Musar su Esodo 21:1

And among the weighty [positive] commandments is not to have a trial in the courts of the idolaters (gentiles), as it is stated (Exodus 21:1), “And these are the judgments that you shall place in front of them” - “in front of them,” and not in front of the Canaanites. But rebels stumble in them. And we have already spoken about this transgression before.

However, it would be doing Moses a grave injustice to believe that he erred in the language he used vis-a-vis G–d, especially to have made the same mistake on four separate occasions! I therefore believe that what Moses wanted to know on those four occasions did not concern something in the future, but he wanted to make sure that G–d would explain something to him which He had told him previously but which Moses was not sure he had properly understood. When Pharaoh had decreed that the workload of the Jewish people be increased (Exodus 5,9) Moses suddenly entertained doubts whether he had properly understood G–d previously when He had told him to take the people out of Egypt. He thought that possibly G–d had not referred to a process that would take place immediately but only after some considerable time. He therefore wanted to know from G–d when this redemption would occur. G–d reassured him that he had understood quite correctly, i.e. that the redemption would occur עתה, now. When G–d suddenly afflicted Miriam without even telling Moses anything about the cause of it all, i.e. "G–d suddenly told Moses Aaron and Miriam: go to the Tent of Meeting," Moses was not sure why he had become involved in all this. There could have been two reasons for this: 1) They (Aaron and Miriam) were not considered fit to receive prophetic communications due to their ritual impurity, as suggested by Rashi on Numbers 12,4, and that on account of this they could hear a communication from G–d only through the mouth of Moses. 2) G–d meant to put down Aaron and Miriam, and by having Moses present at that time their embarassment would be commensurably greater. If that had been G–d's purpose their very embarassment would constitute part of their atonement. We have an example of such a consideration in Exodus 32,14 when the very fact that G–d had said that He would wipe out the Jewish people and replace them with a new nation based on Moses was part of the Israelites' atonement. The shame of having been found so unworthy compared to Moses was part of their punishment. As soon as Moses saw that Miriam had become afflicted with לפניהם he asked G–d to explain why he had been called out also, seeing that G–d was not satisfied with merely shaming Miriam in his presence. Once G–d told Moses that Miriam had to remain quarantined for seven days Moses realized that he had erred in his earlier assumption that maybe his presence was Miriam's atonement, but that the first possibility, Miriam's ritual impurity at the time, was the reason Moses had to be called out to be the intermediary for a communication from G–d to her and Aaron. Something of a similar nature took place when Moses appealed to G–d regarding his successor. In Exodus 21,1 G–d had told Moses to place the various laws before the Jewish people. The word לפניהם used by the Torah there is understood to refer to legal experts, Torah scholars, as opposed to laymen. If the process was initiated by G–d giving Moses סמיכה, ordination, then it could be presumed that from that time on this ordination would be conferred by one scholar on his disciple, etc. On the other hand it was possible that just as G–d had chosen Moses to be ordained for this task in his generation, so G–d would ordain other leaders each in their respective generations. Now that the time had come for Moses to pass from the scene he wanted to know from G–d how this process of ordination of a future leader would be handled. G–d therefore told him in Numbers 27,18 that he, Moses, was to confer this ordination on Joshua by placing his hand on him. In our פרשה, too, Moses had thought that there were indications that G–d had rescinded His decree that Moses would not lead the Jewish people into the Holy Land. Moses therefore asked G–d for clear guidance as to the true state of affairs. We note that in all the instances when Moses used the word לאמור when addressing G–d there was a perfectly legitimate reason.

This is what Rashi has in mind when he explains that the word ואלה as in Exodus 21,1, introduces matters related to what had been discussed previously. Thus in our case the Torah tells us that just as Sinaitic legislation is binding on us, so the judgments pronounced by properly constituted judges are equally binding; hence the details pertaining to each and every commandment are just as essential as the overall nature of the מצוה. The author quotes an unnamed source as stating that the expression אלוהים, by its very definition is in the genitive (i.e. סמוכים). [I have found in the introduction of the כתב והקבלה of Rabbi Mecklenburg that G–d is always in some relationship to His creation, does not dwell in solitary isolation. This may well be what the author has in mind when quoting the line אין אלוקים בכל מקום אלא סמוכים. Ed.] When we said that G–d decided to co-opt the מדת הרחמים, this must not be construed as G–d having abandoned the idea of a world based on the מדת הדין, attribute of Justice. If that were so, it would pose the problem of G–ds omniscience. Rather, G–d decided to apply the attribute of Justice only to those who are equipped with "superior" souls, whose souls originate in the region souls come from. This is why G–d is so strict with people of the calibre of Moses, etc Anyone who has attained the level of being a שותף של הקדוש ברוך הוא, a "partner" of the Almighty in construction of the universe, is judged by these more exacting standards. We have a tradition that anyone who pronounces true judgment becomes a partner of the creation (Tanchuma Shoftim 8). I have explained this elsewhere at greater length. This is also what is meant when G–d told Moses that He had not needed to reveal Himself to the patriarchs in His aspect of the מדת הרחמים, His attribute of Mercy (compare Rashi on Exodus 6,3). The exile in Egypt actually represented a punishment of Abraham for having questioned במה אדע, demanded proof of G–d's promise being fulfilled (Genesis 15,8). Since such exceptional people maintain בראשית, i.e. מעשה בראשית, these people who are the ראשית, the leading, superior people, are judged by the attribute that called the universe into existence.

This may be the reason why when Abraham is reported as "sitting" in 18,1 the word Yoshev sitting is spelled defective without the letter ו. [maybe the letter ו symbolizes upright posture. Ed.] This indicates that he tried to rise. At that point G–d told him that he would be a symbol for his descendants, for G–d Himself would rise as a member of a collegiate of judges. How does the subject of "judges" enter the picture here? The meaning is that at that point G–d revealed to Abraham that the attribute of Justice was extended over Sodom. The reason Abraham was informed of this, now that he was circumcised, is that justice is something that can only be administered by people who have been circumcised, as we know from Exodus 21,1: ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים לפניהם, "These are the judgments you are to place before them. "The words "before them" are to exclude Gentiles who have not been circumcised, as we learn from Gittin 88. Being uncircumcised is not only a matter of the foreskin, but the same concept also applies to one's thinking processes. This is why we have ערלי לב, people whose hearts have remained "uncircumcised" (Ezekiel 44,7). All the Gentiles fall into that category; they therefore cannot be entrusted to administer the laws of the Torah. The Torah calls the judges א-להים, the same letters as in מילה, (allowing for the addition of the letter א for G–d), and that is also the name of G–d which represents the מרכבה. This is the meaning of Genesis 17,22: ויעל א-להים מעל אברהם, "G–d "rose" from Abraham." Judges have to be סמוכים, i.e. close to G–d, a condition that cannot be attained until after circumcision. [Nowadays סמוכים means ordained. Ed.] The letter א that the word מילה falls short of being equal to the word א-להים alludes to the fact that man, even when at his spiritually highest plateau, still remains one little bit below the spiritual level of G–d, as we know from Psalms 8,6: ותחסרהו מעט מא-להים, "You have made him a little less than divine. The same is true of the 50 levels of intelligence and insight. The most any man, (Moses), was granted was 49 levels of such knowledge and insight. Our sages in Rosh Hashanah 21b have derived this from reading the word מעט in Psalms 8,6 as מט, i.e. 49.