Though Rabbi Wein ztz'l may no longer be with us, we continue to benefit from his words of wisdom. All the divrei Torah that we post between now and Simchat Torah were sent to us for publication by the Destiny Foundation before he died. We are grateful for the opportunity to reproduce them here.
Everyone favors equality and justice, and the goal of all democratic societies is to have, as far as humanly possible, a fair and incorruptible judicial system. But judges are only human—no matter how knowledgeable and altruistic they may be—which is why the perfect judicial system has yet to be achieved.
To sustain a viable society, we are bidden to obey the decisions of the court. As the Talmud points out, "even if they proclaim to you that left is right and right is left, you have to listen to them”. Judicial error is a fact of life in a world where we know that left is never right and right is never left. So, how are judicial errors ever to be corrected?
The Torah emphasizes that, even though judicial error is
possible if not even probable, we must follow the decisions of our judges if
anarchy is not to reign and society to dissolve. Judicial decisions may be
analyzed and even disagreed with, but we must respect our judges and comply
with their judgments, ultimate justice being left to the province of Heavenly
guidance.
Jewish tradition ascribes judicial decisions not merely to
book knowledge or even precedent, but also to a sensible appraisal of fairness
and equity. The great Rabbi Israel Lipkin of Salant often pointed out that
Heaven alone can take into account all of the facts, consequences and results
of judgment, reward and punishment. The human judge is limited in perspective
and foresight.
We know how the law of unintended consequences can dog every
law and legal decision—and that is why the
Talmud ruefully depicts God, so to speak, busily undoing many of the decisions
and actions of leaders and ordinary people in order to achieve the Divine will
and purpose through the actions and decisions of humans.
All judicial systems contain a process of review and appeal
from decisions made by lower courts. This is an inherent realization the
judicial error is ever-present and likely in all human affairs—and this is why
the phrase “trial and error” is so well known in the English language. Despite
its efforts to correct itself, the judicial system is always subject to bias,
preconceived notions and erroneous logic and decisions. Even so, the Torah
emphasizes that judicial systems are mandatory if society is to function. It is
one of the basic seven laws of Noachide tradition. So, as in every other facet
of life, the Torah bids us to do the best that we can—but to remain aware of
our human limitations.
“Law, Order, Justice—and an Open Mind”, Rabbi Wein’s essay on Parashat Shofetim last year, can be accessed here.
