(from Chatam Sofer on Devarim, p. 71, “Tzedek”)
Appointing Your Own Judges
“You should surely pursue justice (“tzedek tzedek tirdof”) in order that you should live and inherit the land that Hashem your G-d gives you.”
Rashi comments, quoting the Gemara in Sanhedrin (32), “The act of appointing proper judges is itself worthy of sustaining Israel and settling them on their land.” Why is this mitzva (commandment) of appointing judges treated with such weight? Why does this particular element of setting up the judicial system have such far-reaching implications?
If we think about this vividly, says the Chatam Sofer, we will appreciate how powerful the appointment of judges is. Imagine a community convening for the task. All those gathered in the convention hall know the import of their choices. The judges they elect will enact laws limiting the community’s behavior. Furthermore, when one person wrongs another judges will enforce the penalties and punishments that the Torah dictates for the situation. It is even possible, those citizens realize, that they might also one day sin and be found guilty by the court, receiving a monetary punishment, lashes, or even the death penalty – decided by judges they appointed themselves. They appoint judges that might one day punish them.
That act of appointing proper judges, whose authority they unconditionally accept upon themselves, is a tremendous statement of a community accepting the yoke of Torah. Such an act is enough to merit the Jewish people living on and inheriting the land of Israel.
[prepared by Eliezer Kwass]
