Tor-ch Davar - Shofetim 5757

by Stephan B. Epstein <sbepst@IBM.NET>

that the answer, as well as a challenge, lies in this week's Parsha - my Bar Mitzvah Parsha - Shofetim.

The key passages come from Devarim 17:

8

When any legal-matter is too extraordinary for you, in justice, ...

9

you are to come to the Levitical priests and to the judge that there is in those days; you are to inquire, and they are to tell you the word of judgment.

Rashi elaborates:

Even if he is not like the other judges who were before him, you must listen to him; you have only the judge of your own time.

This would seem to provide a basis of support - within the tradition - for a view of the law as an evolving mechanism, which allows for adjustments based on the changing needs of our people.

But while the law allows for change, it still mandates adherence and a sense of willing acceptance; again from Devarim 17:

10

You are to do according to this word that is told you, in the place that YHWH chooses; you are to take-care to observe what they instruct you.

11

According to the instruction that they instruct you, by the regulation that they tell you, you are to do; you are not to turn-away from the word that they tell you, right or left. [Fox]

But we no longer live in the age of the Sanhedrin. From where do we derive the guidance that such judgments would have given us in prior days? Pirke Avot, Chapter 1, verse 16 may provide us with an answer:

"...Select a master-teacher for yourself so that you avoid doubtful decisions; ..."

I believe that this provides a profound answer for modern times, highlighting both the flexibility of the law to change, and the limits of that flexibility. The law can evolve to meet the challenges of the day. We retain the autonomy to choose our guide - and therefore our approach - as we seek to live by Torah. However, I believe that by doing so, we incur an obligation to adhere to the teachings of that guide, to maintain a certain consistency in our approach to Judaism.

Although we may all approach Sinai from different directions, ultimately we all must climb the same mountain.

Back to Tor-ch Davar list