שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת הָעָם מִשְׁפַּט צֶדֶק: “Judges and officers you shall appoint for yourselves in all your gates that God gives you, and they shall govern the people with due justice.” -Devarim 16:18
These opening words set the tone for Parashat Shoftim, when we speak about the need for justice in our world and a judicial system to bring that about. The Kabbalistic master Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz taught on this verse, drawing on the word ‘gates,’ that there are seven gates to the soul: two ears, two eyes, nostrils, and a mouth. These are, of course, not gates to a city where justice shall reign, but gates to who we are as individuals. These are seven windows into our soul, and everything that enters into our souls and our consciousness passes through these gates.
Reading the opening words of our Torah reading through this lens creates a very different imperative - not on a practical level to create judges, but on a spiritual level to be cognizant and mindful of what influences our souls. We should set up judges, Horowitz teaches, at these gates, at the gates to our souls.
We have entered the month of Elul, the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah, and this teaching offers us a different perspective on how we can engage in the introspective work this month asks of us. Typically, we are pushed to be reflective and examine our actions and think about who we’ve been in the past year and how we may want to be different. But to be honest, I feel like I have had a lot of introspection this last year. I have had more time to reflect than I ever imagined, and this Elul I’m craving a different approach to engaging in this work.
This teaching asks me to think about what I let influence me. What do I allow in my gates, and what do I keep out? What influences do I want entering into my soul, and when do I act as a gatekeeper? The natural extension of these questions is to try and put myself in situations where I want to be influenced, to be around things and people and ideas that I want to enter into my gates. We have the ability to be partners in crafting our own consciousness, in helping to shape who we want to be.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Sarit
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