15 Aug SHOFTIM: WE ARE ALL JUDGES

Parashat Shoftim
begins with the
command to appoint
judges throughout
the land: “Shoftim

Ve’shoterim Titen Lecha.”
While the simple meaning of this Pasuk is
that it refers to courtroom judges, there is
also an additional level of interpretation.
The Torah is telling that “Titen Lecha”
– each one of us is a judge. Throughout
the day, every day, whenever we speak
with or even just see another person, we
judge. We make judgments about people
based on how they look, what they say
and what they do. This is inevitable.
We are thinking beings, and we thus
naturally cast judgments in our minds
every time we have any sort of contact
with others.
The Torah therefore instructs at the
conclusion of this opening Pasuk,
“Ve’shafetu Et Ha’am Mishpat Sedek”
– “They shall judge the nation justly.”
We are bidden to give people the benefit
of the doubt, rather than hastily reach
negative conclusions. If we see behavior

which appears to reflect negatively upon
a person, we are to find a basis on which
to judge that person favorably, rather
than immediately assume the worst.
The Torah then adds, “Sedek Sedek
Tirdof” – literally, “Justice, justice you
shall pursue.” This has been explained to
mean that we are to go as far as we need
to for the sake of giving the benefit of the
doubt. We are to “pursue” a favorable
judgment regardless of how far we
must go, no matter how far-fetched an
explanation we need to come up with.
The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat tells
a story of a poor man who worked for
three years for a certain wealthy person.
When he completed his term of service,
on Ereb Yom Kippur, he came to his
boss and asked to be paid so he could
support his family. The man said he
was unable to pay, because he had no
money. The worker asked if he could
be paid through other assets – fruits,
animals, land, or even houseware – but
the man said he had none. The worker
returned home empty-handed. Several
weeks later, the employer obtained the

money he needed and brought it to the
worker. He paid him, and asked what he
was thinking in his mind when he said
he could not afford to pay. The worker
he said he assumed that the employer
had invested all his cash in promising
business ventures, had not yet tithed
his produce, lent out all his animals,
leased his property to sharecroppers,
and consecrated all his houseware. The
employer swore that this was all correct.
The worker went out on a limb to judge
his employer favorably, and he turned
out to be correct.
The employer then blessed him, “Just as
you judged me favorably, so may you
always be judged favorably.”
Indeed, the Gemara there comments
that if a person judges other people
favorably, then Hashem will judge that
person favorably.
For this reason, the Torah writes, “You
shall pursue justice, in order that you
live…” If we judge people favorably,
then Hashem will judge us favorably,
as well, and bless us with life and

happiness.
It is no coincidence that Parashat Shoftim
is always read around the time of Rosh
Hodesh Elul, as we start preparing for the
judgment of the High Holidays. During
this period, especially, we must heed the
message of “Sedek Sedek Tirdof” – the
need to give people the benefit of the
doubt and judge them favorably. As we
prepare ourselves for Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur, we need every possible
“strategy” for earning a favorable
sentence. And perhaps the most effective
strategy is to give others the benefit of
the doubt, to view other people from
a positive angle, in the merit of which
we, too, will be judged favorably and
blessed with a happy, healthy, successful
new year, Amen.