Pursuing Justice through Just Means

The first three verses of  parasha Shoftim are very telling.

18. Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you, throughout your tribes; and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

 19. You shall not pervert judgment; you shall not respect persons, nor take a bribe; for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.

20. Justice, only justice shall you pursue, that you may live, and inherit the land which the Lord your God gives you.

We see in this parasha that when a society strives to be righteous , it must have judges who do not “see” the individuals being judged ; judges must listen to the facts being presented and make their judgements based upon the evidence given not upon the one making the claims; judges should be part of the community in which they live so they will be connected to wanting an environment where the rule of law exists for all people. Society’s members are expected to utilize just means while pursuing justice.  In effect, what this is saying is that the ends do not justify the means.

Rabbi Arthur Lavinsky explained it further when he wrote, “Jewish Law demands that we must never favor the rich over the poor. But neither may the poor be favored over the rich. Each case must be judged by its own merits, not by the social, economic, or racial background of the litigants. If we can judge with true impartiality, then we are well on the way to achieving true justice.”

The idea of judging is certainly a theme which is prevalent during the month of Elul as we are preparing for the High Holy Days.  We are supposed to do a cheshbon nefesh, an accounting of our soul, to judge our actions of the past year. 

As I think about this past year of division and crisis in our country, I wonder what are the ways in which our actions have pursued justice?  Have we aligned ourselves with philosophies and groups that have promoted hate on either side of the political spectrum?  Have we attempted to create a peaceful society through just means?  Have we listened to the cries of those in need while pursuing just means for righting the wrongs felt? 

Last week I got called to a community meeting that I had been led to believe wanted to speak about creating a safe and just society for all of Lincoln’s residents through peaceful means in response to the prevalent hate messages being perpetrated by Neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups.  As it turned out, half the room was filled with militants who rejected the suggested positive actions that could be taken by a community such as Lincoln.  Instead they spoke about using violence to achieve their goals of protecting the threatened populations on their list (which did not seem toinclude Jews).  It seemed to me that their pursuit of justice in this instance was not through just means.  It was encouraging to know, however, that there were also many in the room who did not approve of taking a vigilante approach to pursuing justice. They focused on wanting to repair systemic wrongs in society through positive and legal actions. Many of us who were focused on using positive actions to fight the negative actions of those spewing Nazis slogans, will be involved with the interfaith coalition of Lincoln to discuss ways that we can continue to create a community that is inclusive not exclusive, that employs the language of love not the language of hate, and that tries to achieve justice through just means while sending the message that this community disavows the message and actions of white supremacists and Neo-Nazis. 

Yesterday the ADL in Omaha had a town hall forum of leaders and Charlie and I attended representing Lincoln’s Jewish community.  I spoke about our “one table” conversation last Shabbat, as an attempt to create a space to begin open dialogue about the intensifying racist and anti-Semitic acts in this country. Whether you participated in our discussion last week or not, it is important for us all to become familiar with what we can do to counter the hate we saw on display in Charlottesville several weeks ago.  I will be posting a list of resources and suggested actions on our hallway bulletin board. You can judge for yourself, how you want to be take a stand.  I merely urge you to not be an individual who sits back as a by-stander.

Now for a few words about today’s gathering of the 1967 Bar Mitzvah class.  Mike, Bryan, Mark, Av, and Jim, it is lovely that you have maintained a sense of connection to your childhood synagogue and to each other.  I believe this Bar Mitzvah reunion is the first of its kind for Tifer+eth Israel.  This summer when I took a group to Israel we were met by Rabbi Michael Graetz who said it was the first time in 50 years since he had arrived in Israel that a group from Tifereth Israel had come to visit.  And now here we are in Lincoln with  this first reunion of a  Bar Mitzvah class in 50 years.  There must be something magical about the number 50.  Perhaps the passage of 50 years is long enough to allow one to not only look back with fondness but to look forward with a vision of what is important in life.  May each of you continue to be connected through friendship with one another. May your connection to our synagogue and its members always exist, and may you continue to contribute to the well-being of the communities in which you now live. We are thrilled to have you back home.  We thank you for sharing this special time with us.