The document discusses the concept of "justice" or "righteousness" in the Torah portion of Shoftim. It explores the meaning behind repeated words like "justice" and "righteousness" through analysis of related Bible passages. The discussion focuses on how pursuing justice involves both formal legal principles and also compassionate principles of mercy and reconciliation. It aims to provide tools for understanding and applying the concepts of justice and righteousness in daily life.

1. Shoftim
Introduction - this portion is fundamentally about justice. There is a great
deal about judges and just judging. We will focus almost entirely on the
primacy of justice in God’s expectations of us, acknowledging what the
great writer Heine once said, “since the time of Abraham, Justice has
spokenwith a Hebrew accent.”
Or, as we find in Midrash Rabbah, there’s a teaching from Avot that justice
is one one of the three legs of the world, the others being truth and peace.
If one perverts justice, one causes the world to shake. This is further
learned from Psalms 89:15, righteousness and justice are Your throne’s
foundation; kindness and truth precede Your countenance.
We’re going to do something very different today. Instead of our typical
rather broad journey with a few dives, the text itself invites us to go very

2. deep into a fundamental idea - the meaning of justice, or as we’ll see in a
moment, righteousness. The text makes the invitation to us through a
powerful double expressionin one of the portion’s first verses - tzedek,
tzedek, you shall pursue. This is typically translated as - justice, justice, you
shall pursue. But, as profound and simple as that seems,it’s complexand
utterly wonderful!
Why the double expression? What does it mean? Can we carry the lessons
we learn from our exploration to finding greater meaning in other Bible
study? Can we carry the lessons of a deep understanding of justice and its
requirements to our lives? These are the main questions for today.
Buckle up! This is unlike any ride we’ve taken.
I. Read 16:18-20.It’s always fascinating to see a double in the Bible.And
this may be the mostfascinating of them all. We’lldwell on it a bit. Why
the double of justice, justice? There are so many possibilities. Let’s get

3. started with yours, but first here’s an important fact for you to ponder:
the Hebrew word can mean justice, but it also means other things. It’s
not mishpat, the word that one often sees for justice or judgment.
Rather the word here is tzedek, which more often means what?
Righteousness. In any event, why would we have tzedek repeated?
(A. Justice alone, or something just altogether, or for emphasis?
B. Ramban: judges are to judge people with righteous judgment AND we
are to go constantly from our place to the place of the sages. What could
this mean?
Perhaps we expect judges to decide with tzedek, and we are to learn and
practice tzedek in our own lives, helped by being near, and learning of
God’s way from, learned sages.
C. Ibn Ezra - one should pursue justice whether it is to one’s advantage or
loss.

4. D. Just ends and just means.
E. Midrash of Rabbi Nechunya Ben Hakanah - if we judge ourselves as if
we give account to God, we live. Otherwise, God judges against us.
F. In a similar vein, the first is justice in this world which merits justice in the
world to come.
G. Or several combos: 1. one is for the judges; one, for the officers. 2. one
is for the judges; one is for those appointing the officers. 3. one is for the
written law; one is for the oral law. 4) one is to prevent straying to the right;
one is to prevent straying to the left.

5. H. How about this: one justice is formal justice and the other is a minimal
amount of justice all need to live. Or: formal justice and the justice called for
by compassion, mercy, and reconciliation/mediationneeded forpeople to
live well and resolve matters, say, short of going to court.
I. Chasidic: one can never stand still in such matters, so the first is about
getting justice underway, and pursuit involves the second, the justice that is
engendered in continued effort.
J. Or are we being precipitous to answer at all so quickly? Read verse 20
again. See anything you might have missed.
Justice, justice is required so that we may thrive AND occupy the land. How
could that be interpreted?

6. Possibly,the first justice, the one crucial to thriving, has to do with our well
being, in our dealings with others, following the right paths in human
dealing. Perhaps the second justice relates to occupying the land and goes
to the lessonwe’ve learned many times - our continuing to live in the land
requires being dutiful to God and living true to our covenant with the Divine.
K. Here’s another idea. Read verse 19 again. Do you see something there
that might relate to what we’re learning about “double justice”?
The verse really says two things: do not wrest (or pervert) justice (really
judgment, this time, mishpat) AND do not respect persons (through
favoritism or bribery). Both are about justice, but they have somewhat
different possiblemeanings. Maybe the double of justice is designed to
teach us to pay attention to each and the relationship, but discrete
differences, between, each. Do you see?

7. Let’s turn back and read this mitzvah in Leviticus to get a better
understanding. Read Leviticus 19:15. Does this help make it clearer? How?
One level of justice is a statement of the basic principle - do not do
unrighteousness in judgment. The other level of justice is more specific, not
to show favoritism whether the person being judged is pooror rich, whether
he/she evokes sympathy or has power. By steering to the general principle
AND applying the specifics, we judge in tzedek, tzedek.)
L. One last exercise in this episode of doubles. Read 17:8. Doubles again!
This time of blood, case, and injury. What’s the meaning here?
(In each type of case, it is essential to see the differences ineach, though
they’re topically akin! One can be a “case,” and another can be a “case,”
too, but they can be so different that, among other things, they’re both to be
judged at different levels within the judicial system. Such is the nature of
justice: looking beneath surface similarities to find very different realities
that demand different treatment.)

8. II. Ok, now that we’re trained in many of the possibilities of these doubles,
let’s go on a serious adventure! Ready? Let’s go to the verses in the
prophets that lead straight to the Haftarah that is actually paired with
today’s Torah portion. Let’s read Isaiah 51:1-7.How does this passage
inform our study today?
(A. The Bible tells us it’s addressed to those who follow tzedek and those
who seek God. That’s a double descriptionof us. We live in tzedek here in
our lives. And God holds us near in tzedek.
B. This is at the core of the covenant with God,and our blessings from
God.
C. This teaching is central to the light we carry.
D. This relates to God’s righteousness and indeed God’s salvation.
E. Knowing and living in God’s tzedek, we find hope.)

9. III.(Don’t read, but just mention quickly.)
A. Now just for fun, let’s look at verses in and around the haftarah for today:
Isaiah 51:9 and 52:1 (a double of oori, oori, or awake, awake!; 51:1 and
51:7 (a double of sheemoo, sheemoo, or to listen); 51:12 (a double of
anochee, or I am); 51:17 (hittoruhree, hittoruhree, or rouse yourself); and
52:11 (sooroo, sooroo, or to turn). Wow - an explosionof doubles!
Recall this is in Second Isaiah where the prophet both recalls the
waywardness of the people that led to exile yet also sees and speaks of a
restoration and glorious and redeemed future for them.
B. Why do you think there would be doubles of awaken, arouse, listen, turn,
I am here?

10. (Aren’t these the verbs of finding our way back to God? And aren’t there all
sorts of double notions to that? In fact, as we discussed earlier, isn’t this
whole matter of God’s righteousness both in the form of consequences for
straying AND welcoming us back in love and covenant one of the most
powerful explanations of the double tzedek?
This is especiallyimportant in the Jewish annual cycle in that we’re
beginning to prepare for the High Holidays, when turning and returning are
principle themes of the season.)
IV. Here’s a working hypothesis, based on what we’ve studied already
today, that we might use for our final major exercise: the double of justice is
intended for us to look at both the front and back sides of God’s instructions
for living to get to deepermeaning. In other words, there may be
righteousness in the initial effortbut an additional form of it in the rounding
out or completionof God’s expectations of us.

11. Let’s read some pairs (not exactly doubles) in verses right ahead in the
portion and apply what we learned about doubles to get to a fuller
understanding of them.
A. Read 17:2-6.What’s the dual nature here?
(We’re punished for idolatry and wrongdoing BUT not without the benefit of
a rigorous due process.)
B. Read 17:14-19.What’s the dual nature here?
(We may have a powerful king, BUT the king must be limited in wealth,
power, possessions, and submissionto God.)

12. C. Read 18:1-5.What’s the dual nature here?
(The Levites get no territory for themselves, BUT they’re entitled to support
from all others’.)
D. Read 19:15-20.What’s the dual nature here?
(Witnesses mustcome forward to effect justice,BUT false accusations will
be bring to the false witness the same punishment sought for the accused.)
E. Now we come to one of the greatest (and mostmisunderstood) doubles
in the text. We’ve studied it before and have learned what it means and
what it doesn’t mean. Let’s look at it again. Read 19:21.What even more
famous double is this double built on?

13. (Love your neighbor as yourself! Love (self)- love (other).
One looks at, and cares for, one’s own interest and position, sees how it
informs us about another’s interest, seeks to understand the other’s
position, and then creates a duty to the other based on helping the other
fulfill his/her own interest. This principle of righteousness applies to the
mitzvah here: as we studied before, if I cause another’s loss of an eye, the
righteous result is that I owe the other the value of that eye in damages.)
Conclusion - we’ve learned a lot about righteousness and justice today. I
hope all these exercises are helpful in understanding the significance
Moses (and God)place on them. I hope,especially through the use of
doubles, that you’ve also developedsome tools and gotten some practical
lessons in how God teaches us to understand and apply the principles of
justice and righteousness in our daily lives.