The Way of G-d 2:6:2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
G-d\nappears in each Sanhedrin and court, influences it, and sees to it that justice\nis served 1<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now,\nin some instances He Himself serves as the judge 2<\/sup>. As we\u2019re told,\nG-d was found to be \u201cseated on His throne 3<\/sup> and all the Host of Heaven\n4<\/sup> were standing by Him, to His right and on His left\u201d (1 Kings\n22:19). The \u201cright\u201d side in this citation refers to the angels of defense,\nwhile the \u201cleft\u201d refers to the prosecuting angels (Midrash<\/em> Tanchuma<\/em>,\nShemot<\/em> 18) 5<\/sup>. And Daniel reported that \u201cthrones were set up,\nand the Ancient of Days sat down; \u2026. Justice was established, and the books 6<\/sup>\nwere opened\u201d (Daniel 7:9-10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\npoint of the matter, though, is that everyone is judged precisely when on trial\nas we indicated before 7<\/sup>. Now, in general everyone has his or her\nclaims to truth based on various factors, and all of that needs to be judged\naccordingly in a trial. In fact each and every action has its guilty and\ninnocent aspects as each and every thing in this world is a combination of\nincongruous or conflicting elements that go in one or another 8<\/sup> direction\n9<\/sup>. All of that is to be presented to the celestial court where it\nwill be sorted out and set in order, and the most beneficial decision will be\nrendered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Each\nangel present in court is to present one aspect or another, until each and\nevery factor is revealed. Then each is considered and a just decision is made\nby the presiding judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If\nthe case takes place in a court that G-d Himself decided to preside over then\nHe pronounces the final judgment. But the following is also true: G-d allows\nthe angels involved in the case to present their arguments as they understand\nthe facts, and He allows for the case to be completed accordingly — even though\nHe knows everything beforehand 10<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup> That\u2019s to say that G-d sometimes\nserves as the actual presiding judge (as we\u2019ll soon see) while at others He\nfunctions as a sort of Chief Justice who establishes court criteria for every exigency,\nwho\u2019s still and all not present at every case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 <\/sup>See Sha\u2019arei<\/em>\nOrah<\/em> Chapters 5-6 for a depiction on the various Sanhedrins and courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3 <\/sup>Of judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 <\/sup>That is, the\nangels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5 <\/sup>This is\nactually a parenthetical statement since Ramchal primarily set out here to\nillustrate his statement about G-d Himself serving as a judge from Torah\nverses. He only inserted this statement here to further depict the makeup of\nthe courts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n See\nShemot<\/em> Rabbah<\/em> 31:14 and JT Sanhedrin 1:1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6 <\/sup>That is,\ncourt records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7 <\/sup>See 2:1:3\nand 2:3:4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8 <\/sup>Ethical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9 <\/sup>This is true\nof the world itself, as Ramchal pointed out in Adir<\/em> Bamarom<\/em> p.\n288, and in esoteric terms in Klach<\/em> Pitchei<\/em> Chochma<\/em> 72,\n75.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10 <\/sup>See Bereishit<\/em>\nRabbah<\/em> 8:5 as well as Pirkei<\/em> Avot<\/em> 4:11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s\nto say that even though G-d has supernatural insight into the matter that may\ncontradict the findings offered by the parties involved in the case, He\ndisregards that because He wants cases to be decided in the usual manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n See\nClallei Milchemet Moshe<\/em> 2 and Klach Pitchei Chochma<\/em> 63.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (c) 2019\nRabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feel free to\ncontact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ———————————————————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rabbi Feldman’s new annotated translation of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag\u2019s\n\u201cIntroduction to the Zohar\u201d is available as \u201cThe Kabbalah of Self\u201d on Kindle here<\/a>. His\nannotated translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here<\/a> and his\nannotated translation of Rabbeinu Yonah\u2019s “The Gates of Repentance”\nis available here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the\nJust” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes torah.org\nentitled \u201cSpiritual\nExcellence<\/a>\u201d\nand \u201cRamchal<\/a>\u201d that can\nbe subscribed to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Way of G-d 2:6:2 1. G-d appears in each Sanhedrin and court, influences it, and sees to it that justice is served 1. Now, in some instances He Himself serves as the judge 2. As we\u2019re told, … Continue reading