Parshas Yisro begins with Yisro’s arrival and his taking notice that people were standing from morning until evening waiting for adjudication from Moshe Rabbeinu. Yisro came up with the idea that there should be a judicial system of lower courts and higher courts to improve the efficiency of the adjudication process. Yisro advised his son-in-law, “And you shall see from among the entire people, men of means, G-d fearing people, men of truth, people who despise money, and you shall appoint them leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens.” (Shemos 18:21)
Moshe Rabbeinu accepted Yisro’s plan: “Moshe chose anshei chayil (men of accomplishment) from among all Israel and appointed them heads of the people, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens.” (Shemos 18:25). Rashi explains the expression “anshei chayil” as “ashirim” (rich people, who have no need to worry about flattering other people or showing favoritism).” (Shemos 18:21) In other words, an independently wealthy individual is a good person to have as a judge.
Not everyone explains “anshei chayil” in this fashion. For example, the Ibn Ezra interprets the term as “patient people.” There is something called “judicial temperament.” People can get very testy about dinei Torah. A judge needs to have a certain calmness and emotional discipline to maintain the appropriate decorum between litigants. The Ramban has a third interpretation: “hachacham, hazariz v’ha’yashar” (someone who is wise, diligent, and has integrity).
At any rate, Rashi says that anshei chayil means rich people. The pasuk also lists several other qualities, in addition to anshei chayil: G-d fearing, men of truth, and those who hate corruption. What would we consider as the number one quality of a judge? I would think that the top two qualities would be “G-d fearing” and “men of truth”. It is certainly nice for a person to be wealthy and not beholden to others, but why should that be priority number one on the list of qualifications for the job?
A second question may be asked: The Gemara says (Bechoros 5b) that every Jew who left Mitzrayim had ninety donkeys laden with silver and gold. Everyone was rich! If that is the case, there should have been no need at all to specify that the judges chosen should be rich. Pick a number out of a hat! Look in the phone book! Everyone met this criterion!
I saw a very interesting approach from the Tolner Rebbe. The Tolner Rebbe states that there is a difference between “the essence of a person” and “a person who possesses a certain quality.” To what can this be compared? The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 53) paskens that a shliach tzibbur (chazan) who leads the congregation in prayer should be “free from sin and not have a bad reputation, even in his youth, and be modest and acceptable to the congregation.” We might suggest that the Shulchan Aruch forgot to mention the main quality to look for in picking a chazan: The shliach tzibbur should know how to clearly articulate the words of the prayers. We are not going to even mention that the Shulchan Aruch contains no mention of a requirement that a chazan should have a “nice voice.” Why was there no mention of the requirement to enunciate properly?
The Tolner Rebbe explains that the reason is that proper enunciation is not a quality. It is the definition of a chazan. If a chazan can’t speak the words or if he doesn’t know ‘Ivra‘ (Hebrew), then he is not a chazan. Similarly, Rashi’s comment about the judges needs to be understood in the same fashion. When Rashi says that he must be a wealthy individual who does not flatter people, Rashi is not talking about the candidate’s bank account or stock portfolio. Rashi is saying that the judge must have the essence of an ashir (rich man).” A person who is by essence an “ashir” is a person who is not going to lower himself by trying to curry favor with flattery of individuals. That is beneath his dignity. That is not who he is.
Possessing money is not good enough to qualify someone as a judge. The person needs to have the essence and the mentality of an ashir. On occasion, people win lotteries worth mega millions. Overnight, these people are worth a couple hundred million dollars. Are they ashirim? They may have money but they are not ashirim. An ashir is a person who has a certain standard, a certain approach and dignity. That is what Rashi means when he comments that anshei chayil = ashirim, as the number one criterion for a judge.
The colloquial term for a rich man is a “gvir.” Rav Leib Steimann once commented that a “gvir” must be a gibor (possessing strength of character)! A person can have a lot of money but that alone does not make him into a gvir. A gvir means a person who is in charge of himself. Who is the gibor – one who conquers his evil inclination (Avos 4:1).
Many of us remember Rav Moshe Reichmann of Toronto. By all standards he was an ashir. But not only was he a person who had a lot of money, he was an ashir because of the way he conducted himself and the way he treated others. He was not just an ashir. He was a gvir.
Of all the stories I read about Rav Moshe Reichmann, the following made the most lasting impression on me: He was suffering from cancer at the end of his life. He had an aide who used to take him for treatments. After his treatments, he was very thirsty. After one of his treatments, he asked his aide to get him a glass of water. The aide came back with a bottle of water and no cup. Rav Moshe Reichmann refused the water. He said that since the time he was a baby, he never drank out of a bottle and he did not intend to start now. That is a certain dignity and presence of how a person holds himself. That is an ashir! That is a gvir!
So sure, all the people in Klal Yisrael had ninety donkeys laden with silver and gold. But that only makes them into people with a lot of money. It does not make them into ashirim. It does not make them into anshei chayil (according to Rashi’s interpretation of the term.)
R' Frand
