Place Judges at All your Gates
פרשת שופטים
Place Judges at All your Gates
שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך אשר ה' אלקיך נתן לך לשבטיך (טז יח)
This week's parshah begins with the mandate of 'you should place judges and enforcement officers at all the gates that Hashem has given your tribes'. This possuk is where we are given the mitzvah of establishing batei din in all the cities in which Yidden dwell. This directive includes the obligation to have both, שופטים, judges, as well as שוטרים, representatives of the Beis din who would enforce their rulings.
There were different obligations for the different levels of Sanhedrin, and each had their own responsibilities. The Sanhedri gedolah was made up of seventy-one dayanim who sat in the לשכת הגזית in the Beis Hamikdash, and they had the final authority over all the other batei din. The Sanhedri ketanah were made up of twenty-three dayanim and every city with over one-hundred-twenty Yidden were obligated to have one. Both Sanhedrin could rule on cases of מיתת בית דין, capital punishment. A place which did not have a Sanhedri ketanah could have a Beis din comprised of three dayanim, and they were able to rule cases of דיני ממונות, monetary disputes, as well as other halachos.
Klal Yisroel were given the mitzvah of establishing batei din that would have two different duties. One duty of a beis din was to judge different shailos, diverse halachic queries and litigations. The shotrim would then ensure that the rulings were being enforced.
Their other duty was to see in which ways Klal Yisroel needed to strengthen their adherence to Torah, and to establish applicable takonos, regulations and statutes that would ensure that they adhere to halacha. The dayanim would send the shotrim to the market places to check that the scales, as well as the other means used for transactions, were perfectly calibrated to ensure honest, ethical business dealings. They would also notice which areas of conduct in the marketplaces needed improvements, and they would then enforce the tekanos that the dayanim established. (see רמב"ם פ"א הל' סנהדרין and ספר החינוך מצ' תצא)
Gates to the Soul
Multiple seforim explain that this possuk, in addition to being a command to set up a judicial system in Klal Yisroel, is also a reference to a crucial obligation for every individual Yid. The possuk says that judges should be placed at the שעריס, gates. Rashi explains that this means cities. Meforshim explain why a city is called a gate. One has only entered a city once he has passed its surrounding gate. As long as he has not opened the gate and stepped beyond its threshold, he has not yet entered the city.
The של"ה הקדוש and many other seforim explain that this is a reference to a Yid's obligation to place guards around his own personal entrances. Every person has seven entrances to his inner self; two eyes, two ears, the nose comprised of two nostrils, and the mouth. We are obligated to place filters which will guard these entrances from any harmful influences that seek to enter. The Shoftim we place by these entrances, must judge all stimuli that appear before them, on whether they are safe or whether they can be harmful to our souls. The Shotrim must then seek ways to protect us from exposure to these stimuli. A person should set up guards to prevent future exposure to sights, sounds, tastes or smells that are forbidden, as well as not allowing himself to utter words of forbidden speech.
Personal Judges
The של"ה says that the words תתן לך are written in singular tense, because this commandment to guard our eyes, ears, mouth and nose was given to every single individual. Each person must be his own judge and police officer, who ensures the sanctity of his own soul. He is in charge of filtering all that he hears and sees and so forth, to ensure that he is not exposed to any harmful sights or sounds.
The Kozhnitzer Maggid in his sefer Avodas Yisroel discusses this reference of the possuk, and he says that this is the reason why Parshas Shoftim is read in chodesh Elul, because it guides us on how to do teshuvah. The Bnei Yissaschar (מאמרי חודש אלול מ"א) also says that this is reason we read this parshah in Elul, because it is the התחלת ועיקרה התשובה. Guarding one's soul, through careful vetting of that which we see, hear, taste and even smell, is the beginning of teshuvah and the main component thereof.
Self-imposed Punishment
The Bnei Yissaschar explains how one can be his own שוטר. He says that a person should 'fine' or 'punish' himself for his infractions. Just like the Shotrim in the time of the Beis Din would punish offenders in order to ensure compliance with the rulings of Beis Din, so too should a person punish himself for not guarding himself and stumbling with forbidden sights, foods and so forth. Tzadikim would atone for these transgressions through fasting, increasing tzedakah, and other self-imposed penalties'.
In his sefer on the parsha, אגרא דכלה, the Bnei Yissaschar says that a person should even punish himself for a transgression that was an אונס, an involuntary, unavoidable aveirah. He (and many other seforim) reference the rest of the possuk to prove that if one consistently punishes himself for aveiros in which he was an אונס then Hashem will repay him, that he will no longer stumble at all, even with an unavoidable aveirah. If you put both shoftim and shotrim to ensure you do not transgress, then אשר ה' אלוקיך נתן לך Hashem will give you the ability to no longer stumble, because שבטיך you have used your 'stick' to punish yourself when you committed earlier transgressions, therefore Hashem will ensure that you will no longer stumble.
The Bnei Yissaschar concludes that he has seen with his own eyes tzaddikim who were simply incapable of transgressing through seeing or hearing an undesirable sight or sound. They became as though blind or deaf to that which is forbidden. He says אשרי עין ראתה כל אלה fortunate is the eye that has seen this phenomenon. It is clear that if a person is meticulous about protecting himself from ראיות ושמיעות אסורין ומאכלים, and in the event that he does unfortunately stumble, then he does everything to ensure it will not reoccur, then he will be granted great סייעתא דשמיא and he will no longer sin.
In Every Situation
The Alexander Rebbe in his sefer Beis Yaakov also discusses this concept of placing shoftim and shotrim to guard us from sin. He sees the word שעריך not as a reference to the entrances to our souls, but as an indication to guarding ourself in every situation we may encounter. A person must protect himself from sin whether he lives in a state of riches or poverty, whether he is healthy or unwell, and in every other state or situation. And indeed, the Torah promises us that if we are vigilant at all times, then אשר ה' אלוקיך נתן לך Hashem will grant us success.
Remembering the Punishment
The Beis Aharon also discusses this concept, and he interprets the word 'shotrim' as a reference to remembering the עונש the divine punishment one receives for an aveirah, as a deterrent to committing that sin. The other commentaries say that one should guard his soul from committing sin through judging that which he exposes himself to, and punishing himself for exposing himself to or committing impure or unkosher behaviors. The Beis Aharon says that one should judge whether a behavior or action is proper, and one should focus on the Heavenly punishment he may recieve if he commits the sin, and in that way, he will be deterred from transgressing.
The Efficacy of Fining Oneself
It is seldom that one sees such a strong consensus between so many seforim, including meforshim and sifrei mussar, discussing the same concept they all derive from a particular possuk. Across the board all these seforim see this possuk as a reference for guarding ourselves from sin. Just like the Torah instructs us to establish different levels of batei din in all cities, including a means for the dayanim to ensure that their rulings are adhered to, so that Klal Yisroel upholds the Torah, so too one must set up safeguards on an individual level. One must constantly judge every action to determine whether it is permitted, and he must either think about the עונש he can receive, or as most seforim say, he should actually punish himself in order to deter himself from sinning again.
R' Zalman Brizel zt"l, a famous tzaddik in Yerushalayim would often use this idea, and guide others to enact self-imposed punishment, as a deterrent to sinning. At one point he created a chaburah, a group of ehrliche yidden, who would get together every Thursday night to examine their actions and create takonos to prevent further sin. They decided that whoever stumbles in a certain area of sin would have to bring a designated amount of money to the next chaburah, which would then be donated to tzedakah.
The following week the coffers filled up, many of the participants fined themselves for transgressions and brought the money for the chaburah to distribute to tzedakah. The week after that the coffers still filled up, but less than the previous week. Slowly, the participants had to fine themselves much less frequently, until they completely stopped. R' Zalman would repeat this anecdote as proof of the efficacy of self-imposed consequences as a deterrent for sinning.
Once when he was already an elderly wheelchair-bound man, R' Zalman was out on the street, when he met R' Zvi Meir Zilberberg shlita across the street. He excitedly called out to him that he has something to share. He told him that he just thought of another way to give himself a consequence if he stumbles with the middah of כעס, anger. He then exclaimed, you'll see, the consequence will be so impactful, that in another two weeks there will be a different Zalman!" Even at his advanced age he was still looking for an effective way of שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך as a means to self-improvement. Indeed, that is the way to constantly elevate oneself, until one merits the Torah's promise of אשר ה' אלוקיך נתן לך לשבטיך, that Hashem will protect you from sin.
Bruised but Stronger
There is an amazing story that was heard from R' Alter Wiliamovsky, a talmid of the Chofetz Chaim, that relates how the Chofetz Chaim would protect himself from the Yetzer Hara with zeal, going to great lengths to improve in areas he felt the Yetzer was trying to weaken him. Once when he was already in his nineties, he came to Beis Midrash in the morning, completely bruised up. His talmidim became concerned and questioned him whether everything was okay. The Chofetz Chaim pleasantly reassured them. He explained that the Yetzer Hara had simply started up with him in the morning, trying to persuade him that he is already an old man, he no longer needs to wake up at five every morning. The Chofetz Chaim said "I retorted that he is as old as me, and has been fighting me for over ninety years, and he has not yet given up. I would not capitulate to him. I threw myself out of bed, and indeed I got a little bruised, but I warned him that in fact tomorrow I would wake up even earlier, at four o'clock in the morning!
Natural Self-Protection
Many seforim state that although initially one must find ways to guard himself and enforce his takonos upon himself, eventually Hashem helps and a person's body and soul becomes so adept at protecting itself that it naturally does more of the right thing and avoids transgressions more easily.
When the Sefer Hachinuch relates this mitzvah of establishing שופטים ושוטרים בכל שעריך he seems to be bothered by the fact that one would need an enforcement officer to ensure that Yidden abide by the Torah laws. Shouldn't a person perform the mitzvos because they have Yiras and Ahavas Hashem, without any external enforcement necessary? The Sefer Hachinuch explains that indeed, מתוך ההרגל בטוב וביושר מחמת יראה ילמדו העם לעשות משפט וצדק מאהבה בהכרתם דרך האמת through getting used to doing what is correct and righteous as a result of fear, they will learn to do what is right due to love and an understanding of the true path. Indeed, the need for shotrim, should be a means to an end, and not end goal. The shotrim are there until ehrlichkeit and purity becomes so ingrained in an individual, that following the dictates of the Torah becomes second nature.
The same principle holds true on the individual level. A person should set safeguards to protect himself from transgressing, and when he does sin, he should punish himself to ensure that it does not reoccur. Eventually doing the right thing will become so ingrained in him that that he will naturally want to do only that. It will no longer remain necessary for him to fine' himself for misdeeds.
R' Yankele of Pshevorsk zt"l related an anecdote that occurred with the Rebbe R' Mendele of Rimanov. He was once reading a kvittel form a chassid and he smiled to himself. Later the Rebbetzin asked him why he smiled, he said the chassid asked for a bracha for יראת הרוממות an even higher level than Yiras Shamayim, where one refrains from sin due to an elevated awareness of Hashem's greatness. R' Mendele in his humility smiled and stated "I too would love to have יראת הרוממות.
R' Yankele would add that it is not enough for a person to want to reach a certain madreigah. He must do everything to ensure that he refrains from sin and eventually he will reach loftier levels.
It is understandable that we would love to be extremely elevated individuals without having to put any external enforcements in place. Indeed, the Torah tells us that with repeated tries of שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך if we continuously judge what is good for our souls and take action to ensure that we will live our lives accordingly, then we will eventually reach a level of אשר ה' אלוקיך נתן לך Hashem will elevate us to the level that Torah and mitzvos are indeed second nature for us. We will naturally abhor sin and grow more accustomed to living a true Torah life. אמן כן יהיה רצון
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