Shoftim Drash

Shoftim Judges

This weeks Parashat is named Shoftim and means Judges.

At the very end of the Torah Portion in Deuteronomy 21:1-9 we have the description of what to do when a corpse is found in a field near a town. The verses describe a ritual that must take a lot of time. The elders and judges must determine the distance from the corpse to the closest town. Then a heifer that has never plowed or pulled a wagon must be brought to a wadi that has never been plowed or tilled. The heifer must be necked or have the head cut off. Then the kohanim will come and the elders of the closest city will wash their hands over the heifer and then declare “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see. Grant atonement for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, Adonai, and do not put innocent blood on Your people Israel.” After this ritual they now have atonement for the innocent blood.

This is a lot of activity. As I contemplated this my mind naturally went to the worse case scenario. An outsider on the road traveling to a city was murdered by an unknown person and they never made it to the destination. This seems kind of extreme. Why should the place the outsider was traveling to, be responsible for them? So I started studying what the sages had to say.

The great Sage Rashi, in regards to this verse, pointed out that while a murder of an outsider destined to the town is possible, a different and possibly more troubling scenario is the outsider had just left the town. As well he may have left with out escourt and without provisions. In other words the outsider could have been in need and was neglected. This is especially troubling since in a previous Parashat, Ekev, Deuteronomy 10:18 & 19 we read “He enacts justice for the orphan and widow, and loves the outsider, giving him food and clothing. 19Therefore love the outsider, for you were outsiders in the land of Egypt.”

There is a ton of excuses and explanations that we can come up with in regards to trying to claim innocence from this event. What if the outsider did not make themselves known, or what if they refused help, what if they came at a bad time or kept to themselves and did not seem to want to speak to anyone? How could the town and the elders be responsible for this? What if the people had been watchful for the opportunity to help, had insisted upon providing assistance, put aside what was going on for a few moments and was patient and gentle even if the outsider was gruff? In all it is easy to be critical of a town when we think of it this way. Yet bnei Israel has always been the target of animosity and have been betrayed at some point by every friend and ally, let alone outsiders. This might cause a behavior of suspicion and keeping distance from outsiders. Now did I describe these towns in Israel or us?

We are told to love the outsider and the essence of this is to be vulnerable. We will be disappointed, hurt even betrayed by those we try to help sometimes. So to was our great Rabbi Yeshua. Living as he lived is to accept responsibility as the hand that reaches out. Yet there is no greater way to love than to love the way Yeshua loved, even or maybe especially when it is hard.