Taking his seat in his chambers, the judge faced the opposing lawyers. "So," he said, "I have been presented, by both of you, with a bribe." Both lawyers squirmed uncomfortably. "You, attorney John, gave me $15,000. And you, attorney Campos, gave me $10,000."
The judge reached into his pocket and pulled out a check. He handed it to John. "Now then, I'm returning $5,000, and we're going to decide this case solely on its merits."
This week's parshah delineates the Jewish judicial process. It is a mitzvah to appoint judges to determine the law and police to enforce the law in every Jewish city and province. These guardians of the law are held to the highest moral standards and the integrity of the entire system depends on the personal honesty of each individual appointee.
Aside for ensuring that the judge be of the highest caliber, the Torah minces no words to clearly spell out every detail of the courtroom process to ensure it is done in a way that is transparently fair and just.
"You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe, for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts just words" (Deuteronomy 16:19). Each one of these instructions addresses another area that may be left to interpretation and manipulation. The Torah leaves no loopholes for corruption.
While the obligation to set up courts of justice is a communal one, there is a pertinent lesson to be learned from this mitzvah in our personal lives. The Torah writes "You shall place judges and police at all your gates." This literally refers to the gates of cities but can metaphorically be applied to the gates of our bodies.
Our eyes, ears and mouth are the “gates” through which outside influences enter our minds, hearts and bodies. A Jew must monitor what goes through these gates. Before looking at something, listening to something or eating something we need to judge the merits and demerits of the issue in question. And even after determining that something is inappropriate through the metaphorical "judge," we must have the moral strength to enforce this decision through the metaphorical "police."
Our inner "judge" is nurtured through constant Torah study and our "police" is nurtured through proper meditation and application of Torah's lessons.
Vigilance is paramount to leading a healthy and balanced Jewish life.