What kind of “justice, justice” should we pursue?
This entry is cross-posted at the JPS Blog.
Riddle me this: what’s better than Torah and the Wizard of Oz combined?
Uh… nothing. Except this great cartoon on this week’s portion, Shoftim, brought to you by the fantastic folks at G-dCast:
Parshat Shoftim from G-dcast.com
More Torah cartoons at www.g-dcast.com
I really enjoyed this week’s edition of G-dCast – it’s a clear, concise overview of the parsha’s content through the lens of the famous Torah directive, “Justice, justice you shall pursue.” I kind of wish, though, that G-dCast had taken a more analytical approach – what exactly does “justice” (”tzedek“) mean, at least in this context? I certainly wouldn’t equate the “justice” of our parshah to contemporary concepts of social justice, although many people today like to use “tzedek, tzedek tirdof” as their biblical charge, as it were, to pursue social justice work. In fact, at the end of the cartoon, the narrator himself seems to indicate that the tzedek of our parsha is pretty much all about social justice (poverty, the environment, etc).
I’m inclined to disagree – it’s clear in the text (and in the cartoon) that the “justice” of our parsha is all about setting up a functioning legal system that will have to deal with all sorts of issues – resolving neighborly disputes, excommunicating false witnesses, even regulating the king’s religious life. Limiting the definition of tzedek to only certain kinds of societal ills does no justice (ha ha!) to the parsha or to the intricate, fascinating legal system of ancient Israel.
Disclaimer: Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of social justice work… As Bob Dylan says, “I’ve made shoes for everyone, even you, while I still go barefoot.”
