Parashat: Shoftim

Parashat: Shoftim
Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9

“TzeDeK TzeDeK TiRDoF — Justice, Justice shall you pursue, in order that you may live and come to inherit the land that Adonai your God is giving to you.”

— Deuteronomy 16:20

The doubling over of the first word of this verse — TzeDeK — has fascinated generations of Jews, many of whom have been drawn to various expressions of the profession of law. There is always something to be learned by the doubling of a Hebrew word in the Torah. Sometimes it is enough to say that it is simply an intensification of the command — “be REALLY REALLY just in your behavior.” But others have seen deeper significance. One Chassidic sage (Rebbe Bunim of Pshischa) drew this lesion: “Through just means must you pursue justice. That is to say, the pursuit of justice itself must be accomplished through honesty and not through bending the truth, or even falsehood.” These lessons apply in the courtroom, the classroom and certainly every room we inhabit.

— Rabbi Craig Axler