In a Torah Zone

Today, I chanted Torah at my synagogue. I chanted from parashat Shoftim, which happens to be my Bat Mitzvah portion. Perhaps because one of my non-Jewish friends was there, or perhaps because I wanted to prove to myself I could do it, I chanted without mistake. Another congregant put it best: I was "in a Torah zone." I think it was the best I have ever chanted, including in terms of flow, accuracy, and feeling.

There are other ways to be in a Torah Zone as well. One is recognizing that Torah is still relevant today. What better portion to use to prove this point than Shoftim? In its third verse, it commands, "Justice, justice shall you pursue." At first, this verse seems straightforward. Pursue justice. Easy, right? It seems so at first. Doing what is right (tzedek, the Hebrew word I have translated as justice can also mean righteousness) is simple most of the time. We can look at situations and see the right action to take. Taking that action is generally also easy. Usually, it benefits us to take the right action. Occasionally, it can be hard for us to take the right action, because that action goes against our immediate self-interest, but these times are few and far between.

However, doing justice and pursuing justice are two different ideas. It is easy to do right in a given situation when we think about it. But to pursue justice, justice must be on our minds all the time. We can't put it on the back burner. Some commentaries suggest that the repetition of the word "tzedek" in the verse states that both the means and the ends to the pursuit of justice must be just. In other words, an action is not just if the reason for it just but it turns out bringing harm to the world. And if the reasons for an action are just, but the outcome of it is not, then justice has not been increased.

We are told in Genesis that humans are created in the image and likeness of God. Thus, one concept of justice is to bestow the respect that this special status comes with onto each person we meet. To treat others as in God's image brings us closer to fulfilling that ideal as well. Disregarding fellow human beings is to disregard God, and therefore to disregard the values that we associate with God. (I realize the preceding may sound weird coming from an atheist, but the concept of בצלם אלהים is one of the foundations of my own Jewish practice, and although I do not recognize God as such currently, I recognize the dignity that is associated with God, and try to bring that into my relations with others.)

Another ideal we are commanded to pursue is that of שלום, peace or wholeness. I don't think the two are so different. By pursuing justice, we are in fact adding to the שלום in our world. Justice brings peace, just as peace inspires justice.