The Pshat Heard 'Round the World

Parashat Shoftim is most appropriately named. This week’s parashah concentrates our focus on dimension of living Torah which engages the larger social structures. We are given guidelines for armed conflict, the nature of monarchy in Israel, the workings of our judiciary, etc. The first verses of the parashah immediately launch us into a realm beyond our own cognizance: if we are in doubt, or in conflict regarding a whole range of matters, we much take that doubt and conflict to the judges and act precisely in accordance with their ruling, straying not an iota, neither left nor right. The midrash fixes on those words and insists: even if they tell you that your left is right or your right is left. In manner which echoes some of the most famous political philosophers, the Torah insists we cede to government – in our case, G-d fearing, Torah masters – a significant segment of our own autonomy to decide matters, for the good of the collective. But wait a second, just who are these j...

One of the most well-know of all tree-related traditions is the mitzvah of Bal Tashchit - the prohibition of cutting down fruit trees even in times of war. Based upon the underlying principle of this mitzvah, we are enjoined from wantonly destroying any useful object, even if it happens to belong to us. Thus, in a society of material surfeit, bal tashchit has become the clarion cry awakening us to the waste that our lifestyles generated daily unawares. In fact, this mitzvah has come to symbolize an environmental consciousness that, it is sometimes claimed, is a foundation of the Torah's value system. Indeed, bal tashchit is invoked in such a wide variety of circumstances that often the original, framing context is lost. These framing contexts deserve more attention, however, as they serve as the "womb" in which the embryonic mitzvah first emerges, and we can learn a tremendous amount regarding the deeper implication of a given mitzvah by carefully examining its setting....