Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof-- a Faculty Dvar Torah

The following Dvar Torah was written by Karyn Brelloch, a member of our Middle School faculty. It was shared with students this week. In this Dvar Torah Karyn eloquently frames one of our menschlichkeit values: Tzedek. Every Middle School faculty member is invited to share at least one Dvar Torah with the entire Middle School community each academic year.

 

D’var Torah: Parshat Shoftim 

August 28, 2014

 

Parsha Shoftim deals with the challenges of maintaining the law and order that is necessary for a civilized society to survive and flourish. It focuses on the importance of justice, which can be translated as righteousness – tzedek, one of The Davis Academy’s core values. This Parsha describes how local judges and officers were to be appointed in every city, and emphasizes that justice should be administered righteously and impartially - a judge was strictly forbidden to show bias or accept a bribe. It sums up the seven qualifications of an authentic judge: wisdom, humility, reverence for God, disdain of gain, love of truth, love for his fellow man and a good reputation.

Shoftim teaches us that performing deeds of justice is perhaps one of the most important obligations for the Jewish people. The focus in this Parsha is on emphasizing justice and its close relationship to charity in the Jewish tradition, which is still important and relevant to this day.  The close relationship between justice and charity can be seen in the Hebrew words. In English, the word charity comes from the Latin caritas, meaning from the heart, and implies a voluntary act. In contrast, the word for charity in Hebrew is tzedakah which is simply the feminine form of the Hebrew word for justice, tzedek. Thus, it is an expectation of the Jewish people that they practice charity as a part of striving to live a fair and just life.

In fact, the word tzedek is repeated twice in this Parsha. One of the most famous lines in the Torah is: "Tzedek, tzedek  tirdof” or “Justice – Justice shall you pursue” stressing the importance of even handed justice to all, whether in word or action, whether to a Jew or non-Jew. Justice is repeated twice in order to emphasize its importance, and to recognize the fact that a just verdict benefits all parties. It prevents one from losing what is rightfully his or hers and it prevents the other from the sin of possessing that to which he or she is not entitled. Justice is something that mankind cannot grow and thrive without. It requires that every person, regardless of their race, religion, character, socioeconomic status, or ethnicity be treated fairly. It is a noble pursuit, but one that few people or societies, if any, are able to achieve with the consistency that the Torah requests, which is why it is the pursuit of justice rather than the consistent practice that is called for, and why we at The Davis Academy consider it so important.