********************* Jax’s Tuesday D’Var Torah – Parshas Shoftim *********************
Shoftim in the Jewish court must be careful in upholding the strict law of the Torah. At the same time they must be compassionate people. Mercy, compassion and justice are vital traits as the following true story illustrates:
“I am the little boy who sat and cried many years ago, and the Rabbi in his great kindness and generosity saved me then from my stepfather’s anger. I have come now to repay that good deed. The bakers of the city are planning a terrible plot for the holiday of Passover. Since after your holiday, the Jews buy bread from non-Jews, the bakers agreed to poison all the loaves of bread that would be sold to the Jews. I have come to warn you ahead of time of this plot. I must leave quickly. It is dangerous for me to be here with you.”
The Rabbi thanked him profusely for his warning and began planning what to do in ord er to foil the anti-Semitic bakers’ plot. If he went to the authorities, the bakers would just deny everything.
During the entire Yom Tov, the Rabbi kept quiet. On the eighth night of Pesach, the Rabbi sent messengers for everyone to gather in the main shul the next morning. There, the Rav would address the entire community. Every Jewish resident of Prague obeyed the Rav’s orders and appeared at the appointed time in the main shul.
“A mistake was made this year in our calender calculations and we started Pesach a day early,” the Rabbi of Prague announced to the astounded community, “Therefore, tomorrow is a Yom Tov. We must still eat matzah and may not eat chometz.”
All the members of the community, albeit shocked, adhered to his words without question. < /font>
At the end of the Yom Tov, the bakers could not understand why the Jews weren’t buying their bread as they did every year. Instead, policemen came and caught the bakers red handed. Seizing their loaves of bread as evidence, they arrested the plotting bakers and threw them into prison.
Mercy, compassion and justice are vital traits!