Parshat Shoftim consists of a series of commandments. Many of the commandments can be grouped into broad categories, such as the administration of justice, punishment and absolution for crimes, the conduct of kings and Levites, avoiding idolatrous practices of other nations, and waging war. Other of the commandments seem to stand alone, such as the commandment "You shall not set up a sacred post – any kind of pole beside the altar of the Lord your God that you may make – or erect a stone pillar; for such the Lord your God detests" and the commandment "You shall not move your countryman’s landmarks, set up by previous generations, in the property that will be allotted to you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess." Deuteronomy 16:21-22,19:14.

One common denominator of these commandments is that they are rooted in the notion of ethical behavior. The commandments are intended to protect the innocent (for example, in setting up towns of sanctuary) and to punish the guilty (for example, in the injunction to punish by taking "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Deuteronomy 19:21). Everyone – including kings, Levites and soldiers – is required to observe the commandments, underscoring that no one is above God’s law. Moreover, God alone determines what is right. The rationale for these commandments is that they either comport with "doing what is right in the sight of the Lord" or avoid doing what is "abhorrent to the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 21:9, 17:1. No one may alter the ethical structure; even kings must not deviate from the law "to the right or to the left." Deuteronomy 17:20. By requiring everyone to obey the law and to treat other people, animals and trees in the right way, these commandments set the foundation for ethical behavior that is at the core of Judaism.

Shabbat Shalom.