Two Minute Torah Podcast

Shoftim 5768 by Rabbi Jerome M. Epstein

When people ask me what I did on my summer vacation and I tell them that I went to Ethiopia and Uganda, they look at me somewhat quizzically? "Weren't you bothered by the poverty and human devastation?" I am asked. Actually, I was so moved that my life will never be the same. I witnessed famine and illness ravaging innocent people; young and old. What did they do to warrant lives that offer no hope – only bleak despair?

Encountering ills in society, our tendency is to blame someone. It is a natural response to things that are wrong. How can the world permit innocent human beings to live – or die – this way? Why doesn't the UN take action? When will the many non-profits finally respond to this scourge? Putting the responsibility on others helps to relieve our own anxiety.

But, this week's Torah portion – Shoftim - challenges us to think differently. The Torah directs us: "Shoftim v'shotrim titen lecha": Appoint judges and law enforcement officials for yourselves throughout the land." But the strange wording provides the grist for rabbinic commentators. The word "lecha – for yourselves" seems unnecessary.

Homiletically, the Talmudic tractate of Sanhedrin understands this as is if it said, "Before you ensure that there are judges for others make sure that you judge yourself." Indeed, this is the value related in the Talmudic tractate of Sanhedrin, which mandates us to judge ourselves before we judge others. The Torah – interpreted in this way, tells us if we're going to judge others' actions or behavior, we must judge ourselves first.

It is so easy to blame others for a lack of healthcare and the crisis of hunger throughout the world. It is easy to judge others as either incompetent or insensitive. But, such judgments accomplish very little.

To resolve the crisis of world hunger, we must not complacently ask why charities don't respond. Rather, we must look at ourselves and help them to respond. Their human resources come from us! We can no longer ask why they don't send doctors, medicine, and food. Rather, we must judge ourselves and ask how we can personally help. We must judge ourselves by those very standards we want to demand of others. In this way, we will be God's true partners in perfecting the world.