Having just quoted an insight from a second generation disciple of the Ari z”l, I would now like to share an idea from the Ari Hakadosh himself.
A pasuk in our parsha teaches: “If a matter of judgment will be hidden from you, between blood and blood, between verdict and verdict, or between affliction and affliction, matters of dispute in your cities – then you shall rise and ascend to the place that Hashem, your G-d shall choose.” [Devarim 17:8] On a straight-forward level, this pasuk is teaching that when a court is confronted with a matter – whether of ritual or civil or criminal nature – that is beyond their ability and judicial competence to resolve, they should take it to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Court, which resides in proximity to the Temple in Jerusalem.
This is the simple interpretation (“p’shuto shel Mikra”). But, as we all know, Torah can be interpreted and studied on many different levels. The Ari z”l, in his Likutei Torah on Parshas Shoftim, says there is an allusion (“remez”) in this pasuk as well. He quotes an idea found in the Zohar.
The Heavenly Angels asked the Almighty at the time of the Destruction of the Temple, “Master of the Universe, You wrote in Your Torah (in connection with the slaughter of a kosher wild animal or bird) ‘And you shall spill his blood and cover it with dirt’ [Vayikra 17:13]. How is it that You were so compassionate even regarding the blood of a slaughtered chicken, insisting that it must be covered, whereas here (regarding the Temple destruction) Your people are being slaughtered with no compassion as it is written ‘Their blood was spilled like water around Jerusalem and there was no one to bury.’ [Tehillim 79:3]?”
I recently heard a story of someone who took his mother back to Hungary. As they were crossing a bridge, he saw his mother begin to shake. He asked her what was wrong. She said she was reminded that the Nazis, may their name be blotted out, used to want to save on bullets. They would tie people together, put them on the bank of the river, and shoot one or two of them, causing them all to drown. The mother told her son she remembered how the river – at exactly the point they were now crossing – had turned red from the blood of the Jews.
This is the question the Heavenly Angels asked the Almighty: You are particular about the blood of a chicken and so (apparently) callous when it comes to the blood of Your people. Why is that?
The Zohar continues with the Angels’ queries to the Almighty: “You have written in Your Torah ‘An ox or lamb and its offspring you shall not slaughter in a single day’ [Vayikra 22:28]. You are so compassionate that you prohibit the slaughter of a mother and its offspring on the same day and yet at the time of the Destruction (Churban) mothers and children were slaughtered together!
You have written in your Torah “...and they shall empty out the house...” [Vayikra 14:36]. You were so particular for the loss of Jewish property that You commanded that the Kohen instruct that the house be emptied of valuables before proclaiming the house and its contents to be impure as a result of a ‘Nega’ on the walls of the house, and yet look at the loss of Jewish property at the time of the Churban! How could You, who were so worried about the blood of a chicken, the feelings of an animal, and the loss of Jewish property in the situation of ‘Negaim’ on houses be so callous regarding these same matters at the time of the Destruction? How could You let this happen?
The Master of the World answered: “You question why all these things are happening? It is because there is no peace and if people do not live at peace with one another, there is nothing.”
The Ari z”l writes that this whole dialog is hinted at in this very pasuk [Devarim 17:8]: When you are perplexed by a matter of judgment, when you don’t understand the distinction between one blood (that of a chicken which must be covered) and another (that of the Jewish people which is flowing like water); between one judgment (that of the ‘mother and its offspring’ when it comes to livestock) and another judgment (against the Jewish people where mother and children are slaughtered together on the same day); between one house which has a ‘nega’ (where we save as much property as possible) and another house with a ‘nega’ (the Beis HaMikdash which had to be totally destroyed), to find the answer to these perplexing questions – writes the Ari z”l – go to the end of the pasuk which explains it all: “matters of dispute in your cities”. It is because of the disputes and lack of peace that exists in your society that all these punishments and apparent lack of Divine compassion has come upon you.
The remedy is – as the pasuk continues – “to go up to the place that Hashem your G-d shall choose.” Jerusalem, the place of G-d’s choice, will ideally be the city of peace and unity, as it is written “The built-up Jerusalem is like a city that is united together.” [Tehillim 122:3]. In the built-up Jerusalem, writes Ari z”l, all Jews will be united in comradeship. Through Torah they will become unified, and peace will reign amongst them.
These words of the Holy Ari need no further elucidation.
