Commento su Deuteronomio 16:19

"You must not bend etc and not recognize a face" (Deuteronomy 16:20) because it is written "you shall not have other gods before Me [lit. in front of My face]" (Exodus 20:3) and one can explain it like this: behold, the Blessed Creator is called "face of every thing", since every thing has a piece of divinity that makes it present and gives it vitality, and if, God forbid, a person thinks a extraneous thought, or looks at something evil, then one turns away and distances one's face from it. And the extraneous thoughts and the evil sightings and evil passing thoughts are called "other gods" and this is "you shall not have other gods etc" and this is [also] "you must not recognize faces" that is to say, that you will not sin and not think outside thoughts, so that you won't distance the face and become estranged from yourself. "You shall take no bribe because the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, etc" (Deuteronomy 16:20), and at a first glance don't our eyes see many and many receivers of bribe, and they are healthy, and strong, and they die closing their eyes? But the issue is that the righteous person who is dedicated to Hashem in truth merits high levels in the eyes of His intellect, that is, the higher Wisdom, and this is "the eyes of Hashem are on the righteous" (Psalms 34:16) that the Holy One of Blessing gives merit to the righteous in the eyes of the Higher Intellect, and this is "you shall not take etc because the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise etc", meaning that the person will not merit in the eyes of His intellect in the Higher Wisdom, "and perverts the words of the righteous" that is, the righteous that speak in their holiness the receiver of bribes perverts them, that is, not just that that person will not merit Higher Wisdom, but also if the righteous want to negate their words and return that person to the good, their words will not help that person, since all their words will appear to that person as perverted.

לא תטה משפט means what it literally implies: THOU SHALT NOT PERVERT JUDGMENT.

לא תטה משפט, "Do not pervert justice, etc." This commandment is not only addressed to the judges but to all those who by failing to appoint the proper judiciary contribute to unfair judgments being handed down by unauthorised sources.

Not even during the arguments, etc. I.e. since [Rashi said that] לא תטה משפט is [interpreted] “according to its obvious interpretation,” meaning that one should not pervert justice, if so, why do we need [the command], “Do not show favoritism”? He answers, to teach you “not even during the arguments, etc.” I.e. even before the [actual] judgment [begins], one should not pervert justice and not ruin [it], “he should not be gentle, etc.” Therefore Rashi also had to explain that “Do not pervert justice” follows the obvious interpretation.

V. 19. ספרי .לא תטה משפט erläutert: לא תטה משפט בממון ולא תכיר פנים ממון .כדין ist das Streitobjekt, דין das Schöpfen des Urteils. משפט ist der Urteilsspruch. Das Recht kann zwiefach gebeugt werden. Der Richter kann sich ein ganz richtiges Urteil gebildet haben, aber er spricht gegen seine Rechtsüberzeugung das Streitobjekt: ממון, dem Unberechtigten zu, und es ist dies ein Beugen des Rechtsspruches: מטה משפט בממון. Oder er bildet sich das Rechtsurteil, דין, nicht nach rein objektiv sachlichen Gründen, sondern räumt Rücksichten auf die Persönlichkeit der Parteien einen Einfluss auf seine Rechtsbeurteilung ein, er ist מכיר פנים בדין (siehe Kap. 1, 16 u.17).

לא תטה משפט ולא תקח שוחד, “do not pervert judgment, nor accept any bribe;” earlier in Exodus 23,6 the subject of not perverting judgment when destitute people are before the court has already been discussed; now it is addressed to the people as a whole. [The people addressed are primarily the judges. Ed.].

ולא תכיר פנים AND THOU SHALT NOT RESPECT PERSONS — not even if it be only during the pleadings of the parties. This is an admonition addressed to the judge that he should not be lenient to one and harsh to the other, e.g. letting one stand and the other sit; because as soon as he (the party treated harshly) observes that the judge shows more respect to his fellow his ability to plead is hampered (i.e. he loses self-confidence and cannot present his case with assurance) (cf. Shevuot 30a).

Even to adjudicate fairly. Because one cannot explain [that one should not take bribery] in order to not adjudicate fairly, [because] it is already written, “Do not pervert justice,” and if so, why do I need [the command], “Do not accept bribery”? Therefore [it must mean] that it is forbidden to take bribery even to adjudicate fairly. Alternatively, Rashi himself goes on to explain [his rationale]. I.e. the verse “for bribery blinds” is the reason for “Do not accept bribery.” And the explanation of this is that “once he has accepted his bribe it is impossible for him not to be partial, and subvert the verdict in his favor,” because he only took bribery from him in the first place in order to rule in his favor and to pervert the justice of his opponent. Therefore this implies, “‘Do not accept bribery,’ even to adjudicate fairly.”

ולא תקח שחד וגו׳ (siehe zu Schmot 23, 8).

ולא תקח שוחד, do not even accept a bribe in order to pass fair judgment. Bribing judges in order for them not to pervert justice has already been forbidden.

ולא תקח שחד NEITHER TAKE BRIBERY — even if you mean to give a just judgment in favor of the giver (Sifrei Devarim 144:10; cf. Rashi on Exodus 23:8).

ולא תקח שוחד, “and do not accept bribes.” Even in order to hand down a true verdict. The reason is that once one has received the bribe one can no longer be neutral, objective, or as the Torah calls it: “the bribe blinds even the eyes of the wise.” Our sages in Ketuvot 105 dissect the word שחד into שהוא חד, meaning once one accepts a bribe the giver and the recipient become as one. After that the judge cannot recognise incriminating argu-ments against the giver. The recipient is called a רשע, a wicked person, as we know from Proverbs 17,23: “a wicked man pulls a bribe out of his bosom.” We also have another verse in Proverbs 21,14: “a bribe in private (bosom) pacifies strong rage.” A third verse compares bribes to stones; Proverbs 17,8 reads: “a bribe seems like a charm, אבן חן, to its owner.” The reason the bribe is compared to a stone, אבן is that whenever it falls it breaks (Tanchuma Toldot 8).

Once he has accepted his bribe, it is impossible for him not to be partial, etc. You might ask that in parshas Mishpatim (Shmos 23:8), Rashi explained [differently], that “For it blinds the clear-sighted,” [means that] even if he is wise in the Torah but he takes a bribe, his mind will ultimately become muddled, etc.” The answer is that there it is written “blinds the clear-sighted,” and that certainly refers to his clear-sightedness, i.e. his clear-sightedness will be blinded because his mind will become muddled, etc.

ויסלף, “nor pervert,” we find this root used in the same sense in Proverbs 11,3: וסלף בוגדים ישדם, “but the perversity of the treacherous will destroy them.”.

Blinds the eyes of the wise [chachamim]: Yet in Shemos (23:8) the parallel verse states, “Blind the eyes of the pikchim. The word “wise” means wise in Torah. Pikchim means in worldly affairs, so that they will be able to cross-examine the witnesses. A judge must be proficient in both types of knowledge.

כי השחד יעור FOR BRIBERY DOES BLIND — As soon as he (the judge) has accepted a bribe from him (from one of the parties) it is impossible for him not to incline his heart to him trying to find something in his favor (Ketuvot 105b).

Words that are justified, true justice. I.e. it [the term צדיקים] does not refer to the judges, but to the Torah which is [composed of] words that are justified and are called truth, and those words of the Torah he perverts because he fails to rule according to Torah law. The word דברי has the same meaning as דברים and it is not that דברי is juxtaposed [to צדיקים and means “words of the righteous”]. Rather, it is similar to “חלוני שקופים (transparent windows) (Melochim I 6:4)” which is the same as [if it said] חלונים, [and it is similar to] נטעי נעמנים, “beautiful plants” (Yeshayah 17:10), which is the same [as if it said] נטעים.

דברי צדיקים, “the words of the righteous.” Here the Torah refers to the litigants, not the judges. Compare Deuteronomy 25,1: והצדיקו את הצדיק, “by justifying the righteous.”

דברי צדיקם means, the words which have been described by the term “righteous” viz., the judgments of truth uttered on Sinai (cf. Rashi on Exodus 22:8 and Note thereon).