Torah Portion of the Week

Shoftim שופטים

Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9

Parshat Shoftim ('Judges') is Moses' constitutional blueprint for a just society in the Promised Land. It mandates the appointment of judges and officers in every city and establishes a supreme court for difficult cases. It sets limits on kingship — the king must write his own Torah scroll and not accumulate excessive horses, wives, or wealth. The rights of the Levitical priests, the prohibition of pagan practices (sorcery, divination, necromancy), and the criteria for a true prophet are all defined. The parsha establishes cities of refuge for accidental killers, rules of evidence (requiring two or three witnesses), laws of warfare including the famous exemptions for the newly betrothed, the new homeowner, and the faint-hearted, and the prohibition against destroying fruit trees during a siege. It concludes with the eglah arufah — the ceremony of the broken-necked heifer when a murder victim is found in the open and the killer is unknown.

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Judges, Officers, and Justice

שופטים, שוטרים וצדק

Deuteronomy 16:18–17:7

'Judges and officers you shall appoint in all your gates that the Lord your God is giving you, for your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.' The foundational principle: 'You shall not pervert justice, you shall not show favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe — for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and distorts the words of the righteous. Justice, justice you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.' Idolatrous worship — sacred trees beside God's altar or idolatrous pillars — is forbidden. Blemished animals may not be sacrificed. When a person is found serving other gods — sun, moon, or heavenly host — the matter must be thoroughly investigated; execution requires the testimony of two or three witnesses, never one witness alone. The hands of the witnesses strike first, then the hands of all the people.

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The Supreme Court and the Law of the King

בית הדין הגדול ומשפט המלך

Deuteronomy 17:8–17:20

For cases too difficult for local courts — 'between blood and blood, between verdict and verdict, between affliction and affliction' — the matter is brought to 'the place the Lord your God will choose,' to the Levitical priests and the judge who serves in those days. Their ruling is final: 'You shall act according to the instruction they give you... you shall not deviate from the verdict they declare to you, to the right or to the left.' Then the law of the king: 'When you come into the land and say: I will set a king over me, like all the nations around me' — the king must be chosen by God from among the people. Three restrictions: he shall not accumulate horses (nor send people back to Egypt to acquire them), he shall not have many wives lest his heart turn aside, and he shall not amass excessive silver and gold. He must write a copy of the Torah and read it all the days of his life, 'so that his heart does not become haughty over his brothers and he does not turn aside from the commandment.'

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Rights of the Levites and Forbidden Practices

זכויות הלויים ומנהגות אסורים

Deuteronomy 18:1–18:14

The Levitical priests — the entire tribe of Levi — have no territorial inheritance in Israel; 'the Lord is their inheritance, as He spoke to them.' They receive prescribed portions of the sacrifices: the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach of slaughtered animals, plus the first of grain, wine, oil, and the first shearing of the flock. Any Levite may come from his local settlement to minister at the chosen place. Then the absolute prohibition of pagan practices: 'When you come into the land, you shall not learn to do the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you one who passes his son or daughter through fire, a practitioner of divination, a soothsayer, an enchanter, a sorcerer, a charmer, one who consults a medium or a familiar spirit, or a necromancer. For anyone who does these things is an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.'

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The True Prophet

הנביא האמיתי

Deuteronomy 18:15–18:22

God promises: 'A prophet from your midst, from your brothers, like me, the Lord your God will raise up for you — to him you shall listen.' This was the people's own request at Horeb when they feared hearing God's voice directly. God affirms: 'I will raise up a prophet for them from among their brothers, like you. I will put My words in his mouth and he will speak to them all that I command him. The man who does not heed My words that the prophet speaks in My name — I will hold him accountable.' But the false prophet — one who speaks in God's name what God did not command, or who speaks in the name of other gods — 'that prophet shall die.' The test: 'If the prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and the thing does not happen and does not come about — that is the thing the Lord did not speak. The prophet spoke it presumptuously; do not be afraid of him.'

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Cities of Refuge and the Law of Witnesses

ערי מקלט ודיני עדות

Deuteronomy 19:1–19:21

Three cities of refuge are to be set apart within the Promised Land, with roads maintained for easy access, so that an inadvertent killer may flee there and live. Moses gives the classic example: two men go into the forest to cut wood; the axe head flies off the handle and strikes one fatally — the survivor may flee to a city of refuge and be safe from the blood-avenger. But if a man hates his neighbor, lies in wait, strikes him mortally, and then flees to a city of refuge — the elders of his city shall send for him and hand him over to the avenger. 'You shall not pity him; you shall purge innocent blood from Israel.' The ancient boundary markers must not be moved. The law of witnesses: 'A single witness shall not rise up against a person for any iniquity or any sin. By the testimony of two or three witnesses shall a matter be established.' If a false witness testifies — 'you shall do to him as he schemed to do to his brother.' The principle of proportional justice: 'Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.'

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Laws of Warfare

דיני מלחמה

Deuteronomy 20:1–20:20

Before battle, the priest addresses the army: 'Hear, O Israel — you are approaching battle against your enemies today. Do not be faint-hearted; do not be afraid, do not panic, and do not be terrified of them. For the Lord your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' Then the officers announce exemptions: whoever has built a new house and not dedicated it may return home; whoever has planted a vineyard and not yet harvested it may go home; whoever has betrothed a wife and not yet married her may go home; and whoever is fearful and faint-hearted may go home, lest he demoralize his brothers. When approaching a city for battle, peace must first be offered; if the city accepts, its inhabitants become tributaries. If it refuses, a siege may be laid. Regarding the seven Canaanite nations, however, no terms may be offered. A famous environmental law concludes: 'When you besiege a city for many days to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them but you shall not cut them down — for is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you?'

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The Broken-Necked Heifer (Eglah Arufah)

עגלה ערופה

Deuteronomy 21:1–21:9

When a slain person is found lying in the open field and the killer is unknown, the elders and judges go out and measure the distance to the surrounding cities. The elders of the nearest city take a young heifer that has never been worked or worn a yoke, bring it down to a rough valley with a flowing stream that is neither plowed nor sown, and break its neck there. The Levitical priests approach — 'for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the Lord's name, and by their word shall every dispute and every affliction be decided.' The elders wash their hands over the heifer and declare: 'Our hands did not shed this blood and our eyes did not see it. Absolve Your people Israel whom You redeemed, O Lord, and do not allow innocent blood to remain in the midst of Your people Israel.' The blood-guilt is atoned. 'So shall you purge innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.'

Prophetic Reading

Haftarah הפטרה

Isaiah 51:12–52:12

ישעיהו

Isaiah proclaims God as Israel's judge and comforter — the fourth of the Seven Haftarot of Consolation — connecting to the parsha's establishment of judges and a just legal system.

Full Text

Parshat Shoftim

Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9 · 97 verses

First Aliyah

ראשוןDeuteronomy 16:18–17:13

Chapter 16

פרק 16

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18 שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹֽׁטְרִים תִּֽתֶּן לְךָ בְּכׇל שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת הָעָם מִשְׁפַּט צֶֽדֶק

19 לֹא תַטֶּה מִשְׁפָּט לֹא תַכִּיר פָּנִים וְלֹא תִקַּח שֹׁחַד כִּי הַשֹּׁחַד יְעַוֵּר עֵינֵי חֲכָמִים וִֽיסַלֵּף דִּבְרֵי צַדִּיקִֽם

20 צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף לְמַעַן תִּֽחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָֽךְ

21 לֹֽא תִטַּע לְךָ אֲשֵׁרָה כׇּל עֵץ אֵצֶל מִזְבַּח יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה לָּֽךְ

22 וְלֹֽא תָקִים לְךָ מַצֵּבָה אֲשֶׁר שָׂנֵא יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ

18 You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that the ETERNAL your God is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice.

19 You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the just.

20 Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the ETERNAL your God is giving you.

21 You shall not set up a sacred post —any kind of pole beside the altar of the ETERNAL your God that you may make—

22 Or erect a stone pillar; for such the ETERNAL your God detests.