Halakhah su Salmi 99:63
Shev Shmat'ta
(Tav) ‘I have strolled in my heart to understand that which is written in Sifrei Devarim 144, “[‘You shall place officers and magistrates in all of your gates, etc.’ –] the appointment of proper judges is worthwhile to give life to Israel and to settle them on their land.” See there. And the language, “The appointment of proper judges is worthwhile to give life, etc.,” is not understood. As it is certainly worthwhile for far more [than only this], since we have found that the Torah itself was only given to Israel on condition that they would execute the laws. [That is] as it is [found] in the Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 31:1), “‘And these are the laws’ (Exod. 21:1) – and this is [the meaning of] that which is written (Ps. 99:4), ‘Mighty King who loves law,’ etc.” And it appears to me that [this can be understood] according to that which is written in Akeidat Yitschak, Parashat Vayera, and these are his words:
And I also wonder, is there favoritism in the matter – in what way were the people of Giveah (from the tribe of Binyamin)66See Jud. 19. different than the people of Sodom, etc.? And behold, Ramban,67Ramban on Genesis 19:8. may his memory be blessed, defended them, etc. However the simple text equates them completely.
See there, as he wrote at length. But he concludes:
If a city is ‘surrounded by the walls’ of good laws and ordinances and proper precepts – even if ‘foxes’ will sometimes breach the fences and break the laws – such a city is close to healing and repair. As ‘one from a city and two from a family’ will rise up to reprove the people [of the city, such that] their hearts will be aroused and they will go back to the [earlier strength]. However if it has no fence – not from ordinances and not from proper customs – even if it has a tall wall of ‘snakes and scorpions,’ ‘thorns and thistles’; their laws are not good and their ‘judgements are not’ to live by, etc. And behold that, in truth, this was the sin of Sodom, etc. – to the point where they established bad and disgusting things to be [as if] good laws. And they [even] enforced them [strictly] with penalties, that they should not transgress them, etc. But in Giveah, they had good laws; however, they sometimes transgressed them, etc. This is possible to fix. [See there.]
And it is possible that this is the intention of the Sifrei – “the appointment of judges is worthwhile,” meaning the appointment itself. [As] even if they do not listen to the voice of the instructors, they are close to being saved by the rebuke of the elders – as is written in Akeidat Yitschak about the people of Giveah. And were not the ones setting up the laws of the judges those who settled first in the country of a ‘boundless inheritance’ – ‘no eye has seen [them], O God, but You’?
And I also wonder, is there favoritism in the matter – in what way were the people of Giveah (from the tribe of Binyamin)66See Jud. 19. different than the people of Sodom, etc.? And behold, Ramban,67Ramban on Genesis 19:8. may his memory be blessed, defended them, etc. However the simple text equates them completely.
See there, as he wrote at length. But he concludes:
If a city is ‘surrounded by the walls’ of good laws and ordinances and proper precepts – even if ‘foxes’ will sometimes breach the fences and break the laws – such a city is close to healing and repair. As ‘one from a city and two from a family’ will rise up to reprove the people [of the city, such that] their hearts will be aroused and they will go back to the [earlier strength]. However if it has no fence – not from ordinances and not from proper customs – even if it has a tall wall of ‘snakes and scorpions,’ ‘thorns and thistles’; their laws are not good and their ‘judgements are not’ to live by, etc. And behold that, in truth, this was the sin of Sodom, etc. – to the point where they established bad and disgusting things to be [as if] good laws. And they [even] enforced them [strictly] with penalties, that they should not transgress them, etc. But in Giveah, they had good laws; however, they sometimes transgressed them, etc. This is possible to fix. [See there.]
And it is possible that this is the intention of the Sifrei – “the appointment of judges is worthwhile,” meaning the appointment itself. [As] even if they do not listen to the voice of the instructors, they are close to being saved by the rebuke of the elders – as is written in Akeidat Yitschak about the people of Giveah. And were not the ones setting up the laws of the judges those who settled first in the country of a ‘boundless inheritance’ – ‘no eye has seen [them], O God, but You’?
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