“You shall observe the festival of Sukkos... Judges and officers you shall appoint...” (Devarim 16:13,18)
Although the Torah is divided into the weekly portions as we know them, there is another system which is used to divide the verses of the Torah, that of “pesuchos” and” stumos”, literally “open” and “closed”. A parsha pesucha is roughly translated as a new chapter and a parsha stuma is a new paragraph. A parsha pesucha begins as a new line, while a parsha stumah begins on the same line. The section of the laws of judges is a parsha stumah, a new paragraph, but not a new chapter. Therefore, there must be a significant connection between these laws and the laws of Sukkos, which concludes last week’s parsha.
The judicial system in Israel requires that every city contain a minor Sanhedrin consisting of twenty-three judges. The Talmud teaches that a city must be populated with a minimum of one hundred twenty people to warrant a judicial system. Each judge has two understudies. What is the rationale for requiring a city of one hundred twenty people to have sixty-nine judges? Why the need for so many courts and judges throughout the land?
The function of the Jewish court system is not only to dispense justice and restore order; a judge is the conduit for the word of Hashem and must create a society where Hashem’s presence is felt. A Jewish law-abiding citizen must observe the law, not due to a fear of retribution, but a fear of sin. A system which is predicated upon the notion that people will not violate the law due to their fear of the consequences cannot succeed.
The reason for this is as follows: If a person perceives the rewards for violating the law to be worth the risk of being caught, he will violate the law. The only effective system is one where a person perceives that it is intrinsically wrong to violate the law. This can only be achieved if people feel the presence of Hashem in their midst. The function of the judge is to create this atmosphere. If the purpose of the judicial system were to create fear of punishment, there would be no need for so many judges. Bolstering the police force would be more effective. But since the purpose of the judge is to create a society where Hashem’s presence is tangible, we understand the need for such a large number of judges.
A major theme pertaining to the festival of Sukkos is that we leave our houses in order to go into the “shadow of Hashem.” The Sukkah is a place where Hashem’s presence manifests itself. Therefore, the connection between the festival of Sukkos and the judicial system is clear. The judicial system serves to create the same atmosphere throughout society, that is found in the Sukkah.
