Maghen Abraham - Thoughts From Mayer Sasson

"Now these are the social laws which you shall set …"

 Sweetening the harsh Judgment

 On this verse Onkelos translates "These are the judgments that you shall arrange before them". Our Rabbis see therein a clear allusion to the great work placed upon us to sweeten the harsh judgments (problems and suffering) that are made upon us. According to Onkelos Moshe is to arrange the harsh judgments to sweeten them. Sweetening judgments is changing the bad decree to a good decree.

 Concerning this it says in Parshat Va'era, "And G-d (Elokim – which symbolizes the Trait of Judgment) spoke to Moshe and said…I am G-d (Hashem – which symbolizes the Trait of Mercy)". It says in Medrash Rabbi that G-d told Moshe "The end of something is better than its beginning." "טוב אחרית דבר מראשיתו". What did G-d want to allude to Moshe in this verse?

 In the holy sefer "Yitav Lev" an explanation is brought, based on the words of the ARIZ'L that in order to sweeten the Name of Elokim that alludes to Judgment, we must replace those letters with the letters that precede them - "אכדטם"- How?

From the word Elokim אלקים - - Before the letter 'א – there is no other letter so that remains. Before the letter 'ל comes the letter 'כ. Before the letter ה' comes the letter ד' and at the end before the end letter 'ם comes the regular מ' – and since it is at the end of the word it again becomes 'ם. Thus emerges the word "אכדטם"that sweetens the Judgment.

 This is what G-d alluded to when he spoke to Moshe: - "וידבר אלקים אל משה ויאמר... אני ה'

Even when, G-d forbid, G-d's Judgment prevails on Israel, - "I am Hashem" The Judgment can be changed to Mercy. And the Medrash comes to explain how: "The end of something is better than its beginning" - The letters "אכדטם" that each come before the letters of Elokim sweeten the judgment. The first letters of the words "כי טוב אחרית דבר מראשיתו" spell out "אכדטם".

We can add that we know that that the word "spoke" "דיבר" alludes to Judgment and "דִבר" are the initials for "דין בלי רחמים" – Judgment without Mercy. We can say that the words of Shlomo Hamelech "טוב אחרית דבר מראשיתו" mean that if we read the letters ""דִבר from beginning to end, we get the opposite רדב - "רחמים בלי דין" and that is "the end is better than the beginning". This is real sweetening of Judgment, switching Judgment without Mercy into Mercy without Judgment.