Maghen Abraham - Thoughts From Mayer Sasson

''Judges and policeman you shall appoint in all your gates.....'' (16,18)

Judges and policemen

The commentators such as the ''Shlah Hakadosh'', Rabbi Haim Vital and others note that the Mitzvah of appointing judges is presented to the singular person and is directed to ''You" as an individual and they therefore expand the scope of this requirement beyond the range of the basic requirements upon the communities to appoint Judges and a court system as well as law enforcement officers, in order to preserve the well being of the nation and bring to justice crimes and misconduct that may transpire in the daily life of a human community.

The system is also needed to settle disputes and disagreements that could not be sorted out between opposing parties and to provide a moral compass as well as a wholesome code of conduct based on the Torah's guidelines, for the community to follow.

The commentators go on to say that each of us has personal gates located in our head such as ears eyes nose and mouth.  A Jew is required to discern and examine the sights, scents and voices as well as the speech that go out and come into his personal gates.  A Jew has to be aware that there are looks and glances as well as stares that are proper and permissible and at time even a Mitzvah and we must categorise them in their order of importance whether they are a sight of a Mitzvah or a sight of forbidden and corrupt scenery that should be avoided as they effect the soul to the detriment.

The same is true about hearing - Are we hearing worthy speech? Are we hearing segments expressions that are related to a Mitzvah or lessons of the Torah? Or are we hearing derogatory information and gossip?  And when we open our mouth are we careful to examine what we are about to utter? Are we speaking in a calm and friendly soft voice? Or in a cynical cruel manner with intent to humiliate others?  Are we as careful and particular of what we say just as what we chose to eat? Are we eating in a restrained fashion or we are consuming food in a coarse way?

The Torah is asking ask to appoint Judges and apply scrutiny and contemplation upon that which is before us and ask the questions based on the guidelines of Torah. We must determine if a certain issue or event or item is allowed and wanted or - should we reject it? Should we say it or should we forbear? Should we express it or should we restrain ourselves? 

Just as when people arrive at foreign country they are all examined at the gate and asked to fill in forms and answer questions for the authorities to evaluate whether to let them in or not, we must do the same with every issue including but not limited to habits, opinions, desires and urges.  We are all prone to the risk that lays in leaving borders unattended and unsupervised; we all may stumble and fall and be mislead by our own representational systems as it is a given "that the eyes see, the heart covets and the limbs execute the deed".

We can easily fall into the traps of momentary gratification as a benefit and let go of our most treasured asset, the soul.

We also need to apply a filtering system in our thought process, as it all starts with thoughts and opinions that form in our minds; we have to apply a careful selection process and scrutiny and examine each thought that goes through our minds and decide if to adopt it or reject it and not dwell on the thoughts that are not conducive to our well being and that do not conform to the spirit of the Torah. By not doing so we take too big of a risk that they will put us in a harmful way to the extent that we are almost compelled to do an improper act that may ensue from a festering thought that may linger in our minds.

It is also essential for us to know when the "Judges" are effective and when we need to apply "police force"- as at certain times this is the only way we may prevent ourselves from committing a sin and guard ourselves. At times of cloudy judgment and diminished capacity and lack of clarity, our own "judges" may not be suitable and effective and end up taking bribes in form of the pleasure derived from the wrong deed that temporary generate sweetness and pleasure - that later turn sour and onerous (but at certain times we yield to it nevertheless). The Torah tells us that at those times we need to deploy the police force in order to enact fences and strict borders and restrictions that will serve as a precautionary preventive measure and hopefully keep us out of trouble.

May Hashem grant us the wisdom to discern when we have the right state of mind to rely on the "judges" and when it is time to summon the "police".

SHABBAT SHALOM!!