Words From Rabbi White

Dear everyone,

MY FIRST (AND ONLY) ENCOUNTER WITH THE SERVICE DE POLICE DE LA VILLE DE MONTREAL

Several years ago, back in those halcyon days when there were no attacks on shuls and schools, I woke up one morning to find that my car, parked in front of my house on Westbury, had been broken into. The criminal had smashed a side vent window, put his hand through the space, opened the door, and looked around the car to find something of value. Nebech, the only thing he (or she: don’t accuse me of misogyny!) could find was a quarter which I had put aside for parking meters.

I didn’t feel it was worth making a big deal about it. I took the car to a place near me that repaired windshields for a reasonable price, and that was that.

About two weeks later, I’m in shul on Shabbat morning and Simcha Foxman tells me that a car that looks like mine, parked a block away from the shul, in front of the park, has a window broken. After Shabbat, I go out to check, and indeed, it was my car: broken into with the exact same MO (that’s “modus operandi” in criminal lingo.) Must have been the same criminal, who didn’t have a good memory: nothing of value to steal:

This time, I decide to go to my local police station, to file a report. There were two policemen there, who must have been bored. One of them said he loved my wrap-around sun glasses, and asked if he could borrow them. OK! He pranced around the station, asking his friend “how do I look?” After he kindly returned them to me, I explained my problem. The two officers laughed: first of all, they said that they will never find the culprit. And even if they do find him, the judge will surely let him go. They said that it is a waste of time to file a report!

The Torah begins this week’s parasha “you should appoint judges and “shoterim” in every city. What are “shoterim”? Targum says “pur`anim.” The root of that word is the letters pe, resh, `ayin, meaning people who make you pay for the damage you have caused. Rashi, following the gemara Sanhedrin, takes it up a notch: these are officials who will severely punish you until you accept the responsibility.

It seems that all over the world, people have taken the idea of free speech beyond reasonable limits: whether in Montreal, New Jersey, Columbia Univ., Los Angeles, etc.

The verse quoted above is followed by the famous phrase “justice, justice you shall pursue.” Perhaps we can interpret that verse that the judge himself is responsible for seeing that the criminal is responsible for his/her actions.

We are now in the month of Elul: May we all use this month to get into the proper mood to greet Rosh Hashanah, and may we all have a shanah tovah umetuqah: a good, sweet year.

Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Menahem White