Pensamiento judío sobre Salmos 82:1

G-d has entrusted the administration of justice on earth to human judges. If these judges fail to judge fairly, they in turn are subjected to G-d’s judgment as we see from Psalm 82. Faulty judgments are due to any of four causes, all of which Yitro addresses himself to when offering advice to Moses. A judge may have a bad character, love violence; his judgments therefore are apt to be corrupt. Psalm 82 refers to this by asking "how long will you pronounce corrupt judgment?" 2) A judge may be G-d fearing, willing to judge truthfully, but when it comes to minor matters involving small sums etc., he may not apply himself diligently. This situation is covered in the above quoted Psalm by the words "judge the poor and the orphan," people who are usually litigants in a small claims Court. A judge must deal as carefully with a penny as with a million. 3) Even though the judge is G-d fearing, and may consider small sums as carefully as large ones, he may be swayed by considerations involving personal gain or honour. He may fear a particular litigant involved in a law suit before him. Concerning such a situation, the Psalmist says "rescue the defenseless and save them from the lawless." 4) A judge may simply err in his application of logic, or due to ignorance of the point of law in question. Concerning this, the Psalmist says "they do not know or understand, they walk in darkness." Yitro incorporates warnings against the four shortcomings listed, in his advice. Concerning the judges' character, he recommends selection of "G-d fearing individuals." Concerning the judges' inclination to downgrade the attention given to litigation involving minor sums, he calls for "men who hate unjust gain." Concerning the judges' professional knowledge, Yitro wants all difficult or major matters referred to Moses himself. When Moses carries out Yitro's suggestions, he acts in accordance with these principles in Deut. 1,15-16, when he instructs A) Do not recognise faces, i.e. show favoritism. B) Listen to the big just as to the small. C) Do not be scared of anyone. D) Anything which is too difficult, submit to me. The intention behind Yitro's suggestion, which results in the appointment of the enormous number of 78600 judges-, was to bring in its wake the minimization of crime since litigation would be instant. Ultimately, there will be a need for only a single judge, the Lord Himself. For that reason, the Midrash quoted at the outset describes in varying nuances that sacrifices are in fact an inferior method of achieving atonement, since conduct based on justice and righteousness achieves results under any set of circumstances, whereas the circumstances that make sacrifices effective are strictly limited.

It is for this reason that the chief and most select of the judges would stand in the place where the Divine Immanence manifested itself, this being the idea behind the presiding of the Men of the Great Assembly in the chamber of hewn stone [lishkath hagazith]. And it is for this reason that our sages of blessed memory said (Avodah Zarah 8b): "When they [the members of Sanhedrin] saw that murderers had multiplied, they said: 'Let us exile ourselves from our place, so as to put into effect (Deuteronomy 17:10): "And you shall do according to the thing that they tell you from that place" — this teaches us that the place is the critical factor'" [so that in exiling themselves from their place, they suspended the death penalty]. And all that our sages have said in this regard is to be understood along the same lines, viz. (Sanhedrin 7a): "Every judge that judges truly causes the Shechinah to reside in Israel, as it is written (Psalms 82:1): 'G-d stands in the congregation of the Almighty; He judges in the midst of the judges.'" And, similarly, (Shabbath 10a): "Every judge that judges truly — even one moment in the day — is regarded by Scripture as if he were a partner to the Holy One Blessed be He in the creation, it being written here [in respect to judging] (Exodus 18:13): 'from morning until evening,' and there [in respect to the creation] (Genesis 1:5): 'and it was evening and it was morning.'" This "partnership" is an allusion to what we have been saying — that just as in the creation the Divine effluence manifested itself in the terrestrial world, it being the source of all that was created, so, every judge that judges truly draws down that effluence, whether or not his judgment completely fulfills the societal requirements. For just as the sacrifices, though entirely outside the realm of natural cause and effect, made manifest the Divine effluence, so was this effluence drawn down by the judgments of the Torah, though these judgments had to be supplemented with the edicts of the king to guarantee a well-ordered society. We find, then, that judges were appointed to administer the judgments of the Torah alone, judgments righteous in themselves (as stated: "and let them judge the people a righteous judgment"), and the king was appointed to supplement these judgments with whatever was required for a well-ordered society and dictated by the needs of the hour.