Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
What happens if a judge is having a hard time making a decision? The Torah says to go get help from a higher authority.
וּבָאתָ֗ אֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִים֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם וְאֶ֨ל־הַשֹּׁפֵ֔ט אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִהְיֶ֖ה בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֑ם וְדָרַשְׁתָּ֙ וְהִגִּ֣ידוּ לְךָ֔ אֵ֖ת דְּבַ֥ר הַמִּשְׁפָּֽט׃
Go to the kohanim (priests) from the Levi tribe or to the judge who is at the time. Present your problem. They will tell you the verdict.
Isn’t it obvious that you’d go to a judge “who is at the time”? What can we learn from those words?
יִפְתָּח בְּדוֹרוֹ כִּשְׁמוּאֵל בְּדוֹרוֹ. לְלַמֶּדְךָ שֶׁאֲפִילּוּ קַל שֶׁבַּקַּלִּין וְנִתְמַנָּה פַּרְנָס עַל הַצִּבּוּר הֲרֵי הוּא כְּאַבִּיר שֶׁבָּאַבִּירִים. וְאוֹמֵר ״וּבָאתָ אֶל הַכֹּהֲנִים הַלְוִיִּם וְאֶל הַשֹּׁפֵט אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם״, וְכִי תַּעֲלֶה עַל דַּעְתְּךָ שֶׁאָדָם הוֹלֵךְ אֵצֶל הַדַּיָּין שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה בְּיָמָיו? הָא אֵין לְךָ לֵילֵךְ אֶלָּא אֵצֶל שׁוֹפֵט שֶׁבְּיָמָיו.
Yiftah in his generation was like Shmuel in his generation. This teaches you that even someone who is much lower and less worthy than Torah leaders of the past, if they become a Torah leader in their generation, they should be seen as great. The Torah says, “Go to the kohanim (priests) from the Levi tribe or to the judge who is at the time.” Would you have thought that a person would go to a judge who is not in their time?! It teaches us that you have no choice but to go to the judge who is in your days.
Shmuel was one of the greatest prophets and judges of all time. But not all generations got to ask Shmuel their questions. There were times when Yiftah was the best judge of the day, even though he wasn’t as great as Shmuel.
You might wish you could ask your questions to a more accomplished and more famous judge from the past. But that can’t happen! The Torah leader in your generation can give you guidance, and that will be good enough.
- Teachers of Torah today may not be as knowledgeable or holy as Moshe was in the Torah. But how can we show gratitude for the Torah teachers we have?
- Why is it important to show respect to a person that the community has chosen as its leader?
- What would you do if you needed help making a difficult decision? Who can you ask to teach you the Torah?
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