Parshat Shoftim: Seeing & Seeming - Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair

things are not always the way they seem Oliver Cromwell had a large wart on his face now lucky there was no television in 17th century England or probably he would never have become the first non royal ruler of England and nowadays for sure he certainly would have needed that warts to be snipped off so even think about competing in the primaries nowadays how you look is at least as important as who on what you are in this week's Torah portion the Torah says that the sole qualification for choosing a judge kisses righteousness as it says in the verse righteousness righteousness you shall pursue even if a judge doesn't have money and presents qualities that are certainly definite advantages for a good judge because then he has money he'll be less susceptible to a bribe and if he has an imposing presence people will be more likely to listen to him well even if he doesn't have those visible pluses choose the most righteous person you can find with this in mind we can understand a seeming non sequitur the Torah goes on to judge suppose this command to appoint righteous judges with three other seemingly unconnected Commandments the first is you shall not plant for yourselves any tree near the altar of a Shem and then you shall not erect for yourself a pillar which ashame your God hates and finally you shall not slaughter fire Shem your God an ox or a lamb or a kid in which there is a blend what do these three things have in common with the appointments of righteous judges using their physical eyes one would think that a beautiful tree growing near the altar would lend grace and Majesty to the service of God the Torah with its spiritual eyes tells us that Ajith planted near the altar is revolting to God why a tree symbolizes growth there's a false idolatrous notion that God grows by man's service of him Judaism says that the actions of man can neither add to or subtract from the infinite one we see this idea expressed in the tablets of stone in which the Ten Commandments were engraved why were they engraved on stone why not wood stone is unchanging it doesn't grow what's despicable about a pillar drive along the main boulevard of any capital and you'll see any number of statues soldiers on massive stone horses four legs raised forever about to candle frozen in a remembrance of things past a pillar a monument always relates to things that were a Jew relates to God not just as he who created everything in the past but as the God who continues to create existence every nanosecond and with whom we have an ongoing relationship the third thing that is repugnant to God is an offering with a blemish most of us believe there is a God when it comes to serving him wholeheartedly with all our hearts and our souls well it's far less effort to think like the Greeks that he made the world and so to speak went off to play golf but God isn't interested in what we do a blemish in and offering symbolizes that our service of God is lacking total commitment it means we want a junior partnership with the boss it's like saying look God you know I know you rule the world and everything but let me have a little space on my own over here to run my own show a Jew serves God full-time 24/7 we never closed [Music] [Applause]