Shoftim

By Halina Rubinstein

The last section of this week’s parashah describes the strange ritual of the eglah `arufah, the ‘broken heifer.’ When a person is found dead in the middle of a field and the killer is not known, the elders of the closest city take a heifer that has yet to be trained to work, break its neck and pray for forgiveness in order to establish their innocence. This is a remarkable expression of communal responsibility. In light of call of the parashah to pursue justice, it is inconceivable that the community would let something like this happen. Yet they were not able to protect and provide for the individual who was killed. Therefore, they consider themselves responsible; they acknowledge their guilt and cleanse themselves of it through this ritual.

I cannot help but relate this to one of the most intense experiences of my life. This past June, my husband, three other Read More >

By Eleanor Pearlman

The first verse of Parashat Shoftim
(Deut. 16:18) sets a tone of much of what
follows in the parashah:

‘Shoftim v’shotrim teiten l’kha
b’khol sh`arekha
Asheir Adonai Elohekha notein
l’kha-lish‘vatekha
V’shaftu et ha-`am mishpat
tzedeq’
‘Judges and officers shall you appoint
in all your cities-
Which HaShem your God, gives you-for
your tribes;
And they shall judge the people with
righteous judgment.’ (Artscroll, Stone
Ed.)
Reading this verse out loud, one is struck by the
gentleness and softness of the verse. The ‘sh’
sounds of the verse permeate throughout giving the
verse a feeling of calm, quiet, and security-the
sound that would encourage a disturbed child to
sleep in peace. There are seven sounds (‘sh’) that
are utterances of quiet peace. Without even
translating or understanding the words, the reader
is lulled by the sweet surrender, as this
parashah begins. Also, the number seven has
many other positive associations in the
Tanakh: rest on the seventh day, rest on the
seventh year, freeing of Jewish slaves after the
49th (7×7) year. Although Read More >