Devarim, 2nd Aliya

Appointing Judges

Moshe says that G-d will increase their number 1000 fold. This is less than the blessing G-d gave in Breishis 13:16 to Avraham that Avraham’s offspring would be as numerous as the dust of the earth. G-d’s blessing will come true in the Messianic Era, while Moshe’s will come to fruition before.

Moshe states that he cannot bear their trouble (insinuating the nation is troublesome and ill tempered*) on his own (even if he had wanted to, G-d did not permit it) and that they should appoint judges.

*Side note: The example Rashi brings to illustrate the troublesome nature of the Israelites is that if two people were involved in a court case and one of them was winning, the opponent would retort that he had more evidence, witnesses or judges (although cases involving money were usually judged by a court of three, under certain circumstances, it was permitted to demand a larger court). They were also heretical in that they would refer to Moshe as “son of Amram” (a derogatory way to refer to someone) and if he would leave his home early, they would say that he must be having family trouble, and if he left his home late, they would imagine that he was sitting at home plotting against them.

The judges were appointed by Moshe through Divine Inspiration however Moshe wanted to honor the Israelites by including them in the selection process.

Yitro had given Moshe seven traits to look for in a judge. 3 were mentioned in Shmos 18:21: G-d fearing, men of truth and people who despise money*. And then four more are listed in this aliya (Devarim 1:13) : Wise, understanding, righteous and well known.

*Side note, the beginning of that section there also lists that they should be “men of means” but the Sefer Zikaron says that this is not a trait but rather a title given to someone who has the traits listed.

Yitro stipulated that although judges with all seven of the listed traits would be ideal, if he can’t find this, Moshe should chose judges who at least have the top three traits which were righteous, wise and well known/respected/have good reputations. So these were the traits the judges Moshe chose had.

These judges will bear the responsibility for any sins the people commit.

Rashi brings down an anecdote regarding Rabbi Yose and Arius (a 4th century CE Christian theologian who had ideas which veered from standard Christian thought). Arius asked Rabbi Yose what the difference is between someone who is wise vs someone who is understanding, and Rabbi Yose said that a wise person is like a wealthy moneychanger who examines money when it is brought to him but when nothing is brought to him, he sits at home doing nothing. White an understanding person is like an entrepreneurial moneychanger who similarly examines money when it it is brought to him, however when it is not, he goes out on his own hustling for business.

Moshe recaps that the Israelites immediately agreed to Moshe’s proposal to appoint judges however Moshe does not say this out of praise. He says that they wanted judges out of self interest and would have rushed Moshe to appoint the judges had Moshe not done so right away so that they could bribe any judge who did not favor them.

Moshe asks rhetorically, is it not better to learn from one’s teacher who suffered for Torah (by fasting for 40 days on Mount Sinai) directly than from your teacher’s student?

In appointing the judges, he won them over by telling them how lucky they were to be leaders over the sons of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.

He set it up so there would be one leader per 1000 as well as 1 per 100, 1 per 50 and one per every 10 people.

He also set up officers who would act as agents for the judges.

Moshe instructs the Israelites to treat these judges with respect by having them be the first to: purchase, sell and speak in a discussion (ie give their opinion first). The should also be the last to enter so they don’t have to wait for others and the first to leave, so they aren’t left alone).

Moshe commands the judges to be patient and give every case proper attention even if its the same type of case they’ve seen many times.

They should not show favoritism to anyone and not fear any man, only G-d.

They are to judge all things even those which seem minor like brothers dividing an oven and a stove.

All cases no matter how big or small should be treated equally. Those involving small amounts of money should not be judged last. Another reading of this section is that a judge should not let a poor man off because he doesn’t want him to have to resort to theft nor to acquit a rich man due to not wanting to tarnish his honor over a small amount of money (even if after the court case he privately goes up to him asking him to pay back the money he was meant to in court).

If there is anything too difficult for them, they should bring it to Moshe.

Moshe stating all of this represented a shift in the status of these judges where they were now subject to the people in the sense that they could not refuse a case anymore and they were meant to see their position more as a duty rather than an honor.

Moshe warns the people not to pick judges based on good looks or might or due to nepotism. If they do end up appointing an unqualified judge, it will be as if the appointee himself was showing favoritism in judgement. Such an unqualified judge will end up acquitting a guilty person and condemning someone innocent.

Since G-d is the ultimate judge and will correct all wrongs, it is making more work for G-d if a judge rules unjustly, thus forcing G-d to correct it.

The Chumash now rebukes Moshe for the incident with the daughters of Zelphchad where he told them to bring the matter to him rather than to G-d and for this Moshe was denied the ability to see how he was meant to rule in that case. Rashi likens this to the incident where Shmuel proclaimed himself a seer to Saul and this led G-d to set it up so that when Shmuel came to anoint David, he saw Eliav and mistook him to be the one to anoint. (Shmuel 1 9:19).

There are 10 things which are different in monetary vs capital cases.

Moshe goes on to recap the journey of the Israelites from Chorev through the entire desert by way of the mountain of the Amorite until they reached Kadesh Barnea. This desert is referred to as being “great” since it had snakes as large as beams and scorpions as large as bows. Although the clouds of glory protected the Israelites from these, they still saw their carcasses.

Moshe continues, saying that when they reached the mountain of the Amorite, G-d had them see the land which He promised to them before they were to take possession of it and they were told not to fear or give up.