Parashat Shoftim / פרשת שופטים
- Sun, 12 August 2018 = 1st of Elul, 5778
- א׳ בֶּאֱלוּל תשע״ח
CLICK LINK ABOVE FOR THE PESUKIM
The word "Shoftim" in Hebrew means "Judges" and the first part of the pesukim for today discusses the intention for fair justice under the Law. God demands that judges be appointed that are fair and cannot be bribed or coerced and are uncorrupted. One of the most infamous pesukim in the Torah, is pesuk 20:
צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof! It is often translated "Justice Justice shall you pursue!". But the word Tzedek in Hebrew is better translated as Righteousness!
Righteousness, Righteousness shall you pursue!
A tzaddik is a "righteous" person, and doing tzedakkah is giving to charity which is one of the highest mitzvot, and is considered righteous.
Pesuk 20 may explain why so many Jewish mothers send their son's to law school. Jews were given the Law by Moshe, so it only is logical that Jews remain "people of the book" and experts in law. That doesn't mean however as a nation, we've done a perfect job of keeping this Law!
However, the point I'd like to make today is that the Torah, which is not simply a set of religious laws, nor is it limited to a list of do's and don'ts; rather it is a document that defines what exactly Righteousness is! It tells us what is righteousness, and then it requires us to observe and become this Righteousness!
What are the implications of this? God is concerned about how we, (His children) live and behave. The greatest mitzvah: "Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself." (Deuteronomy 6:5 & Lev. 19:18).
In other words, God cares about how we treat our neighbors. This means that this Torah gives us regulations and rules that transcends spiritual and religious life and it directly impacts civil law and criminal law. The Torah is concerned about all aspects of human life, not just how a person acts in "church".
THERE IS NO SEPARATION OF "CHURCH AND STATE" IN THE TORAH! The Torah gives Israel and infact all humanity the blueprint for a fair and righteous judicial court system that establishes decent moral civilization.
Before the Torah, therefore, it can be argued, that true civilization couldn't exist. Almost all of the legal code of our U.S. Constitution and all civil laws of the State are based on Biblical Law.
Everything we need for our lives, what God expects of us is clearly taught and found in the Bible. In order to know what is right and righteous, all you need to do is look to the Word of God. Just as Shaliach Shaul taught:
2 Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted. 13 But evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14 You, however, continue in what you have learned and what you have become convinced of. For you know from whom you have learned, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to make you wise, leading to salvation through trusting in Messiah Yeshua. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for restoration, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that the person belonging to God may be capable, fully equipped for every good deed.
Righteousness Righteousness shall you pursue! The Word of God gives us the pathway to righteousness!
Shavuah tov & Chodesh Tov!
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