D'var Torah: Justice Justice – Parasha Shoftim

By Nathan Tropiano – September 6, 2008

My Torah portion, Shoftim, in the middle of the book of Deuteronomy is about judges, laws, and the environment. For example, when waging war against a city, you cannot cut down a tree that has fruit on it. This is because the tree cannot run away from the war and the tree is God's precious gift. Rabbi Harvey Fields wrote: "While the commandment deals specifically with cutting down trees during a siege, Jewish interpreters extend it to cover all forms of wasteful destruction under the principle of bal tashchit, or "do not destroy." At camp this summer, the motto was Go Greene and, of course it was a pun, because, as some of you may know, the camp's name is Greene Family Camp. What we had to do to Go Greene was to recycle things so they were not wasted, not to litter, to pick up all the trash around the K'far, which is where the bunks are, and to generally help the environment.

Another topic I want to talk about from my Torah portion is the phrase Justice, Justice Shall you Pursue. Normally in the Torah, word are not repeated. Some commentators say "Justice" is said twice and not just once is because God wants everyone to learn to be just. Moses receives the phrase Justice, Justice Shall you Pursue from God. In Hebrew, the word for Justice is Tzedek, which also means "righteousness." Tzedek has the same root as the word Tzedakah, which is money given as charity, like the dollar I give every Sunday at Religious School. Helping people in need is the right, or just, thing to do. It is right if you give Tzedakah for a foundation, an orphanage, or a shelter for people in need, or for people who don't have a home.

For my community service project, I made blankets for children in crisis for "the Linus Connection," and volunteered at the community food bank. Blankets like the ones I made are given to shelters, hospitals, crisis centers, and even Interfaith Hospitality Network, which provides shelter to homeless families. CBI is the only synagogue to participates in the Interfaith Hospitality Network in Austin so maybe my blankets might end up with families we help at CBI. At the food bank, we helped organize the food and personal items people needed since they did not have enough money. I hope to help more people in the future because I know it is doing tzedek - it is the right thing to do.

I would like to thank my family for helping me get ready for my bar mitzvah and encouraging me to get to this day. Also, I want to thank everyone who came, especially the people who came from out town!

I would like to end today with my own prayer for the future. Dear God... I am thankful for my life and having a good family to give me help when I need it. My prayer for the future is to do the best I can do in my adult years by helping others, being nice to everyone, and that my whole family stays healthy. And together we say: Amen.