Unclouded Justice - August 13, 2010

Shabbat Shalom!
In our society, justice is in the eye of the beholder. I am certain that people from various political parties, and groups like the Tea Party and the Coffee Party, would offer very different perspectives and definitions. Justice can mean making sure that everyone has their “fair share,” but there are strong disagreements on how to make that happen (whether by less or more regulations). Justice can mean evaluating people’s actions or behavior, sometimes in a court of law, and often, today, in the “court” of public opinion, hopefully with all the facts at hand. The recent case of USDA official Shirley Sherrod demonstrated how information can be altered in such a way as to create an unfair judgment that may seem just to the person sharing the information, but in the end, is totally unfair to the one who is accused of wrongdoing.
We don’t always know about people’s motives when it comes to justice, but Judaism makes it clear in the beginning of this week’s Torah reading, SHOFTIM, how we should approach justice:
1) Be fair and impartial – judge or decide according to the merits of a case and not the station of the people involved
2) Let nothing stand in the way of judgment so as to cloud one’s vision, whether bribes, or ideology, or an unwillingness to listen to someone’s plea.
3) Pursuing justice means to be eager to make justice and fairness a reality.
4) When the Torah says “Justice, Justice shall you pursue,” it can refer to fairness in a court setting and equality within society, but it can also mean to seek justice in a just way. An end, the ultimate goal of justice should not be reached using unjust and unethical means.
We have a great responsibility to be fair and just in how we live as members of a community. The Torah teaches us to listen, to let nothing blind us from the truth or skew our vision and sense of propriety, and to use the best tact and wisdom at our disposal when we express our opinions and render decisions on crucial issues at hand. The rabbis said in the Sayings of the Rabbis, Pirkei Avot, “the more justice, the more peace.” May we make our community and our world more complete as we continue to pursue both justice and peace with eagerness and dedication.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Larry