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PARASHAT SHOFTIM APPOINT JUDGES AND PREVENT WAR "Shalom" (peace) is the red thread that ties all the points of this week's parsha together, as Rabbeinu Bachaya writes in his introduction to parshat Shoftim. The Torah commands us to appoint judges in order to bring "shalom" to the world and uphold its existence: "Judges and court-officers shall you make you in all your gates, which the Eternal your G-d gives you, throughout your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgement." (Devarim 16:18) If not for justice, people would have stolen and killed each other and the world would have been unable to endure. Acting according to our Divinely appointed leaders, enables us to eradicate murder from the world. In this merit we will bring the end of days closer, when all warfare will be extinguished. As the prophet promises, "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall decide among many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (Yeshayahu 2:4) A CHANCE FOR ALL TO MAKE PEACE Parshat Shoftim, moreover, teaches us the greatness of "shalom"
through the mitzva of giving our enemies a chance to surrender and
make peace, before waging war. "When you approach a city to
fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it." (Devarim 20:10)
Rabbeinu Bachaya explains that this mitzva applies to any city and
any kind of war (even a war of mitzva) with the exception of the
war against Ammon and Moav about whom it states "do not seek
their peace". (Ibid. 23:7) However, if they make peace on their
own, we accept even it even from them. Tanchuma Shoftim 18 writes,
"See how great is the power of peace, that we are required
to extend it even to those who hate G-d. From the verse, "There
was not a city that made peace with the children of Yisrael, except
for the Chivi, who dwelled in Givon" (Yehoshua 11:19) it is
understood that Yehoshua gave all the people a chance to make peace,
but they refused.
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