Shoftim
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Shoftim
Having dealt with many of the aspects of worship in the Promised Land, Moses now turns to the institutions of governance. He begins with the overarching imperative of justice: there must be courts, judges, and officers in every city. Justice must be accessible and impartial. Procedures must be followed for the prosecution of idolatry, and there is to be a…
The Greatness of Humility
At a dinner to celebrate the work of a communal leader, the guest speaker paid tribute to his many qualities: his dedication, hard work, and foresight. As he sat down, the leader leaned over and said, “You forgot to mention one thing.” “What was that?” asked the speaker. The leader replied, “My humility.” Quite so. Great leaders have many qualities,…
Environmental Responsibility
Some commands in the Torah were understood so narrowly by the Sages that they were rendered almost inapplicable. One example is the ir ha-nidachat, the city led astray into idolatry, about which the Torah states that “you shall put the inhabitants of that town to the sword.” (Deut. 13:16) Another is the ben sorer umoreh, the stubborn and rebellious child,…
The Greatness of Humility
…adapted from Torah IQ by David Woolf, a collection of 1500 Torah riddles, available worldwide on Amazon. For the answer, please head to the Education Companion section (directly below, in grey). Educational Companion Torah Trivia: this week’s answer Shoftim is the only parsha in the Torah which has the same name as a book in Nevi’im (the book of Prophets)….
Music, Language of the Soul
…does music strike a different note depending on the occasion that it is played? On the Haftara Written by Rabbi Barry Kleinberg Inspired by the Teachings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks A summary The Haftara in a Nutshell Shoftim 4:4-5:31 (Ashkenazim) Shoftim 5:1-31 (Sephardim) Isaiah 19:1-25 (Yemenites) The book of Judges (Shoftim) recounts the story of Devorah, a prophetess and…
Power from the Outside or Self-Restraint from Within
…political project Moses was engaged in the parsha of Shoftim, and in the book of Deuteronomy as a whole. Why do crowds riot? The short answer is, because they can. This year we have seen the extraordinary impact of smartphones, messaging systems and social network software: the last things, one might have thought, to bring about political change, but they…
A Sage is Greater than a Prophet
The Parsha in a Nutshell In parshat Shoftim, Moshe finishes explaining how to worship God in the Promised Land. Next he discusses the different kinds of Jewish leaders and how they will govern society. He begins with the structure of the justice system: there must be courts, judges, and officers in every city. All people must be able to approach…
Power from the Outside or Self-Restraint from Within
…in parshat Shoftim in particular, Moshe was engaged in a unique political project that aimed to counteract rioting. Let’s unpack that. Why do crowds riot? The short answer is because they can. Mob mentality can sweep up many kinds of people in its vortex, quickly leading to chaos if there aren’t restraints in place. The Torah describes a similar situation…
The Three Crowns
The sedra of Shoftim comes as close as anywhere in the Torah to articulating a Jewish theory of government. The people were about to enter the land. They brought with them an already ancient tradition, begun in the days of Abraham and Sarah and continued through their children. In Egypt they had become a people (am) and a nation (goi),…