Parashat Shoftim v’Shotrim

By : Rabbi Shemuel Akhamzadeh

…וְלֹא-תִקַּח שֹׁחַד–×›Ö¼Ö´×™ הַשֹּׁחַד יְעַוֵּר ×¢Öµ×™× Öµ×™ חֲכָמִים, וִיסַלֵּף דִּבְרֵי צַדִּיקִם.

…Neither shalt thou take bribe; for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise, and corrupts the words of the righteous.
Rav Dovid Feinstein in his book Kol-Dodi points out that interestingly Torah does not call a judge who accepts bribery corrupt, rather that his words will become corrupt. This is because bribe makes him in to a lawyer for one side and all his thoughts are to benefit his employer and becomes convinced of the justness of the briber’s case; even though if he were impartial he would realize that he is thinking illogically, he may think he is righteous and even try to judge with honestly and integrity to the law, but he is deceiving himself as the bribe has bought his partiality.
This notion certainly applies to one’s self as we are surly biased and one sided when it comes to judging our own acts, traits and behaviors, we are blinded when it comes to observing our own faults.  Perhaps during this month of Ellul as we are trying to reach out to Hashem and seek his mercy , we should choose a close Rav
or a friend who we can discuss our deeds to see where in our actions do we need to work on ourselves to become a better person worthy of Hashem’s and our peers love .

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