Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9

by Rabbi Russ Resnik

One of the words I've learned in my visits to Israel is heshbon. When you're done eating at Rafi's Restaurant on Ben Yehuda Street and are getting ready to leave, you tell the server, "Heshbon, b'vaksha—the bill please." As with many words in Modern Hebrew, this one has a long history, including its use in the rabbinic phrase, heshbon ha-nefesh, meaning an accounting or inventory of one's soul. The Hebrew month of Elul that begins this week, on Thursday evening, is a time to do heshbon ha-nefesh in preparation for the coming Days of Awe, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (see Lev. 23:23–32).

Tradition provides several resources to help us take account of our soul during the forty days from the new moon of Elul through Yom Kippur. First is the shofar or ram's horn. Its blast is a call to repentance, to alertness, to a proper expectancy at the approach of the King during these holy days.

On the New Moon of Elul, the Holy One, blessed be he, said to Moses: "Come up to me into the Mount" (Exodus 24:12). Then a ram's-horn was blown throughout the camp, for, behold, Moses was ascending Mount Sinai, that Israel stray not again, and worship idols. On that day the Holy One, blessed be he, was exalted by that same ram's-horn, as it is said, "God is gone up amidst shouting, the Lord amidst the sound of the horn" (Psalm 47:6). Therefore, the sages instituted the custom of blowing the ram's-horn on the first day of Elul. (Pirke Rabbi Eliezer XLVI in Days of Awe by S.Y. Agnon)

At the conclusion of every morning service throughout Elul, therefore, the custom is to sound the shofar as a call to prepare to meet the Lord. Whether or not you are able to hear the sound of the shofar each morning, you can begin each day in prayer with a special focus on returning to God and remaining alert to his presence.  Services throughout these days also include the reading of Psalms, a tradition we can apply in private prayer as well. It is a good practice to read through the entire Book of Psalms at least once during the month of Elul. Psalm 27 is especially linked with this period:

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

"Our Rabbis expounded the text in reference to New Year and the Day of Atonement. He is 'my light' on New Year, and 'my salvation' on the Day of Atonement" (Leviticus Rabbah 21:4).

Such practices help us to take heshbon ha-nefesh, which should be a daily focus through the month of Elul, and especially through the Days of Awe, the period from Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 22–24) to Yom Kippur (Oct. 1–2).

Heshbon ha-nefesh requires a standard, a way to measure our souls, just as the heshbon at Rafi's Restaurant is based on the menu, the fare, and the prices among the competition. Too often, we think of spiritual preparation in the highly subjective terms of modern American consumerism: Have I been true to myself? Have I spent time in communion—or what I imagine as communion—with the supreme power? Have I had enough quality time with the almighty?

This week's parasha, entitled Shof'tim or Judges, provides a different approach. It records Moses' instructions to the Israelites to establish a system of justice wherever they settle:

 

Commentators over the centuries have explored the implications of the repeated word tzedek, or justice, but as translator Robert Alter notes, "its function as a verbal gesture of sheer emphasis is self-evident: justice, and justice alone, shall you pursue." As we enter the month of Elul, let's consider two other aspects of this verse that will aid our spiritual preparation.

First, justice is a standard, a knowable measure by which we may, no, by which we must order our affairs. When we take account of our souls, it is not on the basis of spiritual feelings or sentiment, no matter how lofty. Rather, it is on the basis of the moral standards that permeate Deuteronomy and the whole of Scripture. Deuteronomy makes it clear that the justice rooted in the worship of the one true and living God, will be expressed in our treatment of our fellow human beings.    

 

Yeshua tells us, "Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:20). He goes on to show how righteousness, or justice—for tzedek can be translated as either—is defined in Scripture, and revealed in how we treat and think about and respond to those around us. Messiah calls and empowers us through his Spirit to fulfill the words of Scripture in heart and action. For our righteousness to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, what is written must become what is lived. Here is an aid to heshbon ha-nefesh. Throughout these forty days, we need to deepen our study of Scripture, and translate it into a daily inventory of our actions and thoughts toward those around us. Ask yourself, "How did I behave today toward my fellow human beings? How did I think and speak of my fellow human beings, created in the image of God just as I am?" Record your answers in a notebook or journal to help take inventory and mend your ways.

The second word we should consider is "pursue." Apparently, we never completely achieve justice. We live in a world that constantly overthrows justice, a world in which might often seems to prevail over right. This same world defeats us personally from time to time. We compromise our values or fail to act upon them. God in his mercy provides teshuvah—a way of return to him and his ways. Teshuvah is essential because in the world we live in, we must pursue justice continually.

 

Tzedek is never passive, as if we could pursue it by simply avoiding wrongdoing. In the Midrash on Deuteronomy 16:18, Rav Judah and Rabbi Nahman discuss the verse, "And David executed judgment [mishpat] and righteousness [tzedakah] unto all his people" (2 Sam. 8:15). One of them says, "David executed judgment, [in that] he acquitted the innocent and condemned the guilty; if, however, the guilty party had not the means to pay [the sum adjudged] he would pay it himself. This is the force of 'judgment and righteousness.'" We must actively pursue righteousness, not simply avoid unrighteousness.

 

Hence, Yeshua also instructs us,

 

 

As we approach the holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, may the Spirit of God give us a longing for righteousness and the power to pursue it, as Messiah teaches us to do. 

Shabbat Shalom! 
Russ Resnik

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