Judges can be God's partners TB Shabbat 10

Amongst the many interesting topics in today’s daf TB Shabbat 10, the sages emphasizes the importance of judges ruling correctly.

“The Gemara also relates that Rav Hisda and Rabba bar Rav Huna would sit in judgment all day and their hearts would grow weak from hunger. Therefore, Rav Hiyya bar Rav from Difti taught them a baraita with regard to the verse: “And it was the next day and Moses sat to judge the people and the people stood over Moses from the morning until the evening” (Exodus 18:13). Does it enter your mind that Moses would sit and judge all day long? If so, when was his Torah study accomplished? Rather, surely the verse is coming to tell you: Any judge who judges a true judgment truthfully, even if he sits in judgment only one hour, the verse ascribes to him as if he became a partner to the Holy One, Blessed be He, in the act of Creation, as by means of a true judgment he upholds the world (Me’iri) (my emphasis). This conclusion is derived by means of a verbal analogy [gezera shava]: It is written here: “And the people stood over Moses from the morning until the evening.” And it is written there, in the act of Creation: “And it was evening and it was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5). The evening and part of the morning are considered a whole day. With regard to this issue as well, it is sufficient for the judges to sit in judgment for only part of the day and there is no need for them to starve themselves by sitting in judgment all day.” (Sefaria.com translation)

Let me cite two cases which in my opinion the Supreme Court rendered bad judgment and thus failed in their obligation to be God’s partner.

Case #1 “Dred Scott decision, formally Dred Scott v. John F.A. Sandford, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, ruled (7–2) that a slave (Dred Scott) who had resided in a free state and territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that the Missouri Compromise (1820), which had declared free all territories west of Missouri and north of latitude 36°30?, was unconstitutional.  The decision added fuel to the sectional controversy and pushed the country closer to civil war. Among constitutional scholars, Scott v. Sandford is widely considered the worst decision ever rendered by the Supreme Court. It has been cited in particular as the most egregious example in the court’s history of wrongly imposing a judicial solution on a political problem. A later chief justice, Charles Evans Hughes, famously characterized the decision as the court’s great ‘self-inflicted wound.’” (https://www.britannica.com/event/Dred-Scott-decision)

Case 2 “The 2010 Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission says that soft money contributions can be unlimited in that they constitute a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment, although this ruling has remained controversial. PACs that receive unlimited funds as soft money cannot be directly linked to, or directed by, the political candidate or candidates they support. This is an important caveat because if a candidate is found to be dictating what message or television ad the PAC or Super PAC will air, they are considered to be directly influencing how the money is used, making it a hard money contribution—and violating campaign finance laws.” (https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/08/hard-money-soft-money.asp)

It’s too easy for the super rich and corporations to use this soft money illegally and without letting the public know who is donating what and how much to influence the outcome of our elections. In my opinion campaign financial reform is needed to save our democracy from this bad decision.

Your vote this November is a sacred obligation. Every Presidential and Senate election is important because these are the people who will nominate and appoint judges. We need competent judges who will fairly decide the cases before them. Our world needs these kind of judges. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel was right when he taught, “The world rests on three pillars: truth, justice, and peace. As it is written (Zecharia 8:16) ‘You shall administer truth, justice, and peace within your gates.’” (Avot 1:18)