Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: "May it be Your will, LORD my G-d, and the G-d of my forefathers, that You quickly send refuah sh'lemah (complete healing) from heaven, spiritual healing and physical healing to Ben Waistein (Benyiamin ben Elisheva) from Israel.

Continue praying for: Stuart Holtzclaw and Randy Shute from Syracuse, NY, Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Shoftim

Deuteronomy 16:18 -- 21:9

"Shoftim" (שופטים) is a Hebrew word that translates to "judges" in English. It is also the name of the 48th weekly Torah portion, which is read in synagogues as part of the annual cycle of Torah reading.

Topics in this week's portion include: Judges and Justice, Forbidden Trees and Pillars worshipped as idols, Blemished Sacrifice, Penalties for Idolatry, The Supreme Court, The King, Levitical Priests, Priestly Portions, Special Service, Divination and Prophecy, Cities of Refuge, Murder, Preserving Boundaries, Conspiring Witnesses, Preparing for War, Taking Captives, Conducting a Siege and the Case of the Unsolved Murder.

This week we have the famous admonition: "Righteousness, Righteousness shall you pursue, so that you will live and possess the Land that the Almighty your G-d, gives you" (Deut. 16:20).

The Torah (Deuteronomy 20:2-8) states that before the Jewish army went to war an announcement was made that certain categories of people should return home: he who has built a new house, but has not dedicated it; he who has planted a vineyard, but has not partaken from the fruits; he who has betrothed a wife, but has not married her. Verse 8 reads:

"And the officers shall speak further to the people and they shall say: 'Is there a man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house and let him not make the heart of his brethren faint as well as his heart' ".

What does this mean and what is the connection of the fourth category to the previous three categories?

Rabbi Yosi Haglili explains (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Sotah 44a, cited by Rashi) that the fourth category refers to someone who fears that he is unworthy of being saved because of his transgressions. Rabbi Yosi adds that this is the reason why the other three categories were told to go home. If someone would leave the ranks because of his sins, he would feel embarrassed. However, since other groups were also sent home, people would not know which individuals were leaving for which reasons.

This is truly amazing. A large number of soldiers are sent home in wartime in order to save a sinner from humiliation. We must learn from here that we must do everything possible to protect people from shame.

"You shall be wholehearted with your G-d" (Deut. 18:13).

How are we to understand this verse?

The Alshich interprets this verse to mean that one should be sincere in his observance of Torah even when one is alone with G-d, when no one else sees what he is doing.

Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk comments, "Your devotion toward G-d should be whole and not fragmented. If you do some things for G-d and others for yourself, then you are not being wholehearted with G-d."

These two interpretations are complementary. The person who is observant of Torah only when others see him, but when in complete privacy may transgress Torah, is really not devoted to G-d at all. Rather, his public observance of mitzvos is self-serving.

Wholeheartedness with G-d requires that even those permissible things we do should be directed toward the Divine service. Ideally, food should be eaten not for the gustatory delight, but because the energy derived from eating the food can be utilized in doing mitzvot.

The difficulties of life are to make us better, not bitter. 

Don't expect more from someone else than you expect from yourself.

Shabbat Shalom

R. Ovadiah Tank

Online Learning

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation headquarters in New York and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.