Shoftim
Reflection by Or HaLev's US Community Manager, Carrie Watkins
"It’s always a delight to come upon a well-known passage in the weekly parsha. It feels like a celebrity sighting. `There it is! ‘Justice, Justice, you shall pursue’ itself! In our very own parsha!`
Sure enough, here it is in this week’s parsha:
צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף לְמַ֤עַן תִּֽחְיֶה֙ וְיָרַשְׁתָּ֣ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָֽךְ׃
`Justice, Justice you shall pursue, that you may live and inherit the land that Hashem your God is giving you` (Deut 16:20).
The word `justice` is often understood as a value that is objective, impersonal and rigorous, in sharp contrast to values like `compassion` or `mercy.` Our parsha on a pshat level employs just this understanding, emphasizing in the preceding pasuk: `You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the just` (16:19).
It is thus rather surprising to come across the Chasidic Master the Mei HaShiloach’s highly personal interpretation. Why, he asks, does the pasuk conjugate the word tirdof, pursue, in the second person singular? Why is it shall you pursue? Justice is often understood as a collective, societal endeavor. Wouldn’t you expect the verse to then say something like, `shall we pursue?`
The Mei HaShiloach teaches that the word tzedek, justice, is written twice so that we know to hold ourselves to a very high standard - in performing mitzvot and through that bringing justice to the world - and that the singular tense is employed so that we hold ourselves to the high standard
'`ולא שיכעוס על חבירו שאינו מדקדק כ"כ`
but not be angry at others if they are not as scrupulous as we are. The following `לְמַ֤עַן תִּֽחְיֶה֙`, in order that you may live, means,
`תזכה להבין מתי להוכיח חבירך`
that we should merit to understand when it is productive to rebuke others for their actions and when it is not.
The Torah commands us to bring the exacting energy of tzedek tzedek to our own lives, but we must be careful to not let that energy spill over into judgment of others. We are commanded to rebuke those around us, to bring critique when called for, but the Mei HaShiloach reminds us that this is an action that requires discernment. Sending anger to someone else because they aren’t holding up to a standard is unlikely to actually open that person up to stepping up their justice game. This teaching blesses us that we merit that capacity to discern. Justice, justice, you shall pursue, in order that you may live."