Parshas Shoftim: The Divine Path of Guilt, Confession, and Justice

0:00 There isn't a more powerful emotion than guilt. I'd like to argue my case Because parashat Shoftim is one big constitution, a big aggregate of all the fundamental principles and the precedents, the laws of God, of how God wants his world to be governed. The constitution that we call parashah shoftim really Our parashah begins with Moshe instructing Kalal Yisrael to have the best judges, to have law enforcement officers in every city, the best judges, to have law enforcement officers in every city.

0:48 Sh'ayftim v'shaytrim, titein l'cho and justice, justice shall you pursue. We must administer the law without any corruption, no favoritism, and crimes must be meticulously investigated. Evidence must be thoroughly examined. The famous law of two witnesses comes into view. The entire thing, one big constitution of godly law. Hashem really does tell us in plain English, plain Hebrew, what it is that he wants from us.

1:39 He wants mishpat, he wants justice. He wants mishpat, he wants justice. He wants us, whether we are a judge, a bailiff, a plaintiff, a lawyer or just a common citizen, that we should follow the rules and the rules that all end up in a big cocktail of mishpat, of justice. We don't talk about it enough, but really mishpat, justice and perfection in justice is really what God loves and how we are to understand.

2:26 God Rashi tells us at the beginning of this. Parasha Rashi consistently points out the ma'amori chazal about just how far we must go in order to ensure proper mishpat is had, how to find the right judges, how to govern the people, how to hire the right sheriffs, how to have specific sheriffs in each town, how to make sure that bribes don't happen and how to make sure that we have the most expert and righteous men in charge of justice.

3:13 Because Hashem loves mishpat, hashem, god Almighty, loves justice. The Rebbanon, parashas Ekev tells us, gives us laws of justice as well. Because, to ensure that we are scrupulous in justice, ki lo yiyeh im rav kuloy nizhar b'mitzvos kulom shaloy yizchatu bohen klal rak b'mishpatim ya'amidu ha-Torah Rak b'mishpatim ya'amidu ha-Torah.

4:02 The Torah stands on mishpatim, on justice and justices, that good is rewarded and evil is punished. Indeed, pirkei Avos the laws of the fathers, the laws of our ethics begins by giving us over the mesorah, the tradition of how Torah was passed down from God to Moses all the way down through the generations, and one of the three first halachos, given the first pieces of advice of how to live very morally and proper and ethical life, is having mesunin bedin.

4:44 Be deliberate, patient in your justice. Comments on this. Why? What's behind this? There's extra enthusiasm and warnings given about because we should be more careful about it. It is the main and great way to know God.

5:25 It is the main and great way to know God. That's what Yirmiah said. Barak tells you want to know God, then you get to know justice and get to know what God deems is just, whether for the good and rewarding just behavior, or the opposite. God forbid in punishing wrongdoings and wrongdoers.

6:07 This leads us to why it was rather obvious that Yaakov of Vinu, as he's lying on his deathbed and he's giving over prophecy and knighting his tribes, his sons, really exposing their future and what their life's missions are, and he takes a moment to gather himself and pick the melech, pick the king, the king that's going to represent, as is very clear from our parasha and parasha shoftim again, that the king must represent mishpat justice. He obligates justice, he commands justice.

6:55 And who does Yaakov Avinu select to be the king to represent justice and mishpat godliness? You, o Judah, your brother shall praise, your hand shall be on the nape of your foes and your father's son shall bow low to you. You're to be king. What is it that Yaakov saw? Where did Yaakov see Mishpat?

7:38 Where did Yaakov find the hint that the mita would be deeply rooted in his son, yehudah Judah, the one who should be the representative of God's holy law? Well, just look at the translation from Uncalus. It says Uncalus, genesis 49.8, yehuda at Odessa. Yehuda, your brothers will praise you. Why? Because at Odessa you confessed and you were not ashamed. Therefore, your brothers will acknowledge you.

8:19 Uncalus tells us which is truly a goldmine, of how one can become not only kingly, not only godlike, but someone that represents all that God wants, which is mishpat. And how do you get there and do that? When you confess and when you admit guilt. The story with Yehudah is a hard one to read, even the plain translation of the story. There's the greatest man of the generation, one of the holy shiftei, the twelve tribes, accused of some hard-to-digest activity.

9:08 An inappropriate relationship. Hard to digest activity, an inappropriate relationship. Obviously, this large of an individual requires that we understand that there is some deep-rooted and perfect thinking at hand that Yehudah had great intentions with all that was baked into it. Still, with even the slightest misstep. The righteous are judged even by the smallest misstep. Now Yehudah is being accused of some impropriety, and in a moment that the whole world is tuning in to figure out who is the dad of a woman who has become pregnant, the dad of a woman who has become pregnant, when the cameras and microphones they bend in to pick up what Yehuda will say or how he will deny the claim.

10:00 He says you are more righteous than me or you are correct, I am guilty. This is my child. At Odessa, yaakov looks right there and says Yehudah, you admitted, you confessed you were not ashamed and therefore your brothers will acknowledge you and bow to you. Rebbe Yerucham, right here, says this is the goldmine Admitting guilt.

10:42 It shows a love of everything that God wants, a love of mishpat, a love of justice and a love that this is what I know is right Zodka mi meni. That is the incredible power of self-incrimination, of admittance of misdeed, and I'd like to turn your attention to this concept and drill it in hard, even though it may not be so easily digested, that in the upcoming judgment that we will face on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we are going to go underneath the magnifying glass.

11:39 God will compare notes between what it is that it says explicitly in the Torah and then, to the left side of the screen. God will then glance over and see how it is that we measure up against that. Mitzvah or losa say something that we should not do. The gray area in between if there's any discrepancy between what is commanded and what we do, make no mistake about it Sin is there. So it's going to be a tough court case, because God does love justice.

12:25 So what are we supposed to do? What's your plan? Repentance would be the best way, and so repentance is what we will do. But even easier than repenting is a reality that we see right here. If you want to act godlike, somehow be even-knighted, to be found to be a lover of justice, which God truly requires you admit your guilt to God, because when one admits their guilt, I quote for you from Bava Kama 64b that if you are a modebiknas, if you admit to having taken something, done something wrong, the court will not punish.

13:27 You charge you double knas, you send you to jail, because the law is explicit that moda b'knas, he who admits to this reality, who confesses he's putter, he is totally off the hook. Moda biknas, putter. The reality seems almost unfair, too good to be true. You merely admit to messing up and in God's book you're innocent.

14:07 We must ask ourselves where did the guilt go? If God does love justice, how is it possible to just be totally exonerated? The judges must convict someone or something. If some money has been taken, how can it be that you admit guilt and you're off the hook scot-free? The answer because when you're marcia esimu, when you become a judge on yourself and you declare yourself guilty as charged, well then no more judgment needs to be made, because judgment has already been made.

14:56 We don't need to bring in any other judges. The case is closed, god's law has been brought into the picture and we'll go about giving back all the necessary exact money that was taken. But there's no knass. There's no, any extra punishment. There's no KFEL. There's no, any extra punishment. There's no kefil. There's no dalet vehe. There's no extra payments back. Because when you admit guilt, your marshiya es atzmo. Yes, that brutal guilt that the world runs so far from, that's the goldmine of somehow sidestepping all of this tidal wave of mishpat and judgment and purgatory and fires and devar and shchen and barad.

15:47 You're just marshiya hasatzmo. God, I wasn't good enough. You asked for something and I did something else. I'm guilty. Listen to this In case this reality is too good to be true, so you need another proof to solidify it. Mejish rabba devarim five-four Mahu shoftim v'shotrim.

16:35 In a place where justice is had, where justice, where mishpat, where the right thing is present, ain't dayan, there isn't a judger, no one's sitting on the bench. But if there is no proper justice, then yesh dayan, then there is a judge, in this case Umahu. And what is this? El Omer Reb, eliezer, imnasa Hadin Lamata, when the Jewish people, when somebody will make a declaration, when you will do what is proper, and just down here in this world, ein Hadin Nasa Lamayla, there's just down here in this world.

17:23 There's no more justice in the heavens. Nothing else needs to be done. Justice has already been had, the orders have been served, the world knows what is right, everyone has learned their lesson. So everyone just exchanges back the goods that were taken. Maybe Everyone gets what needs to be paid back, but after that there's no more din. If it was a sin from man to God, you admit your guilt and you're off the hook. A reality too good to be true. You simply get out of jail for free by admitting.

18:04 When you're osam mishpat lamata, when you become a judge on yourself, you don't need to incur liability or be flogged from the heavens because you've already performed mishpat down here. Below Guilt, guilt, a bit of some honest guilt has the ability to wipe your slate clean. Is what it says here, the very fact that you have admitted to having committed a specific or perhaps implied offense against God, a breach of conduct that may and probably does deserve some sort of penalty.

19:05 But you were modab eknas, you admitted, you felt guilty, in all honesty, and you say God, I'm sorry, you are totally good to go. And surely you're jumping out of your skin and saying but guilt, guilt is a depressing emotion. Guilt, we must run from guilt, guilt isn't, it isn't healthy. And I thought for some time about this, to try to take the podcast and a different route, to try to separate between good guilt and bad guilt and possibly the possible differences between the two, and guilt that encourages and guilt that depresses, and going in that direction to define them clearly.

19:51 But I'd like to choose not to, because even if guilt does have someone down for a bit, let's take that route where guilty can be a bit depressing for some time. But what if I told you that a bit of guilt, a bit of dad, I really should not have been playing baseball in the garage and I'm sorry I broke your window. I know it's going to cost you so much money to get it fixed and I know that you told me already many times that I shouldn't play baseball with a metal bat and a hard baseball with my brother in the garage and have now knocked your window out.

20:34 I'm sorry, I feel guilty. I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry, I feel guilty, I shouldn't have done it, but that everything is forgiven and it isn't even hard with that muscle to understand why, when the dad sees the boy crying at daddy's feet, daddy, I'm sorry, daddy, I didn't mean to. I know that it was wrong. If you were the dad, would you pick the kid up and bring him by the neck and get the belt out? I don't think so. That's the relationship that we have with God, and I cannot think of an easier way for us to escape any sort of misdoings and punishment that must be given to us.

21:27 God forbid, god forbid can't be an easier way than just simply saying I did do that, I shouldn't have done it. I did do that and you asked me not to. I shouldn't have done it. When you give a little bit of a heartache, a little bit of a oh, don't be ashamed, because you're acting like Yehuda, because you still have a consciousness for what is right, and even the slightest bit of pain it saves you, because you still have a love of justice for what is right and what is wrong.

22:15 And what is right and what is wrong in justice is what God wants us to understand. So don't run from guilt, and please do see how guilt a bit of some heavenly guilt, from misstepping, not following the laws of the Torah, is one of the most powerful emotions. Confess, feel a bit sorry that you messed up, and with that, when you are, you incriminate yourself and you're you're.

23:02 You're exonerated from any of the harsh punishments that one has to endure and doesn't follow the will of Hashem. Admit, confess and save yourself. That's what guilt and confession can do for you.