Shoftim
Can we establish judges at our own gates?
Reflection by Rabbi Lauren Tuchman, Or HaLev Teacher:
You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that Hashem, your G-d is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice (Deuteronomy 16:18).
"As in most years, this year, Parashat Shoftim is read at the beginning of Elul, the month preceding the Days of Awe. It’s a time of great internal and collective soul accounting and introspection.
Our parsha’s opening verse commands us to establish a judicial system. It’s not enough just to establish the system itself. We are next instructed to ensure that the judges and officers who are a part of that system govern the people justly. On one very important level, this Torah portion instructs the people, through the establishment of a just government, how to live together well, how to adjudicate disputes and create a thriving and functioning society.
Simultaneously, the Torah here is instructing us in the practice of mindful consumption, something I am thinking a lot about this Elul. The gates here mentioned are not only external; they also can refer to our sense gates, the ways in which we receive and process information, mediating inputs from the external world internally.
My experience in recent years has been one of increasing awareness of the overstimulating nature of the information ecosystem of which we are all a part. I notice in my system when the amount of input and information I’m taking in becomes overwhelming. It’s akin to feeling short-circuited, quickly entering a freeze state. When I find myself becoming lost, shutdown or overwhelmed, I have to return again to our Torah’s instruction here for practice.
Establishing judges at my own gates, I become attuned to how I am taking in information, the choices I am making about what information I take in and when, and how I then process all of the external stimuli. Sounds simple, but this is actually an incredibly complicated, countercultural practice that takes much wise discernment and skillfulness. Where do we choose to place our attention? Where do we incline our minds? It is clear to me as I practice that which my mind inclines towards strengthens. And the more discernment I can bring to my media and information consumption, I notice that I am able to be present for my life more, able to engage in the work of active societal participation with renewed passion and commitment.
This Elul, as we do the often-difficult work of soul-accounting and teshuvah, may we heed our internal judges, ever mindful of what enters our sense gates and what comes out. As we notice ourselves becoming overwhelmed, may we find our way back with gentleness and ease to the Torah’s practice instructions. With compassion, may we notice how our internal landscape shifts as our life practice deepens. May this practice lead to an inner transformation that radiates outward."