Shoftim
Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9
Isaiah 51:12-52:12
The countdown till Rosh Hashanah has begun. Time to be sure we know which synagogue we’ll attend, with which loved ones we’ll share holiday meals. Most importantly, this is the month to prepare our hearts for the Days of Awe, to identify the work of tshuvah-turning that is to occupy us during the holiday season.
This week’s parashah begins with a piece of law that at first seems far removed from the challenges of Elul: “Appoint for yourselves judges and officers throughout your land” (Deuteronomy 16:18). The verse legislates the internal governance of the Israelite community at a particular time in history. But through the interpretive lens of the Sefat Emet, this verse is transformed, to address the individual’s work of tshuvah, or self-examination, in every age.
“‘Appoint for yourselves judges and officers.’ This is [not only a commandment, but] also a promise to the Jew, saying, ‘You will be able to make yourself into your own judge and officer.'” (“The Language of Truth,” translated and interpreted by Arthur Green, p. 311)
This stunning piece of commentary invites us to apply this piece of law to our own inner lives. What and who serves as the judges and officers in our own souls? What are the voices of discipline and law, morality and values, in our lives? Do these officers need strengthening this year? Do we need to introduce other judges, to watch our thoughts and our behavior more closely? Or are our inner judges and officers overzealous, ruling over us so harshly that we are blocked from living as we are meant to live?
Interpreting this verse as a tshuvah lesson is a remarkable, innovative piece of Chassidic commentary. Yet I wonder about this image of inner judges and officers. We tend to see the work of tshuvah as depending entirely on us. Surely, the tradition speaks forcefully about identifying our own sins, seeking out people we have wronged, acknowledging our faults and resolving to change. But is it true that the work is all ours to do?
In another section of commentary, the Sefat Emet reminds us that Elul is not only about the work that we have to do, but about God’s work with us. “This can be read in connection with the hint that my grandfather, of blessed memory, found to the month of Elul in the verse: ‘God has made us and not we ourselves’ (Psalms 100:3). There is a variance between the written text and the oral reading in this verse. [The written text of one] says ve-lo anahnu (‘and not we ourselves’) [and places an alef after the lamed in “lo”] while the other reads ve-lo anahnu (‘and we are His/God’s) [with a vav after the lamed]. These two words, lo (not we) and lo (His/God’s) make up the spelling of the name of Elul.” (“The Language of Truth,” p. 309)
The rebbe plays a word game with the name of the month Elul. Taking the first two letters of the word and reversing them gives us the word “lo,” or “not.” Taking the last two letters and reversing them gives us the word “lo,” or “His.” So, says the rebbe, Elul is about the verse in Psalms, which says, “God made us; it is not we who made ourselves.” Or, in another reading, “God made us; we are God’s.”
Now, this is far more than a word game. The thought, “God made us, not the reverse” calls our attention to our finiteness. Contrary to the thoughts that generally fill our minds, we are not in charge, not in control, not able to manipulate the events of our lives. Being in charge of the universe is God’s job, not ours.
The thought, “God made us, and we are God’s” leads us to recognize that we belong to something grander than ourselves, that we are part of a much larger whole. We belong to the creative power of the universe, to the power of love and wisdom, justice and freedom. We are loved and cared for, guided and directed. We are not alone.
By this logic, Elul is a time, surely, to begin to do our own work, to push ourselves to recognize where we have fallen short in the past year, and how we must reorient in order to do better. But Elul is not only about our work or our power. Elul is about a radical shift in perspective, a time to recognize that which is greater than ourselves, the larger reality to which we belong.
May this Elul bring us rich insight into the work we need to do, and also awareness of the One of which we are a part.