Miller's Musings Parshas Shoftim: A Sorry Excuse For A Man

''דבס

The death penalty is, by its very definition, something final and entirely irrevocable.  The Torah sanctions the use of this punishment, but only once the sin committed has been verified to have indeed been committed through painstaking examination of the evidence.  Our Parsha speaks of this with regard to idol worship, for which the sentence is death.  It states “And it will be told to you…then you shall investigate well and…the testimony is correct”, followed by a seemingly unnecessary ending that “…this abomination was done in Israel”. This all clarifies the need for high levels of due diligence to determine the guilt of the accused, so what is added by the final part?  What does “this abomination was done in Israel” append to what we already know?

Whether we like it or not, we are one nation and are responsible for each other.  Every action, and even every thought, has the potential to create or destroy, but not just for us, it effects all of creation.  With regard to a transgression as serious as idol worship, the act itself is said to cause a deterioration in the spiritual standing of the entire Jewish people as a whole.  In reality, says Reb Chaim Leib Staviska, the influence of this sin, is far from being restricted to the place of the sin and the sinner himself.  Rather, as the Posuk says, it is an “abomination done in Israel”, something that has a ruinous effect on the sanctity of all the people.  This is also why the Torah commands that the witnesses and indeed all the Jewish people, be involved in the punishment that is brought upon the offender.  A wrongdoing that has caused damage to all the nation must have involved in its atonement all the nation.  Only that way can the damage be truly undone.

Despite the fact that we have spoken previously about only looking inwards when 

judging one’s own level and need for reform, it is quite evident that there are many who do not do so.  The upshot of this is that our behaviour has direct influence on the behaviour of others.  Not only in the esoteric way that we have mentioned above, but in the very mundane, pragmatic perspective, that if we do something wrong, there will always be others that use it as an excuse for their own misbehaviour.  They may point to us and justify their acts for, if we do it, why can’t they! Or it may simply become more excusable and less harmful in their minds because they have seen us do it, automatically lowering the severity of the sin.  We may claim this is unfair, and they are in the wrong for doing so, but this does not take away from the fact that it is true and quite likely to occur.  We can try to ignore this reality, but being blind to something does not make it go away.

*May Shabbos open our eyes to how we impact all around us*

לעילוי נשמת                      לאה בת אברהם         לעילוי נשמת     שרה יעל בת גרשון    לרפואת               אלימלך יהושע אהרון בן דבורה רבקה