This past week I was invited to a meeting at the Upper Dublin Police Department to discuss how the police force is doing. One point that came up a few times was that since the force is doing their job, crime is down. While it may appear as if they have little to do, in truth, their apparent boredom is a sign of success—rather than a reason to cut the budget, it is a reason to celebrate their hard work. What is interesting is that you never find judges having such down time. They are always working. Their dockets are always full. This makes me wonder—what if the judge, the adjudicator of the law, and the cop, the enforcer of the law, were one and the same? Would the judge have a better understanding of what is happening “on the street?” Would the police officer work to interpret the law differently, based on their first-hand experience?
Let me take a step back and explain myself.
In this week’s Torah portion, the verse states, “Judges and sheriffs you must appoint for yourself.” On the surface, these are two different positions—the judge rules and the sheriff enforces the law based on the judge’s ruling. However, when the codifiers of the Torah enumerate the Mitzvot, they list both of these positions as being the job of one person.
Which one is it? One job or two?
The Torah talks to us on two levels simultaneously about “the way it ought to be” as well as “the way it often is.”
From time to time, a society is not at its best. When that occurs, the two positions are going to be separate, because the judge, who is the scholar, the thinker, will not have influence over individuals’ behaviors. Therefore they will need an enforcer who will use the “stick” to enforce the law. Words will not do. Only force.
However, the utopian world that G-d wants to see is when our society is at its best. Yes, then, too, a person can make a mistake, and if this happens, they go to the judge. When the verdict is read they can understand why the judge ruled in that way, and act accordingly. At that point, the judge is the thinker, the decider, and the enforcer.
Let’s take this idea and make it personal.
We all have two impulses within us that are constantly pulling us in opposite directions. In Kabbalah, they are called the good and evil inclinations. Our minds might tell us one thing while our hearts tells us something very different. What shall we do?
When we are at a low point in our lives we need both a judge and a sheriff. In our minds the judge will use logic to tell us not to act badly, while the sheriff will threaten us if we do.
However, when we are in a good place in our lives, we only need one voice using logic, telling us we should not act badly, and we – on our own – will be strong enough to listen and act accordingly.
Of course, the second way is the utopian way, but it is not easy to achieve. That is why the verse continues: If you want to reach this utopian life and have full control of your destiny, you must put a judge and a sheriff at “every gate.” This means at every entry point in our life.
Now, less than a month before the New Year is a good time to start thinking about our lives. The head of the year encompasses the whole year, every part of the year. Similarly, we cannot say, let me just deal with one part of my personality, such as my hang-ups; we have to look at the whole picture, and strive for a utopian year.
Shabbat shalom and Shana Tova!