Shoftim: Judging Ourselves

By Yonatan Berner

At the end of this week's Parsha we are left with a peculiar mitzvah. The Torah commands us to perform the ritual of Egla Arufah in the case of an unknown body being found outside of a city. Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz points out that Egla Arufah is unlike other mitzvot. Firstly, we seem to be using this animal as some form of kapara for the murder, even though this does not absolve us from the murder itself, as we are still commanded to find and prosecute the murderer to the full extent. Additionally, this animal is taken to hard, unfarmed soil and killed as a niveila, as opposed to other korbanot that are shechted properly in the Beit Hamikdash. What is the cause for such an unusual performance?

The Ibn Ezra explains that the Egla Arufa is not performed like other korbanot, because it is not atoning for the same things as other korbanot. This is a sin of culture and society, not an individual chet. We are seeking kaparah for a culture that enabled such a murder, not the murder itself. It is about the larger picture of how we live our lives and the values we emphasize in our society. This is why the zekeinim and kohanim are responsible for this ritual, as they are the ones who most influence the values and morals that are emphasized in society.

In fact, Rashi suggests this is why the location chosen for the Egla Arufa is an unfarmed field, and the animal chosen is an unworked animal. Hashem is telling us to take an unutilized field and animal, neither of which were able to produce any peirot, to help be michaper for neglecting a person who was killed and now can no longer produce peirot anymore either. We are reflecting on what could have been, and highlighting a failure of culture where safeguarding the potential for avodat Hashem was not made a priority.

I think that this message closely resembles another important message that should be kept in mind as we now find ourselves on the cusp of Chodesh Elul. Rav Neventzal suggests that the “melech” spoken of in our Parsha (in the context of appointing a Jewish king) may be reminding us of the ultimate Melech that should be on the forefront of our minds in Elul. Elul is a time when we begin thinking of Hashem in his role as a melech, and how we can do teshuva in order to become closer to him.

Many think of the teshuva process as a painstaking examination of every particular sin and intricate wrongdoing one may have committed throughout the course of time. This in fact is the avodah of Yom Kippur, and while this is certainly true and a fundamentally essential part of teshuva, there also exists another form of teshuva that is often overlooked. This is the teshuva of the “big picture”, also known as the teshuva of Rosh Hashanah.

Man often sins due to his distant relationship with Hakodosh Baruch Hu. However, if the Melech Malchei Hamelachim constantly sat at the forefront of our minds and every decision was made with the goal being absolute ratzon Hashem, it would be very hard to sin as often as we do, if at all. This is the avodah of Rosh Hashanah; no selichot nor “al chet”, just a vastly repetitive coronation being mamlich Hashem over the entire universe. We take a step back and focus on the big picture of how we live our lives and what values we emphasize. Is ratzon Hashem the primary factor of how we make decisions? Are the values and cultures in our communities being centered around Torah? Are we really making Hashem our king?

Rav Neventzal gives a beautiful mashal to highlight this contrast. Imagine you have a brick wall, each brick representing another sin committed. Teshuva is the process of breaking down this wall (between you and Hashem). There are 2 ways one can go about breaking down the wall. The first way is to remove each brick one by one until there are no bricks left, this is essentially what we do during Yom Kippur by repenting sin by sin. However, the other way is to dig under the entire wall and destroy the foundation causing the entire wall to come crumbling down. This is the avodah of Rosh Hashanah and another essential part of how we must repent and reflect. By being mamlich Hashem, we atone for the underlying reason of our sins, essentially causing the specifics to no longer matter.

As we begin the avodah of Chodesh Elul, we are charged by Parshat Shoftim to remember the Egla Arufah. To remember the big picture of how we live our lives. To take a step back and not only think about mitzvot and issurim, but to reflect on what drives our decision making and what values permeate our culture.

May we be zoche to properly reflect and understand what our culture and values should be based on, and may we be zoche to be michazek each other in seeking out ratzon Hashem as both individuals and a chevra.