Torah reading: Deuteronomy 16:18 to 21:10
Haftarah: Isaiah 51:12 to 52:12
The name of this week's parshah "Shoftim" - means "judges." The parsha begins:
You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 16: 18-20
The rabbis who compiled the Talmud 1,500 to 2,000 years ago would not have understood the concept of separation of church and state. One of the Six Orders of the Mishnah is entitled Nezikin, Damages, which includes four tractates, Baba Kama, Baba Metzia, and Baba Bara (First, Middle and Last Gates) and Sanhedrin, totaling 1,054 folio pages (out of a total of almost 6,000 folio pages) of civil and criminal law and procedure before the rabbinical courts. While expounding on civil and criminal law and procedure, the rabbis also discussed their concept of judicial ethics. Thus, we read in the Talmud, Ketubat 105b:
Raba stated: What is the reason for the prohibition against a judge taking a gift? Because as soon as a man receives a gift from another he becomes so well disposed towards him that he becomes like his own person, and no man sees himself in the wrong.
Rabbi Papa said: A man should not act as judge either for one whom he loves or for one whom he hates; for no man can see the guilt of one whom he loves or the merit of one whom he hates.
Raba remarked: At first I thought that all the people of Mahuza loved me. When I was appointed judge I thought that some would hate me and others would love me. Having observed, however, that the man who loses today wins [another suit] tomorrow I came to the conclusion that if I am loved they all love me and if I am hated they must all hate me.
Our Rabbis taught: "And you shall take no gift" [Deut. 16:19]. There was no need to speak of [the prohibition of] a gift of money, but [this was meant:] Even a bribe of words is also forbidden, for Scripture does not write, And you shalt take no gain. What is to be understood by 'a bribe of words'? — As the bribe offered to Samuel. He (Samuel) was once crossing [a river] on a board when a man came up and offered him his hand. 'What', [Samuel] asked him, 'is your business here?' — 'I have a lawsuit', the other replied. 'l', came the reply, 'am disqualified from being the judge in the suit'.
Amemar was once engaged in the trial of an action, when a bird flew down upon his head and a man approached and removed it. 'What is your business here?' [Amemar] asked him. 'I have a lawsuit', the other replied. 'I', came the reply, 'am disqualified from acting as your judge'.
Mar 'Ukba once ejected some saliva and a man approached and covered it. 'What is your business here?' [Mar 'Ukba] asked him. 'l have a lawsuit', the man replied. 'I', came the reply, 'am disqualified from acting as your judge'.
And at Shavuot 31a, the Talmud states that when two people come to court, both must be dressed the same. If one is rich and the other one poor, both must be dressed as if both were wealthy, or both were poor. Otherwise, the judgment will be perverted.
No black robe zealot symbolizes the arrogance and extremism of the right than Clarence Thomas, a man who has become increasingly ethically challenged. Thomas has attended Koch brothers fundraisers and conferences at Koch brothers expense, and his wife is a Tea Party activist "dedicated to opposing the leftist tyranny of President Obama and Democrats in Congress." Mrs. Scalia's record as an anti-abortion activist apparently hasn't led him to consider reclusing himself in abortion rights cases. Mr. Scalia's outrageous comments from the bench, stating that $3.5 million "isn't that much money," referring to the Voting Rights Act as a "perpetuation of racial entitlement," and attacking the ACA for the "Cornhusker Kickback," an obnoxious provision that was promptly stripped from the bill and thus not part of the ACA which Scalia was determined to find unconstitutional. And who can possibly deny that Samuel Alito is a fanatical partisan without even a pretense of fairness on the bench?
Nearly 2,000 years ago the rabbis described how unbiased a judge should be. They may have set an idealistic standard, but we are plagued by a SCOTUS that doesn't even pretend to try to display the slightest appearance of fairness.
Shabbat Shalom.