The meaning of the name of today’s Sidra is JUDGES. The Torah commands us to appoint judges and officers to keep social order. The first verse reads: “You shall appoint judges and officers throughout your gates, i.e. cities, which the Lord your God is giving you, in the territory of every one of your tribes, so that they shall judge people fairly.” It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word SHOTER, an officer, used nowadays to denote a police officer, is the same word as SEDER, although the consonants are different.
Many laws in today’s Sidra are devoted to the government and monarchy. There are also laws which regulate the rights of the priests. A large section is devoted to the commandment to listen to the true prophets and be prepared to distinguish them from false prophets. In the final sections of the Sidra we find laws relating to a murderer, the prohibition to steal land and the punishment for giving false evidence in court.
This Sidra is always read on the beginning of the month of ELUL, which is the beginning of the annual period of reflection and repentance. Therefore, the first verse has been interpreted, Midrashically, to refer to our personnel duties. Every person should appoint judges and officers to guard his own gates. We have seven gates. There are: the mind, the mouth, the nose, the two eyes and the two ears. We should make sure that we use them properly, with due regard to ethics and morality. It is easy to go on the wrong path, using them for sinful purposes.
The most famous sentence in the first section of the Sidra is ZEDEK, ZEDEK TIRDOF. Justice, justice you shall pursue. The simple meaning of this commandment is probably that it is directed to the judges, commanding them to put all the efforts into achieving fair and just resolutions to any crimes and conflicts. By contrast, our rabbis explained that it is addressed to ordinary people who are commanded to look for the best courts. According to these two interpretations the word ZEDEK is repeated for emphasis. However, there is another interpretation according to which this verse is telling us that we should pursue justice only through just means and that ends never justify the means.
In ancient times, the courts were placed within the sanctuary. This is why the Sidra continues with the law which prohibits the planting of any trees next to the altar. The Canaanites used to worship their gods under trees. It was also forbidden to erect MATZEVOT, which were single stones. The Canaanites erected everywhere for the purposes of idolatrous worship. The difference between ALTARS, which were permitted, and single stones, which were not, was that altars, were built with many stones. It is interesting to note that here the Torah forbade a practice which was permitted in the days of the patriarchs and which is mentioned a number of times in the Book of Genesis. Thus, for example, Jacob built a MATZEVAH, in the place where he had his famous bream of the ladder. He consecrated that Matzevah, by pouring oil over it.
The second portion of the Sidra begins with the Law of the King. It has a most unusual beginning for a commandment, because it is introduced by citing a popular demand. The first sentence reads: “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess and settle in it, and you will say: Let me appoint a King to rule over me, like all the nations, surrounding me”. Despite this introduction, the rabbis understood this entire passage as a positive mitzvah. In the classic mediaeval work on the Commandments, called Sefer Hachinuch, it is counted as commandment number 497 of the 613 Commandments. Some modern commentators also think that this is the straightforward meaning of the passage. It is a mitzvah for the nation to have a leader, so that it will not remain like a flock without a shepherd. However, the Torah warns that that the people’s approach is dangerous. The King must not be like the Kings of other nations and he must not be a foreigner. In antiquity, Kings were despotic rulers, without any conscience. We have terrible stories in the Bible itself of the extremely evil conduct on the part of the Kings of Israel. Some of them were robbers and murderers.
The Torah had a vision for the monarchy, which expected different royal standards altogether. The King had to be God-fearing and had to obey four important Mitzvot, which were specifically directed to him. He was not allowed to have excessive number of horses because that would signify too much reliance on military strength, which, in turn, would cause alienation from the Almighty. It would also lead to the return of the nation to Egypt where these horses were bred. In passing, the Torah mentions that it was forbidden for the Jewish people to return to Egypt. This commandment has puzzled historians because we know that the Jewish people did return to Egypt and settled there. In particular, Maimonides lived in Egypt. How could he justify the violation of a Torah law? No one knows for sure.
The King was also commanded not to marry many wives because that leads to moral degradation and idolatry. The third Royal mitzvah was not to accumulate exaggerated amount of wealth. He was allowed to have only what he needed for his own personal chariots and servants. The reason for this restriction was to prevent him becoming an oppressor of his people. It is well known that King Solomon failed to observe all the above commandments. He amassed many horses and wealth and, also, married many wives, for diplomatic purposes. According to rabbinic tradition, he thought that he would be able to withstand the pressures and remain loyal to His God, but he was wrong. At the end of his life, he strayed from the righteous path and became a sympathiser of idolatrous worship.
The fourth mitzvah was positive. The King had to write a Sefer Torah for his own personal use and study it every single day, so that he would always remember to whom he owed allegiance. The ultimate King is God.