Do not commit injustice in judgement... you shall judge your friend justly.
At face value, these two commandments are only relevant to a judge. As such, we must ask our standard question: being that all of the 613 mitzvos are critical for every Jew, how can a non- judge fulfill these two?
The Mishnah in Avos* states: תן לו משלו שאתה ושלך שלו, Give [Hashem] from that which is His, for you and yours are His. וכן בדוד הוא אומר: כי ממך הכל ומידך נתנו לך, So it says regarding Dovid,** “For all comes from you and from Your Hand have we given to you.” Clearly, the message here is that Man cannot truly provide anything for Hashem, as all that he has and all that he accomplishes is but a gift from Heaven. Being that this lesson is self-explanatory, what does the prooftext regarding Dovid add? In particular, the invocation of the term 'יד ה seems out of place, as it connotes Hashem’s meting out of punishment.***
Ibn Gabirol, in his moralistic work Mivchar ha-Peninim,**** records that a wise man was questioned as to why he never appears to be worried. His response was that he never owned anything over which to worry; everything that he “possesses” is merely on loan from Hashem, and whenever he recalls it, He is perfectly within His right. As such, why worry?
Similarly, Sefer Chassidim***** interprets the verse****** ולך ה' החסד כי אתה תשלם לאיש כמעשהו, And to You, Hashem, is kindness ascribed, for You pay back a man in accordance with his deed, by interpreting כמעשהו to mean “as if his handiwork is his own.” That is to say, if an individual is to be punished, Hashem metes it out by depriving him of his property, his health, or his children. In theory, this ought not deserve to serve as a punishment, for all of these things are Hashem’s and He can simply decide to discontinue their existence. Nonetheless, He considers them as if they were man’s property and thus their deprival a punishment, sparing him from a far more authentic and serious comeuppance. Regarding this conduct, one can deservedly say ולך ה' החסד, it is a display of His magnanimousity.
This is the meaning of the mishnah in Avos, whose subject is not philanthropy, but acceptance of suffering. תן לו משלו, if you experience a loss, relate to it as if you were gladly giving it back to שאתה Hashem, for the atonement that comes from such suffering is the result of your attitude that .everything that you have is truly His ,ושלך שלו
This is also the prooftext from Dovid. כי ממך הכל, It should be as if receiving a gift from You, Hashem, ומידך, when experiencing the punishing hand of Heaven, נתנו לך, and the atonement is achieved as if you actually gave something up to Him.
In this light we can reinterpret our verse. לא תעשו עול במשפט, when one is struck by Divine judgement (משפט), your reaction should not betray (לא תעשו) that you feel wronged (עול). Rather, one should accept suffering with the recognition that all is Hashem’s and that He is always just. As the verse continues, בצדק תשפט עמיתך. Hashem is described as the “friend” of the Jewish People.******* Hence, judge your friend, Hashem, to be acting justly although it may seem, superficially, otherwise.
With this we can offer a new reading of some difficult verses in Ha’azinu ********הצור תמים פעלו... צדיק. The Rock, His deed is wholesome... He is righteous and upright. These terms would ,וישר הוא seem contradictory. הצור indicates harsh justice, while תמים indicates kindness (as we find the word associated with Avraham, the exemplar of kindness9). Similarly, צדיק indicates justice by- the-book, while ישר indicates going beyond the letter of the law.********** How are these opposing attributes mentioned in one breath?*********** Furthermore, while this verse is focused on Hashem, the following one ('שחת לו לא בניו מומם וגו) unannouncedly shifts to another subject (according to the Targum: the Jewish People). Why?
,הצור תמים פעלו .As we laid out above, even Hashem’s punishment of man is an act of kindness כי כל .when He adopts the role of the Tzur, the source of stern justice, it is really benevolence without a trace of ,א-ל אמונה ואין עול ,although He acts with uncompromised fairness ,דרכיו משפט miscarriage of judgement, צדיק וישר הוא, it is done in a manner reflecting His compassion for His creations.
It continues, שיחת לו, when Hashem wreaks destruction on man, He is destroying His own property, for all is His, לא בניו, not His children’s. Even so, מומם, in His kindness, He reckons the loss as if it was their own injury, manipulating it as a means of atonement for them. At least that’s the way that it ought to be, if not for them being a דור עקש ופתלתל, a generation that interprets Hashem’s justice in a perverse fashion, thus undeserving of reaping any benefit from it.
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*3:7
** Divrei ha-Yamim I 29:14.
*** E.g., Iyov 19:21: יד ה' נגעה, the Hand of Hashem struck.
**** Sha’ar haEmunah.
***** 123, as per the version and interpretation of the anonymous Peirush Kadmon.
****** Tehillim 62:13.
******* Shemos Rabbah 27:1.
******** Devarim 32:4-7.
********* Makkos 24a.
********** As per the rabbinic interpretation of ועשית הישר והטוב – זה לפנים משורת הדין, cited in Rashi, Devarim 6:18.
*********** In observing similar incongruencies in depictions of Divine conduct, the Sages had no recourse but to answer that they are successive; see Rosh HaShanah 17b.