Shoftim ve’shotrim titen lecha be’kol shaarecha
Judges and officers shall you appoint for yourself in all of your gates
On this verse, many commentaries ask what is the purpose of the seemingly unnecessary word, lecha – what is the Torah trying to tell us by emphasizing that the judges are for our own sake? Moreover, why is the word lecha written in the singular when the command has just been given to the entire people?
Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that the word, lecha, comes to remind us that while we must appoint official judges to uphold and enforce the law, the command us also upon every individual to accept responsibility to guard his own gates, to guard over him to follow the right path and not rely on others to push them in the right direction.
In a similar vein, Rav Frand suggests that this understanding of the text explains why the guidelines for the judges listed in the verses that follow seem to be addressed to every Jewish individual and not only the appointed judges. Rather than writing they, the judges, should judge fairly and honorably, the Torah tells us: you shall not pervert justice, you shall not show favoritism, you shall not take a bribe (Devarim 16:19). Ultimately, we must all be our own judges – of our own characters, thoughts, and actions. A message that is all too appropriate for this time of introspection and repentance.
The Netivot Shalom develops this idea further - based on a beautiful idea found in the Sefer Yetzeira that says the human body is likened to a small city with seven portals to the outside world: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and the mouth. The gates that we are commanded to guard in the beginning of our parsha are these 7 gates of our bodies.
In essence, these gates, our senses, are what allow us to interact with our surrounding world. They allow us to take in sights, scents, and sounds, while also enabling us to reveal our thoughts and feelings into reality with the power speech. So what does the Torah mean exactly when it tells us to guard these gates?
I think in answering this question we can understand the deeper implications of this concept for our mindset and our goals during the month of Elul. Often during this time of the year we are suddenly moved to make drastic and dramatic changes upon ourselves – promising to transform ourselves in various ways for the upcoming year. Unfortunately, after several days the inspiration and the enthusiasm of Elul fade away. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur come and go, and we find ourselves at the end of it all unchanged and discouraged by our failures.
The key to maintaining this motivation after Elul is to make a connection between our thoughts and our actions, between our head and our body. In the moments of our inspiration we must set our resolutions for growth and determination for change into motion. We must make our thoughts into a reality.
God gives us the ability to utilize all of these senses, each of these modes with which we can and must interact with our surroundings – and we are meant to use them for good. We can choose to eat non-kosher, or we can choose to say a bracha before and after we eat and to appreciate the food we are given. We can speak badly about others, or we can use our words to comfort others, or to defend others when necessary. To guard our gates is to consider in a very practical way how we are interacting in the world we live in.
The Sfat Emet explains that the need to actualize our thoughts into action is precisely why we need to appoint both the shofet (judge) and the soter (officer) for ourselves. An individual must employ his personal “judge” to decide what is right and good to do, but then that person needs a personal “officer” to ensure that he follows through on his thoughts. It is not enough to make a judgment about oneself that they want to change; one must follow through on those thoughts to actually make those necessary changes come into fruition.
If we want the inspiration of Elul to last and the closeness we feel with Hashem during this time to endure long after the "holiday season," we cannot make lofty resolutions that are too difficult and unrealistic to live up to. The Midrash explains based on the words of Shir Hashirim, kol dodi dofek, that when one does even a tiny amount of true teshuva, he creates an opening the size of a pinhole - and Hashem then expands the tiny opening that allows us to enter his palace through the opened gates of Heaven. Perhaps all it takes is focus on one of these small gates or portals…whether it is our vision, how we view our world; our speech, how we speak to and about others; our hearing, how we truly listen to the words of our close ones and how we hear that which is asked of us...
Rav Pinchas explains that the 613 mitzvot are 613 gates that allow us to enter Hashem’s palace. If we can just focus on one mitzvah, one action – if we can just focus on one way habit we can change in the way we see or interact in our lives – then we have opened the door upon which Hashem is knocking. Once we allow Hashem to enter, Hashem will bless us and help us with all of the other things you want to work on for the rest of the year and for the rest of our lives.
And so during this month in which Hashem literally opens the gates for all to enter, let us be our own judges to determines what actions we can take - and may Hashem help us in being able to make that small change that can open the gateway to a lifetime of character development, closeness to God, and relationship building with those around us.
Shabbat shalom!
