Еврейская мысль к Дварим 33:5

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.

And do not challenge me with (Sanhedrin 46a): "It was taught: R. Eliezer ben Yaakov said: 'I have heard that beth din administers stripes not according to the Torah — not to transgress what is written in the Torah, but to make a fence for the Torah'" — which seems to imply that beth din is appointed to legislate in accordance with the exigencies of the times. It is not so. In those times when there were a Sanhedrin and a king in Israel, the Sanhedrin would judge the righteous judgment alone and would not institute anything beyond this unless they were empowered by the king to do so. But when there was no king in Israel, the judge embodied two functions, that of the judge and that of the king, as we find (Ibid 49a): "Amasa expounded 'but' ['ach'] and 'only' ['rak']; he went and found the rabbis studying Torah, and said: "It is written (Joshua 1:18): 'Every man who rebels against you [Joshua]…' I would think [that Joshua had absolute power] even [in respect to nullifying] words of Torah. This is ruled out by (Ibid): 'Only ['rak' — without extending this unlimited power to Torah] strengthen yourself and be courageous.'" This shows Joshua to have had the powers of a king even though he was not a king [but a judge]. And our sages of blessed memory, likewise, apply (Deuteronomy 33:5) "And there was a king in Israel" to Moses [although he was not a king].