Parashath Shofetim: Which Justice Will You Pursue?

Mota'ei Shabbath Qodesh Parashath Shofetim 5771

This week's parashah includes a few words being thrown around at the housing protests.

In fact these same three words are very popular to throw around in the U. S., anytime a Jew thinks there is an injustice, or miscarriage of justice.

דברים יט,כ
צֶדֶק צֶדֶק, תִּרְדֹּף

Deuteronomy 19:20
Justice, justice you shall pursue....

Of course, many Jews comfortably entrenched in the U. S., intentionally or unintentionally, leave out the rest of the verse:

דברים יט,כ
צֶדֶק צֶדֶק, תִּרְדֹּף--לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ.

Deuteronomy 19:20
Justice, justice you shall pursue, that you will live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God given to you.

To all such Jews, I remind you that this verse is specifically related to taking and residing in the Land. If you want to cry out about "justice," then there are a few other verses in the Torah which are more precise to express your feelings about a generic justice.

I believe that Rash"i backs me up in this regard:

Rash"i says:
Justice, justice you shall pursue - follow a proper court of law.

...that you will live, and inherit.... - one should have kosher judges appointed, to maintain Israel's existence, and to settle [the children of] Israel in their Land.

Meanwhile, the above three words have been used in conjunction with the phrase social justice being thrown around quite a bit at the housing protests.

In a previous post, The Agenda Within The Tents, I said that the phrase "social justice" was a buzz word of the Reform movement in the U. S. Most every Reform community in the U. S. has a "social justice committee."

The Tent/Housing protests had been hijacked by the Left, excluding all other communities it does not like, such as Haredim and Settlers, even though they too have been affected by the high cost of housing in Israel.

One tent set up by settlers on Rothschild Street in Tel-Aviv was even burned down.

The banner I saw on Rothschild Street decrying צֶדֶק צֶדֶק, תִּרְדֹּף/Justice, justice you shall pursue.... was that of the תנועת יהדות הרפומית בישראל/the Reform movement in Israel.

Furthermore, the justice referred to in the Torah means none other than Torah justice, the removal of those carrying the halakhic status of "enemy" from the Land, the removal of those carrying the of practitioners of "avodah zarah," and the execution of punishments to those obligated to receive them.

That's Torah justice, and not the Western, assimilationalist, "politically-correct" version of justice to make you feel good.

Leaving off the remainder of the verse does not change the meaning of the verse, albeit those who deny, distort, or otherwise play with the Oral Torah, would like it to.

So, which justice will you pursue? The justice command by the Holy One Blessed Be He through His Torah? Or the pseudo-"justice" you make up according to your feelings are the results of 2,000 years of assimilation?