Shades of Grey
While there is comfort in the black and white, in Shoftim the Torah teaches us to embrace the ambiguity of life.
We are now in the weeks leading up to Rosh Hashana, a holiday which evokes ambivalence. On the one hand, we’re frightened because of the judgment God will mete out on Rosh Hashana, but on the other hand, we celebrate with nice clothing, festive meals, kiddush, and the blessing of Shehecheyanu. I think that this fundamental duality of Rosh Hashana is rooted in the concept of Din, strict justice. And this week's parsha, called Shoftim/Judges, which is clearly related to Din, also emphasizes the theme of duality.
For example, the Parsha begins with the words “shoftim,” the judges, and “shotrim,” the police -- two institutions of society: the judicial process and the law enforcement system. Moreover, in the famous verse about pursuing righteousness, the word tzedek is recited twice
צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף לְמַ֤עַן תִּֽחְיֶה֙ וְיָרַשְׁתָּ֣ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָֽךְ
Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that your God Hashem is giving you. [Deuteronomy 16:20]
Similarly, our Parsha includes the commandment requiring two witnesses for the crime of capital punishment. Duality is also characteristic of any court case – there are always two parties, a plaintiff or prosecutor and a defendant. We find the number two again in the Parsha’s reference to the mitzvah of appointing a king, “You should place a king on yourself”. Instead of simply saying the word “tasim”, anoint, it uses a two words with similar meaning: “som tasim”
שׂ֣וֹם תָּשִׂ֤ים עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ מֶ֔לֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְחַ֛ר יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ בּ֑וֹ
You shall be free to set a king over yourself, one chosen by your God
The Parsha goes on to say that the king must have a Mishneh Torah, and Rashi interprets this to mean that the king must possess two Torahs: One which remains in his library and one he carries with him when he leaves the palace to mingle with his people. Furthermore, judgment/Din was a phenomenon created on the second day of Creation, another reference to duality. There are many more examples that depict the dual nature of Din.
We may wonder, why is duality a fundamental element in the spiritual power and personal trait of Din (strict justice)?
The famous verse in our parsha tells us
תָּמִ֣ים תִּֽהְיֶ֔ה עִ֖ם יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ
You must be pure, or innocent, with God.
That mandate may sound vague, and our Sages teach that it means one should not pursue fortune tellers, soothsayers, and the like. We also see the word tamim used elsewhere in the Torah, in a variety of contexts. For example, when God commands Abraham with the mitzvah of brit milah, circumcision, He says
הִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ לְפָנַ֖י וֶהְיֵ֥ה תָמִֽים
Walk in front of Me and be tamim [Genesis 17:1]
meaning be perfect or complete. Also, Jacob was called an ish tam, a simple or perfect man. And of course, at the Pesach seder, we refer to the son who is a tam, a simpleton whom kabbalistic sources characterize as the highest level of the four children mentioned at the Seder, because of his straightforward approach to asking questions.
Surprisingly, a few verses after we are told to be tamim with God, we are confronted with a contradictory verse that tells us how to gauge whether a prophet is legitimate or not. Rashi explains it to mean that if a purported prophet makes valid predictions, he is genuine, despite the preceding Torah verse that tells us not to focus on predicting the future.
Rashi then brings another set of criteria from last week’s Parshat Re’eh. If a prophet tells us to violate a mitzvah, he is a pretender, unless we are certain that he is a Tzadik gamur, a completely righteous person, like Eliyahu HaNavi, who brought a sacrifice outside the temple on a bama during the famous incident at Mount Carmel. Taken together, the criteria in these verses seem contradictory and confusing. Is a prophet expected to predict the future or not? And may a prophet violate the Torah or not?
I think Rashi’s message is that although the Torah gives us rules to live by, they are not set in stone; their applicability depends on the nuance of circumstances. Because Rosh Hashana commemorates the sixth day of Creation and therefore represents all of life, the ambivalence we feel toward this holiday reflects the pervasive complexity inherent in our lives. It may sometimes be reassuring to view things in black and white, but we must grapple with real-life situations that appear in shades of gray.
With the progression of the pesukim in the Parsha and the focus on duality, I think the Torah is teaching us to live life in the moment, not with a constant eye toward the future. However, there are situations which do call for a glimpse into what lies ahead. Most of the time, we need the Torah to guide us in evaluating the legitimacy of a prophet, but it does allow for exceptions, even to the extent that we may legitimize a prophecy which violates the Torah. Many people are more comfortable when life feels predictable, so they use religion or another set of rules to dictate their own lives and the behavior of other people as well. But their comfort is bound to be transitory, because in truth, we do not ultimately have that much control.
In the story about Abraham after his circumcision, for which he was called tamim, he welcomes the angels into his home. It is a common misconception that his behavior simply demonstrates the mitzvah of welcoming guests. It’s true that the phrase, hachnasat orchim, is translated to mean hospitality. But as the sages emphasize, its literal translation is bringing in paths, which means being open-minded, having a willingness to consider other points of view.
Parshat Shoftim is a fitting introduction to Yom HaDin, Rosh Hashana, because it reminds us that our mindset as we approach the High Holidays should not be overly rigid or defensive. Instead, we must broaden our minds and consider the multitude of options in life. That openness will, God willing, expand the range of our judgment on Rosh Hashana and thereby increase our potential for the year ahead.
Shabbat shalom. Chodesh tov.