Reply To: Short & Sweet

Shoftim: Full Control 👨‍⚖️👮‍♀️

The very first Rashi in this weeks Parsha explains what the difference is between שופטים & שוטרים; shoftim are the judges who decide what should be done, and shotrim are the police who make sure that the judges decisions are carried out. In order for society to function, there needs to be both an effective system of laws and a way of making sure that the laws are actually followed.

R’ Yerucham Levovitz of Mir points out that this idea is not limited to large societies. Every one of us also needs act as our own judge, setting aside time to think about what we should be doing with our lives. And after those decisions are made we must police them, making sure we live up to our ideals in our day to day lives. Without both a plan of what we hope to accomplish and constantly checking to make sure we’re on the right path to get there, a person is in danger of just wasting away their life.

לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בו ר׳ בןציון שלום