Don't Rush To Conclusions

Ma’amar by the Tolna Rebbe Shlita

After Moshe appointed judges to help him resolve the cases brought by Bnai Yisrael, he instructed them, " לא תגורו מפני איש כי המשפט לאלוקים הוא” – Do not fear from any person, because judgment belongs to G-d” (1:17). The Rambam, in Hilchos Sanhedrin (22:1), explains this command to mean, “You should not say: This person is an evil man; perhaps he will kill my son, set my field on fire, or cut down my trees.” At first glance, this halacha seems very difficult to understand. As we know, the Torah’s laws are suspended in situations of risk to human life. The Gemara very clearly establishes in Maseches Yoma (85b), וחי בהם ולא שימות בהם – we are given the mitzvos to live by them, not to die because of them. Why, then, does the Torah command a judge not to be afraid of a wicked person who is likely to cause harm to the judge if he rules in favor of the other litigant? 

The answer emerges from the end of the pasuk "כי המשפט לאלוקים הוא" . If the litigants see that the judges reach their decision honestly and solely out of a genuine desire to determine Torah law, that they have no ulterior motives whatsoever and do their work purely  לשם שמים , then they will accept the verdict without seeking to cause harm to the judges. This is the Torah’s promise in this pasuk. This message is conveyed also by Yeshayahu, in the prophecy read as the haftora on Shabbos Chazon.  – “איכה היתה לזונה קריה נאמנה, מלאתי משפט, צדק ילין בה ועתה מרצחים"  - how has the faithful city become a harlot. It was filled with justice; righteousness slept there, but now they are murderers!” (Yeshayahu 1:21). The Gemara in Maseches Sanhedrin (35a) explains the phrase  צדק ילין בה  to mean that when Beis Din needed to reach a verdict in a case involving a capital offense, for which the punishment was death, they were required to delay the verdict overnight, rather than rushing to reach a decision. If the judges were unable to find a basis on which to acquit the defendant, they should not declare him guilty, but instead delay the decision until the next day in the hope that by then some grounds for acquittal could be found. Yeshayahu here bemoans the fact that ועתה מרצחים  – the judges issued guilty verdicts without delaying and working to find a reason to acquit, and thus the judges were like מרצחים – killers. Yerushalayim was a  קריה נאמנה literally, “trustworthy city” when the judges followed this procedure of delaying their verdict until the next day. When the defendant saw how the judges worked arduously to find a way to declare him innocent, that they worked patiently and diligently searching as best they could for a way to avoid a guilty verdict, he trusted the judges and respected their decision even if they pronounced him guilty. And thus when בה ילין צדק ,at the time when the courts worked hard to find a basis to judge people favorably, the nation was a נאמנה קריה ,earning the trust and respect of the people. But when litigants feel that the judges are not working purely לשם שמיים , but rather for personal reasons, then ועתה מרצים – instead of reaching a Torah decision, the judges were committing murder.  

It emerges that the way Am Yisrael become a קריה נאמנה  , a “faithful city,”  is not through their Torah or their tefilos, but rather when they try with all their might to find a basis to judge favorably sinners who have violated capital offenses, and if they cannot, then they delay their decision further until they can find a basis for a favorable judgment. But if we fail in this regard, and instead determine people’s guilt without trying to judge them positively, then we lose our stature of קריה נאמנה , and we fall into the abyss of איכה היתה לזונה  and are accused by the prophet of being מרצחים. When we look at the state of our nation, and we wonder why we are still waiting for our redemption after so many years, despite all our sincere efforts to fulfill our Torah obligations, we need to understand the message of צדק ילין בה that is taught by the haftora. We may not hastily declare people guilty, even sinners who have violated capital offenses, and we must instead apply ourselves to find a way to judge them favorably.

Unfortunately, we are very deficient in this area. We relish lashon ha’ra and rejoice over hearing of other people’s mistakes and failings. Rather than following the procedure of צדק ילין בה  , of delaying judgment and giving the benefit of the doubt, we instead rush to conclusions about other people and instantly determine their guilt. Yeshayahu teaches us that this is the reason for the churban, and curing this ill is the way we become worthy of redemption. Earlier in this chapter (1:15), Yeshayahu also charges," ידיכם דמים מלאו” – "Your hands are filled with blood.” This refers to the sin of מלבין פני חבירו ברבים publicly humiliating one’s fellow and other interpersonal violations which Chazal equate with murder (Bava Metzia 58b). Our primary point of focus during this time of year is in this area, working to avoid hastily judging and condemning our fellow even if he outwardly appears sinful. The phrase ידיכם דמים מלאו is also understood by the Gemara (Nidda 13a) as a reference to violations in the area of purity, which are considered akin to murder. Special care must be taken in this regard specifically during the בין הזמנים vacation period, when people generally do not devote as much time to Torah learning, and thus do not receive the assistance that Torah study provides for overcoming the yetzer ha’ra. This is the time to strengthen ourselves in the area of guarding our eyes and our thoughts. Just as we need to follow the rule of צדק ילין בה and delay judgment of our fellowman, we must likewise apply this concept to “delaying” the yetzer ha’ra. As our sages have taught, the yetzer ha’ra’s most effective tactic is blinding us and causing us to sin immediately, without taking the time to think and recognize the gravity of our actions. It is through patience, that we can overcome the yetzer ha’ra and foil its schemes against us. If we conduct ourselves in this manner, both in regard to then we will be worthy of the arrival of Mashiach.

 לעילוי נשמת הרה"ח ר' אברהם יהודה ז"ל בן הרה"ח ר' פסח אליעזר ז"ל קורדיש נלב"ע ח"י מנחם אב תש"ע