Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof

Rabbi Joel Fleekop

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof

As schools opened around the country, millions of students left the freedom of summer behind. Hunched over under the burden of backpacks full of sparkling new school supplies, they entered their classrooms. Greeted by bright and smiling teachers they were asked to take a seat. Before the learning even starts, the teacher goes over the class rules. Raise your hand, No chewing gum, Respect one another. As the rules, posted on the classroom wall, are read aloud, the teacher cautions the class I don’t want to have to repeat these rules again. But sure enough, by the end of the day, each rule has been repeated several times.

As in the classroom, our teacher, the Torah uses repetition to help us learn rules. The Ten Commandments are given twice, once in Exodus and again in Deuteronomy and over and over again the Israelites are reminded to be kind to the stranger for they were strangers in the land of Egypt. The Torah loves repetition, sometimes even repeating a word right after itself. For example, this week we read tzedek, tzedek tirdof. Justice, Justice you shall pursue.

Like a teacher repeatedly asking a kindergartener to stop, our tradition teaches the word tzedek is repeated to emphasis its importance and inspire action. The rabbis explain the repetition of the word tzedek instructs us to follow the rulings of the most tzedek, the most just courts. In the same poly-vocal text from Talmud Sanhedrein, the rabbis also teach the phrase tzedek tzedek tirdof requires us to actively pursue our generation’s most eminent scholars, following them to their academies to learn how to live a just life.

While some rabbis explain the word tzedek is repeated for the sake of emphasis, others assign meaning to each time the word appears.

Ramban, also known as Nachmonides, teaches that the first tzedek in the verse refers to the justice sought by the courts while the latter to the justice we each pursue in our lives.

Elsewhere the Rabbis use the verse to teach a lesson similar to that learned from Brian and Aaron’s speeches. Brian, you spoke about the need to know the rules of the game and the laws of life. The Talmud teaches this is what the first tzedek stands for, the need for justice based on the letter of the law.

And Aaron, you talked about cities of refuge and self-discipline. Self-discipline plays an important role in allowing for the second type of tzedek, the justice that comes from compromise. The Talmud tells the story of two boats sailing on a river. They meet at a narrow place where only one can safely travel at a time. Both captains are anxious to reach their destination and does not want to wait for the other to pass. There is no law that tells them what to do. If it wasn’t for self-discipline, things might come to blows. But the captains have self-discipline, and so instead of settling things with their fists, they compromise. One ship will go first, and the other will be compensated for his delay. No court was involved, no rule cited, but the solution is certainly tzedek, certainly just.

Talmud Sanhedrein 32b teaches us that justice can be pursued through both a definitive decision and through compromise. What it doesn’t tell us is when to apply each method. Like a math teacher who assigns a word problem, the Torah leaves it up to us to evaluate the situation, to pull out the germane information, and then pursue a just and right solution.

Sometimes the problem is simple. If Sally has two apples, and Johnny 3, how many apples do they have? If Mike takes a bottle of water from the store, has he done something wrong? Answering these questions is easy, and perhaps as important, the answers are definitive, they are nice and neat. There aren’t any grey areas and so knowledge of the law is all that is needed.

But life is full of grey areas and so the questions and challenges we face during our journey through life, during our pursuit of justice, are often not that simple. If Sally has 2 apples and Johnny 3, how much should they share with Sarah who is hungry and lives on the street? If Mike takes a bottle of water from the store and gives it to his dehydrated and dying daughter, has he done something wrong?

In questions like these, a strict application of the law isn’t always possible and when it is, it doesn’t always seem just. And so sometimes we have to seek justice through compromise: compromise between two people, compromise between laws and values.

Aaron and Brian, I hope that as you take your places in the community as Jewish adults, you find yourself often thinking about and debating whether to seek a compromise or strictly apply a rule. I hope you spend time pondering these questions because then you, as I hope we all are, will spend your life in the pursuit of justice.

With school starting we are reminded that teachers give us a lot of rules to follow, but they also give us the skills and knowledge we need to live and do well in the world. Let us follow the rules of our tradition’s greatest teacher, the Torah, so that not only will we do well in the world, but we will do well by the world, making it a better and more just place for all.

Shabbat Shalom