And they said, “Go over there!” And they said, “An individual comes to reside and he judges!”
The terms גש, approach, and הלאה, there, seem contradictory. What do they convey in our verse? And why is the verb “and they said” repeated? And why the double וישפט שפוט? From a broader perspective, what is the significance of these remarks that they are recorded in the Torah? What lesson do they contain for posterity?
In Kabbalah, there is a value of spiritual equilibrium. That is, a particular distance must be maintained between different entities. Should it be offset, whether through too large or too small a distance, the system could collapse.
The same is true in personal relationships. Ibn Gabirol, in his ethical work Mivchar ha-Peninim,* writes of the importance of visiting friends but not overdoing it.
It is possible that this is even the message in the mishnah in Avos:** הוי מתחמם כנגד אורן של חכמים, Warm yourself opposite the fire of the sages, והזהר בגחלתן שלא תכוה, yet be wary of their coal lest you be singed. The importance of proportion: come close enough to benefit from the sages, yet not too close lest it be detrimental. (I believe that I heard this in the name of my mentor, the Besht.)
I propose that this idea lies behind the unusual turn of phrase in our verse. גש הלאה, approach – but maintain a healthy distance; this will allow for a productive relationship both socially and spiritually. The verse then demonstrates this from its social manifestation. ויאמרו האחד בא לגור וישפט שפוט, at times a lamdan moves into town, becomes acquainted with the local rabbi, and, before you know it, he is challenging his rulings, upsetting the peace in the community.*** Just as this is unacceptable, one must be wary of making the same mistake in one’s spiritual endeavors.
Alternatively, the expression could be alluding to another spiritual principle, that of the coil. A spiritual seeker is at times treated to a spiritual high. However, it is not permanent – he is subsequently left to his own devices, snapping back to a lack of inspiration. This is a micro version of what the Jewish People as a whole experienced at its inception: with the Exodus, it was elevated to an unprecedented spiritual height; it was then sent back to ground zero, charged with regaining the terrain through its own efforts****. An analogy which I once heard compared it to a father training his child to walk. At first, he holds the child’s hand, assisting it in gaining the skill. Once it gets the hang of it, though, the grip is disengaged and the child is expected to walk independently.
This may be the message of גש הלאה. First comes closeness, then distance. For those spiritually engaged, this process continues cyclically throughout their lives.
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* Sha’ar Bikkur ha-Ohavim.
** 2:10.
*** וישפוט שפוט is reminiscent of the opening words of the book of Rus, שפט השפטים, which the Sages (Bava Basra 15b) render “the judging of the judges,” i.e., when the leadership is taken to task by the laity.
**** This may resolve Tosafos’ (Shabbos 88a) famous question as to why it was necessary for Hashem to compel the Jews to accept the Torah if they had already done so willingly. Perhaps in the interim they had experienced a snap-back from their earlier spiritual high.