Parshat Shoftim

This week’s parashah, Shoftim, describes a ritual that was practiced in ancient Israel in the event of an unsolved murder. The elders of the town nearest the place where the body was found would go out to a stream (a place of cleansing) and offer a sacrifice. Then they would make a formal declaration: “Our hands did not shed this blood [of the murder victim] nor did our eyes see it,” and they would ask God not to hold them responsible for the crime.

The sages of the Talmud were puzzled by this. Why did the elders of the town need to disclaim responsibility for a crime that no one would have accused them of committing in the first place?

The sages explained that, when the elders declared, “Our hands did not shed this blood,” what they were really saying was that they had not, even passively, contributed to the victim’s death. They had not ignored pleas by the victim for shelter or support. They had not failed the victim even by omission.

The Talmud’s point is that, in the face of evil, we are liable not only for what we do, but for what we fail to do. As Edmund Burke said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing.” In times of urgency, passivity is not a moral option.

Yesterday was the first day of the month of Elul, the month of introspection andrepentance that precedes the new year. Elul is a time to reflect not only on what we did wrong in the past year, but also on what we failed to do right, on those moments when we might have stood up for our principles but did not.

Psalm 27, which we recite throughout the month of Elul, ends with a prayer for strength of heart. May we all be blessed with strength and courage as we make our way toward Rosh Hashanah.