Shoftim

The Pasuk in this week's Parsha states, "If a matter eludes you in judgment, between blood and blood, between judgment and judgment, or between lesion and lesion, words of dispute in your cities, then you shall arise and go up to the place the Lord, your God, chooses." (17:8) 

The Gemara in Yoma (9b) tells us, "The first temple, why was it destroyed? Because in that generation, Jews were guilty of the three cardinal sins, idolatry, adultery, and murder. The second Temple, why was it destroyed? Because of baseless hatred.” 

The Maharal explains the reason why humans have the temptation to sin is an outcome of the original sin committed by Adam and Chava. Before eating from the forbidden fruit, the evil inclination was not an internal force in their make-up. It was an external force that didn’t have as much control over them. Once they ate from the forbidden fruit, the evil inclination became an internal force and now was able to get the humans to confuse the good with evil and vice versa. 

Idol worship is a sin done through the mind of the person, adultery is a sin done through the body, and murder is a sin done by taking away a soul. Each one takes effect because of the confusion between good and evil. The idol worshiper believes that the idol has the power to help him. The adulterer fantasizes the key to happiness is unrestricted pleasures of this world, and the murderer imagines the person who he is attacking is the source of his challenges in life. 

To combat the confusion in all three areas, the Torah commands us, “If a matter eludes you in judgment, between blood and blood,” alluding to the soul, “between judgment and judgment,” alluding to the mind, “or between lesion and lesion,” which refers to the body. All three correspond to the three causes of the destruction of the first temple. “words of dispute in your cities,” refer to the baseless hatred, which was the cause of the destruction of the second temple. 

“then you shall rise and go up to the place the Lord, your God, chooses. The holy temple. Nowadays, that we don’t have the temple, the Gemara tells us Hashem’s dwelling place is where Torah scholars learn Halachah (the Torah laws). הלכה של אמות ד אלא בעולמו לו אין” .And you shall come to the Levitic kohanim and to the judge who will be in those days, and you shall inquire, and they will tell you the words of judgment.” (17:9) So too, for future generations, we should come to the Torah leaders and inquire, and they will tell us the words of judgment and help us gain the clarity we need. 

We should have the merit to have the humility to nullify our minds to the mind of the Torah leaders, to have complete clarity of what is right and be able to follow wholeheartedly.