I find it interesting that Rosh Chodesh Ellul, which prepares us for ימי הדין – the days of Heavenly judgement - always falls out around Parshas Shoftim which tell us how to establish Batei Din and to judge our fellow man here on Earth. This is no accident.
Parshas Shoftim begins with the laws that apply to judges and witnesses. We hear the key rules about not corrupting the din, not playing favorites, not accepting bribes, and the epic statement: צדק צדק תרדוף. Pursue nothing but justice. Also, we learn how a judge cannot dissent after the majority has ruled (זקן ממרא), that all punishments and monetary judgements require two witnesses, and the reciprocal punishment for false witnesses (עדים זוממים).
Jewish judges have a great deal of responsibility. This is a strong message for Ellul.
But the Parsha is not done. After all of the talk about Batei Din, it moves on to discussing appointing a king and how to fight wars.
Is there a connection?
Well, let's note that we revisit the responsibility of judges in the very last segment. The very last segment instructs us to undergo the עגלה ערופה ritual, which is to decapitate a calf when the body of a dead traveler is discovered in peacetime. The Torah tells us that the “elders of the closest town” together with the Kohanim must beg for atonement on the mysterious death to ward off Heavenly retribution. And who are these “elders”?
They are the dayanim.
How do they beg for atonement?
The dayanim declare, “Our hands did not shed this person’s blood. And our eyes did not see.” And then the Kohanim say, “Atone for the nation of Israel…”
“Our hands…Our eyes”. Who needs the atonement, the people or the judges?
Rashi quotes the Mishna in Sotah (45b) that asks this question:
Is it conceivable that the judges of the Beit Din are shedders of blood (murderers)? Rather, the judges are saying that we did not see this person in our town and send him off without provisions or without anyone escorting him.
This passage in Chazal is telling us that, even without plunging a knife into one’s neck, the “authorities” can still be held accountable for his death at the hands of another person. This would be in case he wasn‘t treated properly; in case he needed assistance and was ignored; in case he wasn’t looked after.
The dayanim are responsible for this. They have shed his blood.
Now let’s return to all the previous lessons about going out to war that are sandwiched between the beginning and end of our parsha and repeat the earlier question: Is there a connection?
I think there is. The Mishna in Pirkei Avos (5:11) clearly tells us:
חרב באה לעולם על עוות הדין ועל עינוי הדין ועל המורים בתורה שלא כהלכה.
Sword (i.e., violent death) comes to the world due to corrupting judgement, delaying judgement and issuing rulings that don’t conform with Halacha.
This corruption can only be referring to the judges of Beit Din. When the judges are not carrying out their job properly, we are stricken with war and death. The dayanim are responsible for this bloodshed.
I wrote as much in a post on March 6, 2024. Let's review:
On a subject that I haven’t really addressed in these pages, but I intend to, I have seen numerous instances over the years, of pious dayanim and Batei Din who, let’s just say, were making mistakes. I am talking about mistakes that didn’t need to happen and that have caused damages to people that also didn’t need to happen.
I am talking about easily avoidable damages and, in some cases, easily fixable damages. Yet, the dayanim involved are not too eager to acknowledge the mistakes, nor to fix or minimize the damage. One shocking instance happened just recently, in this apocalyptic period.
Ever since Shemini Atzeres, we are currently in a situation of cherev – sword – which means war and violent death. According to Chazal, there must be some responsibility from the Batei Din. What’s more shocking is that on November 30, 2024, at the height of the war, there was a tragic terrorist attack at the entrance of Yerushalayim which claimed four precious Jews. One was a very prominent dayan, a second was the niece of a dayan and one of the wounded was likewise a dayan.
This “cherev” does not only come to the tzibur, but it comes to the dayanim themselves.
Our dayanim are not only accountable for the ravages of war, but for all kinds of national misfortunes. And not just national misfortunes, even international ones. This is what Chazal tell us in the gemara in Shabbos 139a:
תניא רבי יוסי בן אלישע אומר אם ראית דור שצרות רבות באות עליו צא ובדוק בדייני ישראל שכל פורענות שבאה לעולם לא באה אלא בשביל דייני ישראל שנאמר )מיכה ג, ט) שמעו נא זאת ראשי בית יעקב וקציני בית ישראל המתעבים משפט ואת כל הישרה יעקשו בונה ציון בדמים וירושלים בעולה ראשיה בשוחד ישפוטו וכהניה במחיר יורו ונביאיה בכסף יקסומו ועל ה' ישענו וגו' .
We are taught in Braitha – Rabi Yosi ben Elisha says: If you see a generation that numerous troubles overwhelm it, go and investigate the Judges of Israel for all misfortunes that come to the world only come due to the Judges of Israel, as is written (Micha 3:9), “Please hear this the leaders of the House of Jacob and the officers of the House of Israel who detest justice and corrupt all that is straightforward, they construct Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wrongdoing. Its leaders judge based on bribery and its priests issue rulings for a price and its prophets will conjure for money and they will justify all their activities on G-d[liness]…”
That same gemara later adds:
אמר ר"א בן מלאי משום ר"ל מאי דכתיב (ישעיהו נט, ג) כי כפיכם נגואלו בדם ואצבעותיכם בעון שפתותיכם דברו שקר לשונכם עולה תהגה כי כפיכם נגואלו בדם אלו הדיינין ואצבעותיכם בעון אלו סופרי הדיינין שפתותיכם דברו שקר אלו עורכי הדיינין לשונכם עולה תהגה אלו בעלי דינין
Says Rabi Eliezer ben Malai in the name of Resh Lakish: What is the meaning of the verse (Yeshaya 59:3), “For your palms are soiled with blood and your fingers with sin, your lips speak falsehoods and your tongues pronounce invective…”? Palms soiled in blood – these are the judges. Fingers with sin – these are the court scribes. Lips speak falsehoods – these are the advocates (Toanim). Tongues pronounce invectives – these are the litigants.
We can understand that the advocates and litigants who are הדיוטות (commoners) are not expected to be saints. That’s why they are in court. They don’t take any bribes, they just pay them. And they wouldn’t pay them if the dayanim wouldn’t take them. But what is the excuse for the corruption of the pious and learned dayanim and the scribes?
Their palms are soiled in blood.
All of this is in line with the gemara in Moed Katan 5a which says that the “authorities” (i.e., local Beis Din) are responsible to oversee that roads and streets are smooth and safe, are clear of debris and thorns, and that all the Mikvaos are kosher. After stating this, the gemara adds a very strong admonition:
From where do we know that if they did not oversee these things, that anyone who is hurt or injured is viewed as if they (Beis Din) are the ones who shed their blood? From this pasuk (Devarim 19:10), והיה עליך דמים “And there will be upon you (עליך) bloods.”
[Note, it does not say והיה בך דמים “There will be bloods among you” but rather עליך “upon you” meaning the death or injury is put upon the authorities.]
All this tells us that when a dayan is irresponsible and causes damage, he has blood on his hands.
I have personally been to Beis Din (monetary) on several occasions both on the inside and the outside and I have seen way too much שפיכות דמים. As I noted in my March 6 post, a lot of this שפיכת דמים is avoidable. I am greatly disturbed that I do not see the general institution of Beis Din or the individual dayanim taking any measures whatsoever to avoid it or even to reduce it. All too often, when the dayanim of today exclaim ידנו לא שפכו את הדם הזה, they are not being truthful. And I have seen dayanim meet untimely deaths and other misfortunes as a result.
For quite some time, I have yearned to address this problem in my blog and to suggest obvious remedies. To date, I have been delaying this in hopes that the prophecy of Yeshaya 1:25 will beat me to it. Yeshaya says:
(ישעיהו א, כה) ואשיבה ידי עליך ואצרוף כבור סגיך ואסירה כל בדיליך ואשיבה שופטיך כבראשונה ויועציך כבתחלה וגו'.
“And I will restore My hand upon it and will smelt off your scum as with lye and remove all your impurities and I will restore your judges as they were at first and your advisors as in the beginning…”
So far, it hasn’t happened, and I cannot put it off any longer. This is a very complex subject, and it will require either a short series of long posts or a long series of short posts. My experience as a blogger tells me that the second approach is much preferred, so I will try to keep the posts shorter than my usual ones. As a bonus, when they are shorter and take less time to write, I can post more frequently and maintain a rhythm.
With this, I am announcing the launch of Project Emesh.
This is a project to educate readers about Beis Din. What it is and what it isn’t; how it works and how it should work; what every person should know before they call for a Din Torah or before they respond to one; and how to avoid getting hurt.
Most people who haven't been to a Din Torah, even the most learned among us, don’t have a clue.
Although I am unworthy of this momentous task, I don’t see anyone else taking it on (specifically for cases of mammonus). I will be more than happy if others join me or even take it over and relieve me of this task.
Why is it called Project Emesh? What is the meaning of the term Emesh?
Well, I just wrote that I want the posts of this series to be shorter, so I will leave this mystery for the next post.
Meanwhile let’s stay safe and keep our hands clean.
כפר לעמך ישראל אשר פדית ה' ואל תתן דם נקי בקרב עמך ישראל
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