Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

In order to have a decent society we need clarity on what we are. This is why the Torah states that we are not allowed to cross-dress. This is to avoid confusion not only in gender but in morality.

The Torah states that we should respect private property. This is a major concept. That is the way to build a stable society. Without this then we create anarchy.

When men go to war and wage battle their emotions are raw. That is why the Torah states that if a soldier sees a woman, he wants he may take her, but it then puts limits on how he treats her. And if he still chooses to be with her the results can be disastrous.

This week the Torah deals with the issue of what happens when a member of the Sanhedrin disagrees with the ruling of the court and refuses to obey it. It points out that all must obey the ruling even if they disagree with it.

While the king’s powers were limited he did have extralegal powers. If he thought that there was a clear and present danger to the nation, then he could take actions that normally would not be permitted.

We are now entering the month of Elul. We are getting ready to be judged by God. It is no accident that we ready the portion of the Torah that informs us of the importance of honest judges.

Justice and honest courts are the basis of any society. When justice is perverted, either by money or politics, then everything else will collapse.

The Torah clearly wants a limited monarchy. This was revolutionary in the ancient world where the king had all the power of his subjects. The Jewish king was limited in in power and what he could and could not do.

The Torah keeps admonishing us to do justice. The difference between the Toah concept and that of idolatry is that the Torah makes no distinction over the economic or social status of the litigants. All are equal before the law.

There is no Hebrew word for slave. The concept was that we have servants, not slaves. A Jewish “slave” has rights, that a slave in a non-Torah society did not have. It is not an accident that the anti-slavery movement was a religious one.