May 22, 2019 · 11:57:46
Part I.You’re a JudgeTHE WEALTHY MAN AND THE PAUPERIn this week’sparshathere’s amitzvahof בְּצֶדֶק תִּשְׁפֹּט עֲמִיתֶךָ – “You should judge your fellowman withtzedek, with righteousness” (Kedoshim 19:15). Now, in its most simplepshatwhat that means is that if you’re a judge, if you’re adayanin thebeis din, so you must always be on guard that your first inclination, your emotions, shouldn’t be the reason for your decision. Don’t allow any superficial thoughts to lead you to conclusions; instead you must be careful to follow thedinof the Torah in all its details.Let’s say you’re a judge and now there’s a poor man standing before you; he’s one of the two litigants who came to thebeis din. Now, you’re a compassionate man after all – so you might say, “This poor fellow has a tough life – and I should go now and make him guilty and make it even worse?! Let me give him a break!” “No,” says Hashem, “Don’t do that”: לֹא תִשָּׂא פְנֵי דָל – “Don’t follow your superficial emotions in the courtroom and try to give an edge to the poor man” (ibid.).On the other hand, sometimes it might be a wealthy man, somebody important, and so your inclination might be to judgehimmore favorably. After all, he’s much more impressive, this well-heeled fellow, and just seeing him in his four hundred dollar suit makes his arguments seem stronger. “Nothing doing!” says Hashem: וְלֹא תֶהְדַּר פְּנֵי גָדוֹל – “Don’t show any preferable honor to an important person” (ibid.) If you’re a judge, it has to beb’tzed