Judgement and its Application

This week's Torah reading, Shoftim, states, "appoint judges and officers at all your gates." Placing judges at the gates reflects a desire to have every element of the city's functioning conform to Torah law. The verse also serves as a lesson that each person must act as a judge and an officer in his own home, structuring it according to the Torah's standards.

This concept is further amplified by an interpretation of "your gates" as referring to the body's sensory organs: the eyes, ears, skin, nose and mouth. These serve as the "gates" through which we take in information from the environment. We are told to "appoint judges" at these gates, so even our physical perception will be permeated by the guidance of the Torah.

The Need for Enforcement

Moreover, the Torah uses the singular Hebrew form of the word "your gates," implying that these efforts are incumbent upon everyone. Every person is "a city in microcosm," and should "appoint judges and officers" to control his interactions with the world at large.

The judges within our communities and similarly, the judgmental aspects of our own personalities cannot only look inwards. On the contrary, our Sages state that a judge must "gird his loins with bands of steel, lift his robes above his knees, and traverse from city to city... to teach the Jewish people."

A judge's directives are from the Torah. Yet, since the Torah is above intellect, people may have difficulty relating to the directives. Even when they acknowledge the truth of these directives, there may be a gap between such recognition and their own understanding. And this gap may keep such directives from being applied.

Advisors

There are two ways to resolve this difficulty. The first is mentioned in the verse cited: the appointment of enforce-ment officers who will compel others to carry out the judges' rulings. Yet, al-though enforced compliance ensures just conduct, the person compelled to observe remains unrefined. He has been forced to conform, but that conformity is external.

We see a more comprehensive approach from a verse from Isaiah describing the Era of the Redemption: "And I will return your judges as in former times, and your advisers as at the beginning."

An adviser does not issue mandates. Instead, he offers constructive sugges-tions. When "advisers" thus share and explain rulings delivered by the judges, the dictates of the Torah change not only a person's conduct, but also his character.

Judges and Prophets

The difference between these two kinds of observance can be illustrated by compar-ing the function of a judge with that of a prophet. Sages and judges teach the dictates of Torah law. Prophets convey G-d's word on a level more closely related to people's experience, inspiring them to make G-dliness part of their lives.

These concepts are also relevant now. As a foretaste of the prophecy: "And I will return your judges as in former times, and your advisers as at the beginning," before Moshiach's coming, we have been granted judges and prophets to provide us with direction and guidance. Often these qualities have been personified in single individuals, as manifest in the leaders of Chabad until the present age.

These leaders have, like judges, given us directives regarding the present time and, like advisers, have provided us with the insight to anticipate the Redemption, and prepare an environment in which this spirit can spread through the world.

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe from In the Garden of Torah; reprinted with permission from Sichos in English.