Parasha Shoftim
Shabbat Shoftim:
This parasha is named Shoftim. Shoftim translates as Judges. The first verse is truly a verse that needs a deeper look. Here is the first verse of the Parasha.
Hebrew: שפטים ושטרים תתן-לך בכל-שעריך אשר יהוה אלהיך נתן לך לשבטיך ושפטו את-העם משפט-צדק
Translation: Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, tribe by tribe; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
Note: There are 97 verses in the Parasha; there are 17 words composed of 64 letters in this first verse. These numbers are very significant in helping us understand the inner essence of this Parasha.
On its Pshat - simple unclothed level this Parasha is dealing with Judgments. Yet is it truly dealing with judgment? Is the inner essence that easy to decode?
If that were true then HaShem is telling us that judgment is good, since 17 has the direct connection to good as we learn in Kabbalah. Also, the word Sod when spelled incompletely connects to this verse as well through its 64 letters. In my opinion judgment is too simple an answer to the question "What is the inner essence of the parasha of Shoftim?"
What is 97 telling us? The Sages teach that this meaning of Parasha Shoftim relates to the Hebrew word Salu סלוה. The translation of Salu is "forgive". There are a few other hints to the essence of this Parasha from this series of numbers.
This Parasha is read as the first Parasha in the month of Elul. As Kabbalah teaches the energy of Elul deals with cleansing, returning to HaShem, forgiveness, and judging ourselves harshly so that the universe can apply mercy to our lives when HaShem sits on his throne of judgment a few weeks from now on Rosh HaShanah.
The number of letters being 64 also teaches us about the essence of the Parasha as well. 64 is סד in Hebrew letters. This is a shoresh or root that transslates as "secret". It also can be translated as "door to support". Some words that have the gematria of 64 are Nevuah - Prophecy נבואה; Sovav - turn around סבב; and Gonah - Serenity גונה.
All of these ideas relate to this understanding that the internal essence of the Parasha is Teshuvah leading to the idea of turning yourself around in a way that leads to supportingbthe process serenity, prophecy, and having HaShem forgive you.
This is confirmed by the last 9 verses of the Parasha. These last 9 verses describe a very strange ritual called the Yimatzeh Chalal. Here is an English translation of these 9 verses: It is all from the first 9 verses of Chapter 21 of Deuteronomy:
Here is the translation of Chapter 21 Verse 1 to 9 of Devarim:
Verse 1: If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath smitten him;
Verse 2: then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain.
Verse 3: And it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke.
Verse 4: And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which may neither be plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley.
Verse 5: And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near--for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto Him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.
Verse 6: And all the elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.
Verse 7: And they shall speak and say: 'Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
Verse 8: Forgive, O LORD, Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood to remain in the midst of Thy people Israel.' And the blood shall be forgiven them.
Verse 9: So shalt thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD.
The last two verses relate to forgiveness and being closer to HaShem. This is the essence of the Parasha, not judgment.
We are taught by the Chasidic Masters to utilize the first verse to put guards and judges directly on our gates of our body. These gates are our eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. It is a very important teaching and a very important practice to do for each day of the year.
Even so, it is important for us to realize that this Parasha continues the idea of Moshe and the admonition since judgments are related to admonition - criticism with love.
Part 2
The first verse in the Parasha is difficult to understand due to the last few words of the verse. These words relates to the idea of judging between Tribes as well as an idea of Righteous Judgment. What is Righteous Judgment? It is judgment that is fair, equitable, and correct from a spiritual standpoint. That is not human judgment --- yet. It is a goal to strive for in human societies. When one follows the path of the Torah one can arrive at Righteous Judgment about oneself. Another meaning of Righteous judgment is Forgivness that leads to a spiritual judgment.
Remember the Kabbalists teach us to study / read / scan the Tikunei Zohar commencing on Rosh Chodesh Elul through Yom Kippur. This will cause you to reach a level of Righteous Judgment about yourself in a merciful way. Try it and ask each of your friends to do it with you also. Here is a link that will provide the Tikunie Zohar Tool.
The Tikunie Zohar is a collection of 70 essays that deal with the inner essence of the word Beraishit. Since Beraishit is the first word in the Torah this word has all of the Torah concealed within itself. Reading or scanning the Tikunei Zohar is all that is needed to accomplish the cleansing that we all need during Elul and the 10 days of Awe. Please use this tool and assist all of the world in building the House of positive Torah words that will be the essence of the coming year 5782. That is what can be achieved this year.
Remember the words we say matter and will manifest exactly as we think they will.
Here are links to other tools to use during the days of preparation for the High Holidays:
Beraishit Meditations - This page will be built from the daily email meditations of the Tikunei Zohar Summaries.
Please utilize these Kabbalistic tools as you learn how to improve your energy levels during the next year of 5775 - תשעה
The Link above is teaching the year ahead - 5775 from the Kabbalistic Perspective. Please read it.
Our Rosh Chodesh Elul is scheduled for Tuesday Evening August 8 2021 at 7:00 PM West Coast Time. Please join us on the Conference Call at 712-832-8330 and use pin code 911904#
Parasha Shoftim is always read in the month of Elul. The energy of Elul and Shoftim similar. Elul is about judging yourself with regards to your actions during the past year or years or previous lifetimes in order to do the Mitzvah of Teshuvah.
The Parasha of Shoftim is a vaccine against judging others. It is also the energy of forgiving yourself so to be able to return to HaShem. This is part of HaShem's mercy since when we judge others HaShem judges us using a very strict measuring stick.
At the end of the Parasha in Chapter 21 Verses 1 - 9 is an unusual Mitzvah that has a community's leaders reject the responsibility for causing the death of a human being.
The Mitzvah concerns a dead body found outside of various towns. The high judges of the Sanhedrin are required to travel to the location of the body. Then these judges must measure the distance to various close towns to determine which town is the closest. These judges must measure - they can not accept any other determination like a map or common knowledge.
Once the measurement is made the leaders of the town are summoned to the location of the body and must stand in front of the judges and declare their personal innocence as well as their communities innocence. This is done under an oath that uses HaShem's Name.
Please understand this is not modern people with modern values. They are the highest spiritual level people in the land. They understand that if someone dies it is because they did not care enough about visitors to find lodging within their town.
They did sincere Teshuvah before they traveled cross country to the Sanhedrin court. They did not take these oaths lightly. In fact they would verify by talking to the gossips of the town that no one in the town was responsible for the death. In addition to talking to the gossips they would personally verify the information they received. If there was a rumor they would personally question the people involved with the rumor until they felt that they could with good conscious make the oath.
This Mitzvah teaches some important spiritual principles. Look at our generation last weekend in the city of Chicago. If you were the city council in Chicago would you take the oath in this Mitzvah?
The Torah teaches that we are responsible for the deaths in the city of Chicago. We did not pull the triggers yet we also did not reveal sufficient Light so that people who pulled the triggers would know their responsibility to not pull the triggers.
Please add this to your list of items to do Teshuvah!
