Pensée juive sur Les Psaumes 99:4

The strength of the king loves justice." (Psalms 99) Midrash Tanchuma on this Parshah writes "Moses said to Israel: "here G-d has given you His Torah. If you do not accept the social legislation, He will take it away from you. Why? Because He has given you the Torah only on condition that you carry out the social legislation contained therein, as it says "the strength of the king loves justice." If you carry out the laws that apply between man and man, He will restore your Courts of Law and your temple, as it is written "I will restore your judges as of old." Afterwards it says "Zion will be redeemed through justice and its returnees through righteousness." (Isaiah 1)

The objective yardsticks of ethics and morality are the laws given by G-d. When David prayed "Grant, O Lord, to Solomon Your justice, to the king Your righteousness," it is as if David had prayed for Solomon to be granted that objective yardstick of justice which is reserved for the Lord Himself. Proof that this prayer was granted is found in Chronicles I 29,23, "Solomon sat on the throne of G-d as king, replacing his father David.” The first example of Solomon having been granted this Divine yardstick of justice, is the story of the two mothers who accused each other of having switched babies (Kings I Chapter 3). If human yardsticks were to be applied, the mother in possession of the surviving baby should have been awarded custody, since the other mother had no proof to offer. Solomon's initial decision to cut the living baby in half, and divide it between the two claimants, runs counter to Talmudic law, i.e. the example of two people each holding on to part of a garment, since in this case possession had not been shared. Obviously then, Solomon only used this to demonstrate that the ultimate decision was inspired by a superior logic, i.e. G-d’s. The idea of dividing the baby was so abhorrent to Rabbi Yehudah bar lla-i, that he says only a minor could have come up with a decision like that (Solomon at the time had not yet reached his thirteenth birthday). Rabbi Yehudah applied the verse in Kohelet 10,16, "Woe to the country that is ruled by a child." The same people who were aghast at a decision that would have resulted in the death of the surviving baby, hailed Solomon's eventual decision. This reflects the verse in Kohelet 10,17, "Hail to the country whose ruler is truly free." The Midrash stating that the words "she is his mother" were spoken by a Heavenly voice teaches that Solomon's decision was indeed the correct one. Solomon's initial verdict did not even correspond to the Talmudic principle of gud o agud (Baba Batra 13), which stipulates that in cases where physical division of disputed property would result in irreparable loss to either litigant, division of the disputed property is to be arranged in kind. It is clear that suspension of the Divine system of justice would result in perversion of justice, since our yardsticks of comparison would vanish. When only a small section of mankind indulges in false morality, the result, while damaging, might help to restore true morality elsewhere. To the Jew, Abraham's query "Shall the judge of the whole earth not do justice?" (Genesis 18,25) is not a question of "if," but a question of “how.” The fact that G-d’s morality is objectively true morality is axiomatic; our concern is only with attempting to comprehend some of its aspects. The premise is "the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice" (Deuteronomy 32,4). Similar statements can be found throughout the Bible. If we become too perturbed when enquiring into apparently unjust occurrences and one forgets this premise, then the danger of heresy is very real, and one can no longer claim to be a searcher for truth, but becomes a doubter of truth. This is the lesson the prophet Chabakuk (2,4) teaches, "The righteous lives by his faith." We proclaim the truth of G-d both by day and by night immediately following the shema yisrael, "hear O Israel," prayer.

The Midrash quoted at the beginning has this idea in mind. Once G-d chose the world, He determined the dates of new moons, and new years. The new years were indicative of the natural law that was to govern the universe, i.e. the system based on the month of Tishrey. Once G-d saw that the universe could not function successfully on this basis of midat hadin, attribute of justice, He chose Jacob and his descendants, i.e. tzaddikim. Because of the latter's good deeds, G-d was prepared to flood the world with midat hachessed, harachamim, mercy, Personal Intervention. He set aside the beginning of the month of Nissan for commencement of this method of guiding history towards His objectives. "The work of the Lord is great, and consists of the day the Jews took the lamb" (yom hashem hagadol- Compare Tossaphot Shabbat 87). The word hagadol, the great, is used on another day when ideologies of idol-worshippers are upset. This is on the Day of Atonement when the scapegoat is thrown down the abyss to demonstrate how we feel about people who sacrifice to such creatures, and how such an action by us helps our own kapparah, atonement, forgiveness (Yalkut Shimoni Yael, item 2). The word hagadol, the great, may also be a reference to G-d Himself, rather than an adjective describing the importance of that day and date in the calendar. The grammatical construction then would be yom hashem hagadol, the day of the Lord who is great. We find in Jeremiah 10,6, "Great are You O Lord, and great is Your name. This points out the difference between the Lord G-d from mortal kings. The latter are praised, exalted, only to reveal weaknesses after all. Not so with G-d, who lives up to all His advance billing. On the contrary, it is impossible for mere mortals to express all the praise due Him (compare Chronicles I 29,11 "Yours, O G-d is the greatness, the Power etc.")! G-d’s characteristics are unlike those of human kings. As long as the latter enjoy physical power, they are hardly concerned with real justice, rely on might rather than right. Not so with G-d. He always has power at His disposal, but He employs justice nonetheless (Psalms 99,4).