Many people know enough to quote the verse, "Decide on the basis of the majority," (Exodus 23:2) but they forget other words from the same verse: "Do not follow the majority to do evil."
Only a short time after the Exodus from Egypt, we bore witness to instances in which the majority desired things that were bad for the Jewish People. Most of the people wanted their pot of flesh. Most did not wish to go to Eretz Yisrael. Most of the spies slandered the Land. There is no guarantee that the majority will be on the side of goodness or justice.
All people are to be judged equally, but they do not all have an equal right to be judges. All are equal before the law, but they do not have an equal right to determine the law. Why not?
Israel's tidings to the world are, "Judgment belongs to G-d." (Deuteronomy 1:17) Israel has a novel idea to offer the world, namely that all of life's strata can be illuminated by divine light. If, G-d forbid, we think that jurisprudence must remain solely in the realm of human thought, without direction from divine intelligence, then we are abandoning the world to the relativistic thinking of man. Human thinking changes each day and is influenced by personal interests of one sort or another. Our belief that the world has a Creator and that He runs the world bears the tidings that there is a G-d in the midst of the land, and that the world has not been abandoned to human caprice and limitations. "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6)
Torah jurisprudence is the law of G-d. It is founded on axiomatic, eternal instructions that came from On High and were especially given to Israel. The demand for justice between people is a demand originating with G-d. Jewish jurisprudence has its source in holiness, in the word of G-d. It consists of a network of absolute values, and not just an attempt to improve the lifestyle of the individual or society. Only someone who committed to the Torah's absolute values and guidance can direct others in those values. Our sages down through time taught us how to apply the Torah's foundations to our changing lives in every generation. Therefore, we are not "slaves" to our fellow man. The majority does not determine our life's values or the laws that derive from those values.
It is no accident that the Torah predates every sphere of human jurisprudence by thousands of years. For example, more than three thousand years ago, the Torah determined what must be our relationship to the slave. A slave must receive social benefits and severance payments, but above all, must enjoy humane treatment. Within the human justice system, man has not yet succeeded in properly organizing conditions of the salaried worker. We bear witness to chronic struggles and strikes on this background.
It is no surprise that man's main moral guidelines have been taken from the Torah, from "Do not kill" to "Love your neighbor as yourself." Man-made civil law has not proven itself to this very day. It has not led the world to behave in a more moral fashion. It does not prevent corruption, extortion or injustice, because it is human and relativistic. By contrast, our Mosaic law has brought the world to much greater morality and to more genuine justice.
This special Jewish jurisprudence is particularly linked to Eretz Yisrael. Only the Jewish People living in their entire land can lead moral lives to perfection and can bring the world G-d's tidings regarding the law. Our Torah portion teaches that genuine Jewish jurisprudence can function in a societal framework only in Eretz Yisrael, and only if based on the word of G-d.
When Scripture states, "Zion shall be redeemed through justice," (Isaiah 1:27) one must not suppose that the "justice" being referred to is of human origin. As Moses said, "The people come to me to seek G-d." (Exodus 18:15) Any justice based on relativistic, limited man, will not redeem the world from the darkness in which it is enveloped.
Therefore, the special emphasis in the Torah on the grave prohibition against forging a covenant with the inhabitants of the Land and with their deities. "Do not make a treaty with these nations or with their gods. Do not allow them to reside in your land, since they may then make you sin to Me." (Exodus 23:32) The prohibition against serving other gods is not associated exclusively with Eretz Yisrael, but it is more severe in Eretz Yisrael. Living in the Land has to bring tidings of a new way of life ? profounder, broader and more complete. It has to be a life in which the connection between man and the Creator of the Universe reaches new heights that cannot be reached anywhere else.
No plebiscite of one form or another can alter absolute values, any more than this or that majority is necessarily moral and fair. There will never be a plebiscite on murder, since the very plebiscite will indicate moral deterioration. By the same token, a plebiscite on any of the values of the Torah is illegitimate and indicates that one's own values have been distorted.
Let us be strong in our recognition that "Judgment belongs to G-d."
Only a short time after the Exodus from Egypt, we bore witness to instances in which the majority desired things that were bad for the Jewish People. Most of the people wanted their pot of flesh. Most did not wish to go to Eretz Yisrael. Most of the spies slandered the Land. There is no guarantee that the majority will be on the side of goodness or justice.
All people are to be judged equally, but they do not all have an equal right to be judges. All are equal before the law, but they do not have an equal right to determine the law. Why not?
Israel's tidings to the world are, "Judgment belongs to G-d." (Deuteronomy 1:17) Israel has a novel idea to offer the world, namely that all of life's strata can be illuminated by divine light. If, G-d forbid, we think that jurisprudence must remain solely in the realm of human thought, without direction from divine intelligence, then we are abandoning the world to the relativistic thinking of man. Human thinking changes each day and is influenced by personal interests of one sort or another. Our belief that the world has a Creator and that He runs the world bears the tidings that there is a G-d in the midst of the land, and that the world has not been abandoned to human caprice and limitations. "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6)
Torah jurisprudence is the law of G-d. It is founded on axiomatic, eternal instructions that came from On High and were especially given to Israel. The demand for justice between people is a demand originating with G-d. Jewish jurisprudence has its source in holiness, in the word of G-d. It consists of a network of absolute values, and not just an attempt to improve the lifestyle of the individual or society. Only someone who committed to the Torah's absolute values and guidance can direct others in those values. Our sages down through time taught us how to apply the Torah's foundations to our changing lives in every generation. Therefore, we are not "slaves" to our fellow man. The majority does not determine our life's values or the laws that derive from those values.
It is no accident that the Torah predates every sphere of human jurisprudence by thousands of years. For example, more than three thousand years ago, the Torah determined what must be our relationship to the slave. A slave must receive social benefits and severance payments, but above all, must enjoy humane treatment. Within the human justice system, man has not yet succeeded in properly organizing conditions of the salaried worker. We bear witness to chronic struggles and strikes on this background.
It is no surprise that man's main moral guidelines have been taken from the Torah, from "Do not kill" to "Love your neighbor as yourself." Man-made civil law has not proven itself to this very day. It has not led the world to behave in a more moral fashion. It does not prevent corruption, extortion or injustice, because it is human and relativistic. By contrast, our Mosaic law has brought the world to much greater morality and to more genuine justice.
This special Jewish jurisprudence is particularly linked to Eretz Yisrael. Only the Jewish People living in their entire land can lead moral lives to perfection and can bring the world G-d's tidings regarding the law. Our Torah portion teaches that genuine Jewish jurisprudence can function in a societal framework only in Eretz Yisrael, and only if based on the word of G-d.
When Scripture states, "Zion shall be redeemed through justice," (Isaiah 1:27) one must not suppose that the "justice" being referred to is of human origin. As Moses said, "The people come to me to seek G-d." (Exodus 18:15) Any justice based on relativistic, limited man, will not redeem the world from the darkness in which it is enveloped.
Therefore, the special emphasis in the Torah on the grave prohibition against forging a covenant with the inhabitants of the Land and with their deities. "Do not make a treaty with these nations or with their gods. Do not allow them to reside in your land, since they may then make you sin to Me." (Exodus 23:32) The prohibition against serving other gods is not associated exclusively with Eretz Yisrael, but it is more severe in Eretz Yisrael. Living in the Land has to bring tidings of a new way of life ? profounder, broader and more complete. It has to be a life in which the connection between man and the Creator of the Universe reaches new heights that cannot be reached anywhere else.
No plebiscite of one form or another can alter absolute values, any more than this or that majority is necessarily moral and fair. There will never be a plebiscite on murder, since the very plebiscite will indicate moral deterioration. By the same token, a plebiscite on any of the values of the Torah is illegitimate and indicates that one's own values have been distorted.
Let us be strong in our recognition that "Judgment belongs to G-d."