In this weeks Torah portion, Shoftim, we read, “You shall appoint judges and officers at all your gates.” The Jews followed this commandment and, upon entering the Holy Land, appointed judges and officers. When Moshiach comes, we will return to this justice system, as the prophet Isaiah, prophet of the Redemption, prophesied, “And I will return your judges as in former times, and your advisers as at the beginning.”
On a practical level, the injunction of “You shall appoint judges at all your gates,” must be applied on several different levels. First, the “gates” can be interpreted as referring to the seven gates of a person: the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and mouth. They should act according to the dictates of the Torah. On this level, the “judges” refer to the intellectual capacity of the soul and the “advisers,” the emotional attributes. Thus, every element of the life of a Jew has to be permeated and led by the G-dly power of his soul.
This concept does not have to apply to oneself alone, however. It should be extended and every man and woman should serve as a “judge” and an “adviser” in his family, ensuring that it runs according to the teachings and advice of the Torah. To extend this concept even further, the whole world should follow the directives of the “judge” and the “adviser” of the generation, the “prophet I will set up for them, like you (Moses),” the leader of the generation.
And certainly, by allowing our G-dly soul to advise us, and by advising our families to follow the dictates of the Torah, and lastly, by following the advice of the Moses of our generation, we will merit the realization of the promise of Isaiah, that of a return to the glory and Divine favor of previous times, with the coming of Moshiach, NOW.
