Parashat Shoftim, Elul, and the Work of Self-Judgment

Hello everyone,

I’m sending you this message a little earlier this week, so you’ll have time to read or listen before Shabbos comes in — which itself is arriving earlier now.

Baruch Hashem, I’m feeling much better, and we were also zocheh to a tremendous simcha this week — the birth of a great-grandson! May this simcha bring many more blessings to our family and to each one of you.

Of course, I’m dedicating this Divrei Torah l’iluy nishmat Shlomo ben Rav Yitzchak.

The Parasha and the Month of Elul

This week we enter the month of Elul, and the first Shabbat of Elul always coincides with Parashat Shoftim.

The parasha covers many areas of authority and responsibility:

• appointing judges and officers,

• laws of political leadership and kingship,

• the need for honesty in judgment,

• dealing with false prophets and those who rise against Torah,

• and the Torah’s instructions regarding war — both milchemet mitzvah (a defensive war, such as when we are under attack) and milchemet reshut (an optional war, for territorial or political purposes).

We also learn about the role of the Kohen Mashuach Milchama — the priest who addressed the people before battle, sending home those who were recently married, built a new house, planted a vineyard, or simply lacked courage.

At the end of the parasha, we encounter the mitzvah of the eglah arufah — the ritual performed when a murdered body is found outside a city, and the elders of the nearest town take responsibility, asking forgiveness for possible negligence, perhaps for not having offered the traveler food, protection, or companionship.

Elul and the Cities of Refuge

In the middle of the parasha, the Torah speaks about the arei miklat, the cities of refuge. We already mentioned them a few weeks ago, but it is worth returning to them now, since the Torah connects them to Elul through a remez.

Chazal note that Elul is hinted at in several pesukim whose first letters spell אלול:

• Ani l’dodi v’dodi li (Shir HaShirim) — our relationship of love with Hashem.

• Umal Hashem et levavcha v’et levav zar’echa — Hashem helps us purify our hearts.

• Ish l’re’ehu u’matanot la’evyonim — emphasizing care and kindness to others.

And here we find a fourth: Va’Elokim inah l’yado, v’samti lecha makom asher yanus shama — “Hashem caused it to happen unintentionally, and I will prepare for him a place to which he may flee” (Shemot 21:13). This refers to the arei miklat.

Moshe Rabbeinu himself designated three cities on the eastern side of the Jordan for the tribes of Gad, Reuven, and half of Menashe, and three more were to be designated in Eretz Yisrael proper. Beyond these six, the Levi’im were given 42 towns — which also served as places of refuge.

What was unique about these cities? They were inhabited by Levi’im — people devoted to Torah, avodah, and spiritual service. Anyone who needed refuge could come and be protected there.

So what is the connection between Elul and the cities of refuge? Just as the accidental killer needs a safe haven, we too need a spiritual refuge during Elul — a place to pause, reflect, and make a cheshbon hanefesh. Did my year turn out as I hoped? Did I live according to my values and goals? Where did I fall short, and how can I return to Hashem?

Elul gives us the opportunity to build our own personal ir miklat — a spiritual place of safety, reflection, and growth — to prepare ourselves for Rosh Hashanah and the year ahead.

Judges and Officers: National and Personal

The parasha begins: Shoftim v’shotrim titen lecha b’chol she’arecha — “Appoint judges and officers for yourself in all your gates.”

Notice that it begins in the singular — “for yourself” — but then continues in the plural — “they shall judge the people.” Why the shift?

The Torah is teaching us that while a nation needs judges and officers to govern, each of us also needs to appoint our own inner judges and officers.

A shofet (judge) uses wisdom and clarity to determine right from wrong. A shoter (officer) enforces those decisions and prevents wrongdoing. Within ourselves, this means not only analyzing our actions honestly but also putting systems in place to prevent mistakes from repeating.

Rav Dessler: Guarding Our Borders

And as Rav Dessler says, to be one’s own judge is the most difficult task, because we are so subjective. We always try to justify ourselves. To ask sincerely for forgiveness (mechila) for all our wrongdoings is extremely difficult, because we do not always want to admit exactly what has gone wrong.

Moshe Rabbeinu gives us a strategy. Rav Dessler explains: when a country is at war, the most important place to protect is the border. If the borders are weak, the enemy can enter freely. We saw this tragically and painfully on October 7, when our borders were not properly protected.

So too, each person has his own spiritual border. He knows what he allows himself to do, and what he knows he cannot do. For one person, the border may be not speaking about secular matters on Shabbat. For another, it may be refraining from driving on Shabbat. For another, it could be avoiding turning on a light, or not looking at the phone on Shabbat.

Each person has his borderline.

Our purpose in life, says Rav Dessler, is to use our koach ha-bechira, the power of free choice, to slowly extend these borders. If until now, I refrained from driving on Shabbat, perhaps now I will also refrain from opening my phone. If until now I did not read a secular newspaper on Shabbat, perhaps now I will add more Torah study. If until now I sometimes gossiped, perhaps I will take on one hour a day without lashon hara.

Every time we advance spiritually, we use our free choice to move our border forward.

The Gates of a Person

Moshe Rabbeinu says: Shoftim v’shotrim titen lecha b’chol she’arecha — “Appoint judges and officers at all your gates.”

The Midrash explains that the she’arim, the gates, are the seven entrances to a person’s body:

• two eyes (what we see),

• two ears (what we hear),

• two nostrils (what we smell — which Chazal connect also to anger, the “burning of the nose”),

• and the mouth (our speech).

Through these gates, we interact with the world.

This is why shmirat einayim (guarding one’s eyes) is such a central challenge today, with so much flooding our vision from media and entertainment. Likewise, we must guard our ears from gossip, our nostrils from anger, and our mouths from harmful speech.

Judges and officers must be appointed at each gate. We need strategies and discipline to protect what enters and exits.

Shema, Torah, and Peace of Mind

Chazal note that the six cities of refuge correspond to the six words of Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. The 42 Levitical cities correspond to the 42 additional words in the first paragraph of Shema. Together — 48 — they hint at the 48 ways by which Torah is acquired (Avot 6:6).

If we want to protect our inner world and prepare for the Day of Judgment, we must strengthen ourselves in two areas:

• Emunah — through Shema Yisrael, affirming Hashem’s unity and presence,

• Torah — filling our lives with learning and mitzvot.

The Torah’s ways are described as deracheha darchei noam, v’chol netivoteha shalom — “its ways are pleasant, and all its paths are peace.” Not only peace between people or among nations, but also inner peace of mind.

We say Oseh shalom bimromav — Hashem makes peace in heaven, where fire and water coexist to form the sky. If even opposites can live in harmony, so too can we create inner peace through Torah and emunah.

Crowning Hashem as King

The parasha also commands: Som tasim alecha melech — “Appoint a king over yourself.”

This is not only a historical command for Am Yisrael to one day have kings like Shaul and David. It is also a personal command: each person must crown Hashem as King over his life.

Elul leads us to Rosh Hashanah — the day we declare Hashem’s Kingship. How do we prepare? Through Torah, mitzvot, and especially through brachot.

Chazal say: take the word ma (“what,” as in Ma Hashem sho’el mimcha) and add an aleph, making me’ah — 100. By reciting 100 brachot a day, we bring Hashem into our lives constantly. Every bracha is an act of recognition, sanctifying Hashem’s name in daily life.

The War Within

The Torah also speaks about going out to war. Chazal teach: this is not only about physical war, but also about milchemet ha-chayim — the inner struggle against the yetzer hara.

The Torah tells us: Lo tira — do not be afraid. Just as Hashem strengthens us against enemies, He gives us strength to overcome inner struggles as well.

Even in war, the Torah teaches restraint: lo tashchit et etzah — do not cut down fruit-bearing trees. Man is compared to a tree (ki ha-adam etz hasadeh): just as a tree must give fruit, so too man must produce good deeds.

Our fruits are our mitzvot, our acts of kindness, our Torah.

Never Indifferent

Finally, the parasha teaches the mitzvah of the eglah arufah, when a murdered body is found outside a city. The elders must take responsibility, acknowledging that no life can ever be ignored.

This reminds us that every Jewish soul is precious. Indifference is not an option. Just as we cannot ignore a murdered traveler, so too we cannot ignore a neighbor’s pain, or waste our own lives and time.

The Haftarah calls to us: Uri, uri — awaken, awaken. Elul is our time to wake up, to stop wasting time, and to turn toward Hashem.

A Story of Small Actions

I will close with a beautiful story from Ashkelon.

Two young men once returned late at night from davening at the Kotel. As they passed their shul, they noticed the lights were still on. One suggested they go in to turn them off so as not to waste the shul’s money. Inside, they found an avrech crying desperately. He had no money, his wife had sent him away in frustration, and he did not know how he would provide for Shabbat.

The two friends gathered their limited money, bought him food, and delivered it anonymously. While shopping, they explained to the store owner why they needed unmarked boxes — to avoid embarrassing the avrech. The store owner broke into tears, confessing that he himself had been praying for a sign. He had begun learning Torah recently but felt himself slipping. He begged them to connect him with someone who could learn with him daily.

That night changed everything: the avrech gained support, the store owner strengthened in Torah, and months later his shop became Shomer Shabbat, renamed “24/6” instead of “24/7.”

From one small act of kindness, untold ripple effects of growth and kedusha followed.

Conclusion

Parashat Shoftim teaches us that Elul is about building refuge, guarding our gates, moving our borders forward, and crowning Hashem as King. It is about judging ourselves honestly, resisting justifications, and creating inner peace through Torah and emunah.

And it is about small actions — because in Hashem’s world, no act is too small to spark transformation.

Shabbat Shalom from Yerushalayim, with all my love.

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