Our parasha opens with the Torah instructing the Israelites to appoint magistrates and constables at the gates of every city. (Deuteronomy 16:18) Rashi explains that the magistrates judge matters of law, while the constables enforce the magistrate’s decisions— “with a stick or a strap”—until the recalcitrant party accepts the ruling.
The author of Shnei Luchot HaBrit derives a moral lesson from this command. He notes that there are seven “gates” to the human head: two ears, two eyes, two nostrils, and a mouth. These are the portals through which the external world enters our inner world. Just as cities require judges and constables at their gates, so too must we appoint guardians at our own. We should refuse to let slander enter our ears, turn our eyes away from sights we ought not see, and guard our mouths from deceitfulness.
Rabbi Simcha Bunim offers another interpretation. The Hebrew word for “gate”—sha’ar—can also mean “calculation” or “imagination.” Every plan, every inner imagining, he teaches, requires both a judge and a constable. The inner “judge” weighs the pros and cons of an action and considers its likely consequences. If, after careful deliberation, we determine that a particular course of action is right and will lead to the desired outcome, then the inner “constable” must prod us to carry it out. For many good intentions falter not in their conception but in their execution. We often know what we should do; what we lack is the willpower to follow through.
In each of these teachings, the Rabbis transform a commandment designated for a particular time and place to one for every time and place. The Torah’s instructions for building a just civil society in the Land of Israel become a spiritual discipline for building a life of holiness wherever we may dwell.
Shabbat Shalom
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