Shoftim, שֹׁפְטִים  "Judges"  Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9

Shoftim / Justice Justice 5783

A Poetic Reflection On Parashah Shoftim*

Justice Justice you shall pursue,

justice below and justice above*

Pursue the justification of life before the Judge Above

in the end of days

Pursue the justice of the Torah in all the earth

through the labor pains of Mashiach

Then you shall remain in the land

You shall not fall backward into Egypt

By the Torah of God the heavens were made

Hashem spoke a sustaining utterance

A universe of worlds came into being

He commanded it as Torah,

and creation stood firm

God made reality like a stone

He handed Creation its existence

and placed it on a rock

There he settled the throne of his Presence

The word of God is a master teaching

Creation is a student learning

Some are awake and others are dreaming

Those who are awake are learning

that the heavens were formed with justice,

making the earth tremble to its core

In a nightmare the dreamer asks:

Is reality for the universe a constant variable?

Justice, justice you shall pursue

justice above and justice below

Strict justice ruled every heaven

Righteousness alone is the rock of existence

Would reality need always to be improving

in order to ever approach divine justice?

Were reality ever changing,

would it be only a vacuous field of chaos?

A nightmare quaked through the earth

Would the face of Creation always be stormy waters?

Would reality thrash into whirling pits

and life emerge only at peaks of existence?

The voice of justice spoke in the heavens

Those who were awake heard and learned to hope

For they were given understanding

There can be no compassion without truth,

no mercy without righteousness

Those who were asleep dreamed with fear

Was reality only probability waves?

Were the force of existence clashing cross currents,

breaking against each other?

Deep within its core,

the earth felt how terrifying existence could be!

God created universes

Just as certainly God could destroy them!

Then the Spirit of God hovered over the troubled waters

His peace touched the core of the earth

Heaven and earth were then together given light

They were given sight and received a vision

They saw Israel accepting the Torah

They saw Jerusalem dressed as a bride

Then the deep fears of the earth were comforted

The dark and stormy waters 

on the face of the heavens and the earth were calmed

Creation was prepared

Creation was ready to awake and hear the word of God

The Word of God not only speaks, it listens

At the capstone of all things

the Word of God is prayer*

The mercy of God prays for all Creation

that justice might be exercised without compromise,

and that with help from God

it might sit enthroned by Israel and all nations

upon the chariot of the Torah covenant,

leaving Egypt upon Hashem's wings,

and never returning there again

I have slept and I have woken

I have dreamed and have learned I was dreaming

Your love alone, Hashem, is the source of love

Those who turn their back to You 

to seek love in the earth 

will soon end their journey 

Save the people of the earth,

lest we awake in the field of demons

There is no righteousness in this world but 

the righteousness of repentance 

In me there is an inclination to false perception

And in me there is an inclination to think the truth

With the help of the God of Israel alone

can the spirit of truth that is in me fill my whole soul

and leave no room for the dreams of false perception

Go forward

Pursue righteousness in your peace 

and in your wars within you,

with the help of the Torah’s ways 

and the Torah’s prayers

Show your soul the self-restraint of humility

in your days of peace

Show your soul God’s kindness

in your wars that you wage within you

Then you will learn kindness in community

and the way to peace in your wars with others

Justice, justice you shall pursue!

Pursue justice for Abel

Pursue justice for Cain

The justice that Joseph pursued 

was strict mercy towards his brothers

There is one Israel and one God

Pursue justice in the language of many cultures, 

in the courts of nations and hearts of rulers

Torah Israel has righteous judges 

and faithful officers,

leaders who cultivate responsibility

to prevent breakouts of murder,

and plagues of fraud and immorality,

while they suffocate idolatry

and build the highway of mercy for their God

They study the ways 

and pray the prayers of the Torah,

and know how to create Cities of Refuge,

the portals to the justice above

From there the judgment of just

and righteous mercy is heard,

the sentence that is in his mouth

of the Judge of all the earth

This is the judgment that makes the reality of the world

to stand like a stone

This is the sentence of the voice

that gives Creation continuing existence forever,

in order that you may live and live again,

This is Hashem’s eternal sentence

in order that Israel may arise 

and stand in her land again,

through his kindness,

which is the beauty of his covenant

This is the commandment of the sound of his voice,

that Torah Israel might be his witnesses

to all the earth and to all the heavens,

of his infinite benevolence and endless goodness

This is the judgment that God will reveal 

in his courtyard, even in his chosen land

For God owns the mouths of all his judges

And they shall welcome all the nations of the earth

into the gates of Jerusalem

And they will know the joy of their Maker