לקוטי שיחות חלק כ״ט - שופטים א

On the verse “Judges and officers,” the Midrash states:

“A parable of a king who had many sons, and he loved the youngest more than all of them. He also had one orchard, which he loved more than everything else he possessed. The king said: I will give this orchard that I love… to my youngest son… So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Of all the nations I created, I love only Israel, as it is stated, ‘When Israel was a youth, I loved him.’ And of all that I created, I love only judgment… The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I will give that which I love to the people whom I love.”

This requires explanation.

How can it be said that “of all that I created, I love only judgment”? Seemingly, judgment is something necessary, but only as a means to ensure that the world can function properly.

Furthermore, the descendants of Noach also have the commandment of establishing courts and administering justice regarding their seven mitzvos. What, then, is unique about the concept of judgment as it relates to the Jewish people?

We must also understand why the Midrash connects judgment with the verse, “When Israel was a youth, I loved him.” Seemingly, judgment is associated with maturity and developed understanding, rather than with being a “youth.”

The explanation is as follows:

Jewish judges are not merely a means through which people can know how to observe the laws, as is the case with the courts of the nations.

Rather, the judges possess an independent and essential role.

As the Rambam writes: “The Sanhedrin are the essence of the Oral Torah.” Only afterward does he add a further function: “They are the pillars of instruction, and from them law and judgment go forth to all Israel.”

The meaning of the statement that “they are the essence of the Oral Torah” is that the Torah was entrusted to them so that they should develop and bring forth new Torah teachings through their own understanding.

This is the meaning of the Midrash’s statement: “Of all that I created, I love only judgment.”

Here, “judgment” refers not merely to deciding what must be done in practice, but to the intellect and wisdom of the Oral Torah itself.

This aspect of judgment does not exist merely in order “to know the deed that they should do.” It is Torah wisdom for its own sake, above and beyond practical action.

It is therefore, in a sense, above the created world itself—above “all that I created.”

And this was given to the Jewish people because of Hashem’s essential love for them.

This is similar to the love of a father for his young child. Love for an older child can be connected with the child’s qualities and achievements. The love for a young child, however, expresses the father’s essential love for the child simply because he is his child.

Similarly, Hashem gave His most beloved treasure—the wisdom and creative power of the Oral Torah—to the Jewish people because of His essential love for them, expressed in the verse: “When Israel was a youth, I loved him.”