July 24, 2020
A Shabbat of Vision (in memory of Daniel Anderl and John Lewis)
Devarim, 5780
This Shabbat I will be dedicating my davening and Torah study to the memory of Daniel Anderl. Daniel was a student at Catholic University, who was brutally and tragically murdered this week when a gunman disguised himself as a delivery man and shot his father when he answered his front door. Daniel heroically rushed to save the life of his father, Mark Anderl, and in doing so he was murdered. The murderer who killed Daniel had previously appeared in court before Daniel’s mother, Judge Esther Salas, a prominent Federal Judge. It seems likely that the attack on Mark and Daniel was intended to be an attack upon Judge Salas.
This is tremendous tragedy for the Anderl/Salas family. But it is also an attack upon all of us.
This week we will be commemorating the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.
An attack upon a Federal Judge and the murder of her son is not just an attack upon a random individual. It is an actually an attack upon our entire society. This attack calls to mind a different murder, which we commemorate and read about in the kinnot of Tisha Beav—the murder of Zecharia Hakohen. According to Divrei Hayamim, Zecharia –who was both a kohen and a navi-- rebuked the people for violating the word of Hashem. The people responded by pelting him with stones and murdering him in the Temple (2 Chronicles 24:20-22).
The Talmud tells us more about this horrific murder. During the attack on Jerusalem and ultimately the burning of the First Beit Hamikdash, King Nebuchadnezer sent his general, Nebuzaradan to attack the Jewish people. When Nebuzaradan arrived in the Beit Hamikdash he saw the blood of Zecharia continuing to boil. Even though he tried, he was unable to stop the blood from boiling. He asked the people: “What is this blood about?” The people responded with lies that it was the blood of an animal sacrifice. However, Nebuzaradan tested the blood and saw that it did not match an animal’s blood. He realized that the people were trying to cover up a terrible crime. He pressed the people until they admitted: “This blood is the blood of a priest and a prophet who prophesied for the Jewish people with regard to the destruction of Jerusalem and whom they killed” (Sanhedrin, 96b).
In the Talmud’s retelling of this tragic story it is not Nebuzaraden who destroyed the Temple. Rather blame lies with our ancestors who murdered a kohen and a priest in the Beit Hamikdash. They were most responsible for the tremendous bloodshed that ultimately occurred and for the loss of the Beit Hamikdash.
The murder of a kohen and a priest represents an attack upon a teacher and a social critic; in other words, an attack upon a person who was responsible for keeping society honest and for maintaining a fair and equitable society. Without a fair and equitable society, our society simply cannot and should not endure.
So too, the attack this week upon Judge Salas and her family represents an attack upon our entire society, as a judge is tasked with the responsibility of keeping our society fair and equitable. A judge is responsible for making sure we all have equal justice. Without justice for all, our society will be no better than those who murdered Zecharia in the Temple.
According to our tradition a judge is a heroic figure who must even give up one’s life for the sake of making sure society is equitable.
At the beginning of our portion, Moshe Rabbenu discusses the enormous role that judges hold in our society. He says: “I commanded your judges at that time saying, ‘Hear our your fellow men, and decide justly between any man and a fellow Israelite or a stranger’” (Devarim 1:16). Moshe is reminding the judges that they are the ones responsible to give the stranger an equal hearing alongside the Israelite citizen.
Further, Moshe continues, “Do not be partial. Hear out low and high alike. Do not be afraid (lo taguru) before a man” (Dearim 1:17).
The commandment for judges “to not be afraid” broke my heart this week in light of Daniel’s murder.
According to Maimonides the obligation for a judge to not be afraid goes so far as to obligate the judge to put their own life and even the life of their family at risk!
It is prohibited for a judge to allow fear to influence his ruling. A judge cannot decline to rule justly out of fear of the consequences. “Lest one says, I am afraid of so-and-so that he might kill me or my son…says the verse, lo taguru, do not be afraid” (Maimonides, Sefer Hamitzvot, lo taaseh, 276).
Generally speaking Maimonides rules that one may not sacrifice their life in order to fulfill the commandments of the Torah. But here he rules the judge must issue their fair ruling no matter the consequences. The reason is that an equitable judicial system is the basis for our society; the judicial system is the underpinning of our entire community.
The flip side of this is that if, Gd forbid, our society should have weak or corrupt judges, than our society has lost its right to exist.
Says the Talmud:
It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yosei ben Elisha says: If you see a generation that many troubles are befalling it, go and examine the judges of Israel. Perhaps their sins are the cause, as any calamity that comes to the world comes due to the judges of Israel acting corruptly, as it is stated: “Please hear this, heads of the house of Jacob, and officers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity, who build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. Their heads they judge for bribes, and their priests teach for hire, and their prophets divine for money; yet they lean upon the Lord, saying: Is not the Lord in our midst? No evil shall befall us” (Micah 3:9–11, Shabbat, 139a).
According to this Talmudic text, a symptom of the breakdown of society is a corrupt judicial system.
It is our responsibility as Jews to do everything in our power to create a fair judicial system for all.
This Shabbat has a special name, Shabbat Chazon, the Shabbat of Vision. The name of the Shabbat comes from the week’s haftorah, chapter 1 of Isaiah, which begins with the words chazon yishayahu, the vision of Isaiah.
Isaiah tells us that the society he was witnessing at that time in Jerusalem was corrupt. People were simply not getting fair. To redress this unfairness, Isaiah says that Gd does not want more sacrifices, prayers, or even Shabbat and Holidays feasts. Instead, according to Isaiah what Gd desires is for the judicial system to rise to the occasion and offer righteous justice.
“And the Holy One, Blessed be He, will not rest His Divine Presence on the Jewish people until evil judges and officers shall be eliminated from the Jewish people, as it is stated: “And I will turn My hand upon you, and I will purge away your dross as with lye, and I will remove all your alloy. And I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning; afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, a faithful city” (Isaiah 1:25–26, Shabbat, 139a).
The Tanakh and the Talmud could not be any clearer about the path back to a redeemed Jerusalem. It is primarily not through prayers and study, but through justice. Isaiah ends his prophecy with the words, “Zion bemishpat tipadeh, Zion will be redeemed through justice” (Isaiah 1:27).
This Shabbat is not just called Shabbat Chazon because it borrows the words from the prophet Isaiah. It is called Shabbat Chazon because we are being challenged to heed the call of Isaiah and work towards transforming the world. We shouldn’t just mouth the words of Isaiah without thinking of them. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HE TELLS US NOT TO DO! Instead we should be pushing ourselves to make this a shabbat of vision.
We should be asking ourselves what is our vision of a better society that is worthy of a redeemed Jerusalem. How can we achieve that vision? How can we work towards a vision where there is a fair judicial system?
This week our world lost a titan, an inspiring figure who towered above other men: the great John Lewis. In our modern era, few have inspired me like him.
I remember weeping as I read his trilogy, March, and I encourage everyone to read it. John Lewis was a man who lived his life in service of the vision of Isaiah, in an effort to create a society that was fair for all and based upon spiritual principles.
This has been a summer where thousands upon thousands have taken to the streets in America and, in the spirit of John Lewis, asked for a fairer judicial system. We should join that call in making sure that our society protects the rights of all people.
This should be a Shabbat where we set aside time to dream big and imagine a perfect society. It is a reminder for us to have a vision of a beautiful world, where the blood of Zecharia finally stops boiling.
Shmuel Herzfeld
