Parshot/Festivals
My own (inner) Beth Din
“And these are the judgments you should place before them” is how we open up this week’s entry in to Torah’s laws of marriage, fair labour practices, civil liabilities, honourable jurisprudence, welfare, as well as laws of kosher, Shabbat and festivals. Quite a list of laws, 53 in fact, packed in to the first parsha after Sinai.
Rabbi Asher Deren
The Shul of Blouberg – West Coast
“Place before them” is as Rashi explains, that all matters of civil dispute between two Jews should be brought before the Beth Din, the Jewish court of law, to be adjudicated according to the laws of Torah.
South Africa is blessed to have a vibrant Beth Din where many a business dispute has been resolved to the satisfaction and trust of both parties.
Shortly after I assumed a rabbinic post here in Cape Town I had to be in Johannesburg for a family function, during the infamous “Beth Din on Trial” case where an individual took the Beth Din to the High Court over a judgment not in his favour.
I recall watching in amazement from the visitors’ gallery how the Rosh Beth Din Rabbi Moshe Kurtstag sat, with unflinching dignity and pride, as a non-Jewish judge heard, and ultimately judged favourably, the message of this week’s parsha.
But this message carries weight for the rest of us as well, even those who aren’t in court – or even the Beth Din.
The Baal HaTanya explains that the words “(you should place) before them” – means “to their innermost selves”. Hashem is telling Moshe that the message of Torah has to reach our deepest and innermost core; that our inner court also needs to be a “Jewish” court.
In an age of Facebook vigilantism where lives are shamed and destroyed on the flip of a coin, let’s remember that judging others is a skewed reflection of our obsession with the external differences between us and the ones we are judging.
But in truth we all contain an inseparable spark of G-dliness. Inseparable from G-d, and our fellow man created in His image. From that perspective, the difference between ourselves and others is secondary to that first nature and truth where we all are one perfect whole.
Faith in G-d should automatically translate in to faith in others.
It’s no coincidence that all of the “normal” laws of how to do business, treat your family, eat a breakfast, and be a responsible “mentch” isn’t just about feeling good. We have to make sure that when we come to court, the ever functioning inner courtroom of the mind, we consciously function, like a Beth Din, by the light and wisdom of our Torah forever.