read here, is connected with righteous judgment, with the right of every person to righteous judgment, to his freedom, to his territory, to his private life. And further on the famous formula of the Torah is stated, which some call “malicious” and “cruel.”

Many say that the Torah here meant the simplest meaning. And it really was understood literally in exactly this way, and in the period of the Second Temple this is how the tzdukim (Sadducees) interpreted it.

The classical interpretation of modern Judaism says that this is about fines. And indeed, what use is it to a person whose eye was gouged out that the one who inflicted this injury on him will also have his eye gouged out? How is he to live? How is he to feed himself? Therefore the sages understood this place as speaking about monetary compensation.

Many centuries passed, and archaeologists began to find various ancient documents. Among these documents are codes in which it is said precisely that this is a system of monetary compensations, that there are special lists of reimbursement of damage for a hand, for a foot, for an eye and so on, that is, for each damaged organ there are some specific amounts of presumed compensation. And here it is precisely about this.

With God's help you and I continue to study the weekly portion Shoftim, and we will read from verse 1 of chapter 20 of the book of Devarim.

In the previous chapter we talked about how important it is to have a well-established system of just courts, how important it is to protect the rights of every citizen, whatever position and whatever situation he may find himself in. When a state has a well-established court system, when in the state there is justice which the citizens trust, and when such a state goes out to war, then this can only be a just war. Because the state will have enough ways to prevent an unjust war. And in our chapter the Torah speaks about the situation when the people is forced to go out to war.

You go out to war not simply against someone, but against one who is already an enemy to you, and you may become afraid. For a simple person who does not live by war, a chariot (in modern language, a tank or an armored personnel carrier, or some other military vehicles, or airplanes, helicopters), noise, warriors, a huge number of people – all this cannot fail to instill fear. We remember that the Most High did not simply come and say to the Jews: “Go out quietly!” He really smashed the powerful (for those times, perhaps, the most powerful in the world) Egyptian army and thereby demonstrated His power and authority. When we understand that He is near us, we have nothing to fear.

How does the preparation for war proceed?

Not the king, not the military governor, not the commander address the people, but precisely the kohen. We said that kings in Israel are not endowed with such power as kings among other peoples. And in our case it is precisely so that the war is perceived by the people as just that the high priest addresses them.

The expression yerách levavchém (softheartedness) is sometimes translated as cowardice, but here it means being excessively merciful, it is the fear that you will have to kill. Besides that, a person in fear may undertake some fussy actions. He will become confused, will act quickly and a lot, but completely uselessly. But let fear of the enemies not paralyze you; you must have no kind of fear. Why?

After this speech of the kohen, the process of releasing from military service those who are not suited for military service begins. It is necessary that only those fight who are really ready to fight, who are worthy.

On the one hand, this is the Torah's care that a person should see the blessing of the work of his hands. For when a person builds a house and someone else lives in it – that is already a curse. On the other hand, we can also see here psychology, an understanding of a person who thinks: “If I die, then my house will go to someone else.” And this can eat away at a person; this is natural for a person.

That is, all people who have some weighty reason to look back are released from military service. Both out of mercy and out of an understanding that such longing constantly gnaws at a person and hinders him from fighting.

If someone is afraid, if someone feels fearful, someone is fainthearted, indecisive, cannot kill an enemy, such a person is also released. It is better for him to go home than to corrode, to decompose, to spoil the military ranks, so that his heart does not have a bad influence on the hearts of other warriors.

I will repeat again that, on the one hand, this is mercy, because it is good for a person to live in a house that he built, to eat from the fruits of a vineyard that he planted, to try living with his wife for at least a year – also wonderful. And, of course, one can see mercy in this. But one can also see something else. Here, let's say, as one of the heroes of a famous Soviet film says: “You, when he pointed the pistol at you, were not thinking about your duty, not about your killed comrades, but about the fifty thousand you won and about the little house in Zhavoronki with a cow and with a little hog.” Such a vivid example from a film everyone knows of how greed, how attachment to some property can lead to betrayal. And in the army of God a person may not serve who has merely the temptation that he will lose this house, lose this vineyard, lose his wife. And – yes, this is, on the one hand, mercy, undoubtedly, mercy to a person, and on the other hand, it is also protection for the army, for, let's say, the purity of its ranks.

That is, to the chiefs of tens, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of thousands; we read earlier about all these military ranks.

Very cruel, but after all, the men sooner or later will start an uprising. Even if these are children, boys, they will grow up and start an uprising. War in general is a cruel business.

Pay attention: in the word of God, in the Most High's address to the people of Israel, the case of defeat is not even theoretically considered.

The Torah makes distinctions between cities. If the cities (to which Israel may set out to fight) are located far, far from the land of Israel, then there, in case of victory, all the men are destroyed, and the women and children fall into slavery. But when we speak about cities from the inheritance of those peoples whom the Most High drives out of the Holy Land, then it is necessary to destroy everyone. Because these peoples (the slave women and their children) may tell: “And here on this spot stood the shrine of such-and-such a god, and here, if you tie a ribbon to this tree, you will get married soon. And here, if you pour oil right here, a thing you lost long ago will be found.” The people who lived in this place filled it with their idol worship and may accustom a person, through “love of geography,” to come to love idol worship. And again, they are local and may know the climate, may know some agricultural know-how that will give them advantages and may make them teachers in the eyes of the new Israelite settlers. Therefore, and for a multitude of other reasons, the Torah makes such a difference between cities.

That is, do not destroy their orchards in order, perhaps, to take firewood for heating or for some other needs. On the one hand, a tree is not a person, it will not run away; on the other hand, it will not attack you during the siege. You are not at war with trees – you are at war with people. A tree is not a party in this conflict, and therefore there is no reason to raise an axe against it.

When someone plants a vineyard and you eat of its fruits, this can be a blessing. We have already talked about this. Someone planted an apple tree, and you came into his house, the Most High gave you victory over him, and you eat of these apples. This is a blessing, the blessing of the Most High. But to cut down trees just like that, to destroy fruit orchards – in this there is no blessing at all and nothing of the Most High, but only the satisfaction of some passions of one's own.

It is interesting that here, too, one can see a connection with justice: “Show justice to the trees, do not destroy the fruit trees that will feed you.” And if you destroy trees that bear no fruit, then do not destroy them just like that. Build something from them, make something from them, and this will be your step toward victory. The Most High gives you victory thanks to justice, even if it is toward trees, which are not people at all.

With this chapter 20 ends, but we will read another part of chapter 21, which speaks about a completely different topic: about how to understand who is guilty when it is unclear who is guilty.

What is to be done here? The situation today seems banal. In a field, in rough terrain where no one lives, a corpse was found. Whole series in which every episode begins with some unidentified corpse are filmed all over the world. And there some cool investigators in cool laboratories conduct an investigation, which says that in our days an unidentified corpse found somewhere – this is a story that is, unfortunately, ordinary. An ordinary story, placed on the last pages of the news, unless it is the corpse of some famous person. To what extent is this an extraordinary incident for the Israel of the times of the Torah? The Torah devotes a dozen verses to it.

That is, in such a city you can look for the guilty; this city takes upon itself the responsibility for what was done.

The process of purification and atonement described further on is very astonishing and incomprehensible. And if often (in the book of Devarim and in the book of Vayikra) the Torah gives an explanation of why one must do such-and-such, here the explanations are hidden. Over many centuries, of course, there have been many commentaries. And we, too, will try to put our two mites into this story. But it must be said right away that the riddle will not disappear, the riddle will remain. And even if it seems to someone that he knows obvious solutions and obvious answers, then even within the framework of these answers (for example, within the framework of the messianic interpretation) a lot still remains unclear.

As soon as a little heifer appears on which no one has worked, a parallel immediately arises with the red heifer: it, too, is a sacrifice that is brought outside the walls, and it, too, was not, was not used in work, and no burden was laid on it. On the one hand, what does this point to? To unused potential. It was intended for something, could do something, but this was not made use of. On the other hand, this points to the fact that it was in no one's power, was not in slavery to anyone. An absolutely free heifer. And one can draw a parallel with Mashiach, who was not in the power of sin.

What does this tell us again? About unused potential. On the one hand, a heifer that did not serve in any way; on the other hand, there is unused potential. That is, two levels of understanding: on the one hand, no one's slave, on the other hand – unrealized potential, and both of these levels do not cancel each other out. Why is it about potential that is not used? Because in a just judicial system there must be enough police officers, patrols, checkpoints, educational work, so that a situation does not occur in which someone decided on murder or in which the system allowed someone to commit murder. So the system has the potential, but the system by itself does not realize this potential. Perhaps this is precisely what signifies the beginning of a rift between the elders of the people and the Divine court. Negligence is the first signal, it is ruin, whose beginning is laid in the heads.

So, they bring the heifer down into the valley and separate the head from the body. That is, one can say that thereby the rift, the absence of connection between the head and the body of the judicial system, is transferred onto it. And this, of course, is only one of the possible interpretations: the elders were supposed to govern society, but did not govern it to the proper extent.

And who are the witnesses?

It is obvious that they do not do all this; they are here simply as witnesses. That is, the kohanim came to look into it, to check that the action was performed correctly.

It would seem this is the most obvious thing, which is clear anyway: who would suspect the old men, the heads of the people? They cleanse themselves here of possible guilt, since they did not set up the system properly, since justice did not work properly. There is personal responsibility, therefore they cleanse themselves here, and only after they have cleansed themselves can they say: “We did not shed this blood!”

The blood that was shed through their oversight, through their fault, which they took upon themselves.

When we walk in straight paths, when we follow the Most High, establish a worthy system of justice, try to carry out righteous judgment and not leave anyone without judgment – neither the poor, nor widows, nor orphans, absolutely no one; when in our society there are no people with great rights and with small rights – this means that we are following the straight road. And in this way Israel, the people of God, will be clean of innocent blood. Our conduct is determined not only by the conduct of ourselves, but also of all who are found in our midst.

In our weekly portion Shoftim we read (18:9–13): “When you come into the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you, do not learn to do the abominations which those nations did. Let there not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through fire, nor a sorcerer, nor a magus, nor a diviner, nor an enchanter, nor a charmer, nor one who summons spirits, nor a folk healer who inquires of the dead. For everyone who does this is abominable before the LORD. And for these abominations the LORD, your God, drives them out from before you. Be blameless (and in a more literal translation – be a simpleton) before the LORD, your God.”

There is such a wonderful game – chess. When a chess player prepares some move, he proceeds not only from the situation that he sees on the chessboard, but calculates the variations: how the opponent will answer his move, how he will then answer the opponent's move, and so on. And the more talented, the wiser the chess player, the more moves ahead he calculates.

Chess is a good game, but sometimes a person wants to play chess with the Most High. The Most High is hard to predict, but many try. Therefore one can turn to some fortune-teller, to a diviner, to some system of divination, go and ask: what will happen tomorrow, what will happen the day after tomorrow? And, proceeding from this, decide how to act.

But the Torah says: “Do not try to play chess with God.” For example, a person reads in his horoscope: “Aries today have a good chance of a romantic evening,” goes and buys flowers for his beloved wife. You can do it the other way around: you can buy flowers for your beloved wife, and then there will definitely be a romantic evening.

So, does the future determine our actions, or do our actions determine our future? This is the choice we stand before. And here the Most High says: “When you try to calculate the future, when you try to compute a blessing for yourself, to pick a suitable time for doing something, or to predict the divine weather, you try to play chess with God, you are committing an abomination.” The LORD says: “Obey My commandments, live by My commandments, and then I will bless the work of your hands. What you are doing now will be blessed. The work you are now engaged in, I will bless, if you live by my commandments. Your actions give rise to blessing.”

It is exactly the same with choosing a wife. There are very many advisers of every kind who will pick, by horoscope or by some other principle, the most suitable candidate. But you can choose a wife yourself who is most suitable for serving the Most High, with whom it will be joyful to serve the Most High. And the LORD says: “I will bless your choice. My will is to bless your undertaking, your desire, your labor, if you live before Me, if you keep My commandments. Therefore there is no need to calculate My moves – calculate your own moves. Live righteously before Me, be a simpleton before Me, do not calculate My reactions, do not try to play chess with Me, do not try to outplay Me, and do not try to manipulate Me.” That is, live in simplicity, simply live by the commandments, not looking into the future, not calculating variations, not reckoning out the future, but creating the future by the works of your hands. And turning to diviners and soothsayers, playing chess with God – this is an abomination before Him.

Read also the portion Re'e, the portion Masei about the cities of refuge, the book of commentaries on Devarim and the weekly portions of the Torah.