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Chabad Research Unit — rse Summary Shefotim 5729 JUDGES AT THE GATES — Shoftim 5783

Выпуск: Chabad Research Unit — rse Summary Shefotim 5729 JUDGES AT THE GATES — Shoftim 5783. Темы: не определены автоматически. CHABAD ‫ב"ה‬ RESEARCH UNIT he Rebbe's Discourses T Summaries of points from the Rebbe’s Chassidic Discourses ‫בלי אחריות כלל וכלל‬ ‫פרשת שופטים תשכ''ט ד''ה שופטים בלתי מוגה‬ Published for Shabbat Sedra Shofetim 2 Elul 5783, 19 August 20231 JUDGES AT THE GATES T HE SEDRA STARTS WITH THE IDEA OF HAVING JUDGES AND POLICE AT THE GATES OF EACH CITY, AND PROCEEDS to the concept of ‘clearing out evil’ from the Jewish people2. This idea is expressed in the Rambam’s teaching that a person should always consider himself or herself equally balanced as regards good and evil, and that the whole world is equally balanced, so that one’s next positive step will transform oneself and the whole world to good4. [For example, Torah study might have the effect of inspiring a person so that he or she can successfully fight against a negative tendency within them (whether this concerns a temptation to do something wrong, or to desist from or delay doing something right). Each individual might devise their own range of conceptual ‘policemen’ which help them to achieve self-control.] However, the Rebbe points out that the first step is to have an internal ‘judge’, the desire to have this self-control, to actually challenge the inappropriate desire or tendency, rather than just giving in without a fight. Thus through the judges at the gates in this personal quest for self restraint, one comes closer to achieving the goal of clearing evil out of the Jewish people as a whole, and also to the positive aspect of recognition of the Divine through one’s own individual measure. The sense of scent is compared in the Talmud to thoughts of sin13, which can be even more enticing than the forbidden action itself, just as the delicious scent of certain kinds of food can provoke more desire than the actual act of eating. Sight, as expressed in the verse ‘lift your eyes heavenwards, and see who created [the stars]’10; hearing, as in verses such as ‘and now Israel, listen to the laws and statutes which I am teaching you’ (Deut.4:1). Chassidic teachings explain, based on the Zohar, that the husband means G-d, and each individual recognises G-d according to his or her own ‘gate’, sha’ar in Hebrew, which relates to the word shiur, ‘measure’. But a further meaning of the gates

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Chabad Research Unit

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18 августа 2023 г.

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3