Guard the inner gates, eyes, ears and mouth, run after the justice within you, and sweeten every judgment with mercy.
One week · from Sunday to the Shabbat of Shoftim · first Shabbat of Elul
✦ All insights are drawn from articles by Michael Berg and Karen Berg published on kabbalah.com.
The portion Shoftim ("Judges") opens with a command: "Judges and officers you shall appoint in all your gates" (Devarim 16:18). The kabbalists read this verse personally: the gates are not only the gates of a city, they are our eyes, our ears and our mouth. Everything that enters us, and everything that leaves us, passes through these gates. The question of the week: who is judging at your gates, the ego or the soul?
The heart of the portion is the verse "Tzedek, tzedek tirdof", "Justice, justice shall you pursue, so that you may live" (Devarim 16:20). Michael Berg, citing the Ramban, who quotes the Bahir, by the kabbalist Rav Nehunia ben HaKana, teaches: every negative action deposits judgment in the Upper Worlds. When we run after our own judgment, when we look at our actions honestly and choose to change, that stored judgment is used up. As the sages teach: when there is judgment below, there is no judgment from Above.
And there is a mirror this week. The energy of Shoftim tempts us to judge others, but what we notice in another person is, almost always, our own work reflected back. Karen Berg reminds us of the three wise little monkeys, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, and invites us to see with mercy: we sweeten the judgment coming toward us when we sweeten the judgment we hold toward others.
This is also the first Shabbat of Elul, the month of Virgo. The Zohar teaches that our actions this month build the vessel that will receive the Light of the new year. That is why the portion gives us the image of the king who writes his own Torah scroll and reads it every day, "so that his heart is not lifted above his brothers" (Devarim 17:18–20), and hands us the goal of the week: "Tamim tihyeh": "Be wholehearted with the Light of the Creator" (Devarim 18:13). Whole, not perfect. Guard the gates, judge yourself with love, and walk with certainty.
Shoftim opens the month of Elul (Virgo), the 30 days in which we build the vessel of the new year. Deepen your week with the Kabbalah Centre study 30 Days of Virgo.
Become aware of what enters and leaves.
Watch your three gates through the day: what did your eyes seek? What did your ears choose to hear? What did your mouth say? At night, note one entry and one exit for each gate, no guilt, just awareness.
Turn judgment into inner work.
When you notice your first judgment of someone today, stop. Ask yourself: where does this same quality live in me? Thank the mirror and choose one small action to work on it in yourself.
Use up judgment through honesty.
Choose one pattern you know needs to change. Name it with love, without shame: "That was my ego." If there is someone to repair with, an apology, a gesture, take the first step today.
Elevate your speech.
A day of conscious speech: no word that diminishes anyone, present or absent. Before reacting, take one breath. Use your mouth today to bless: a true compliment, a word of encouragement.
Practice active humility.
Like the king who reads his own scroll every day, write three lines: "I am not above anyone. Everything I have comes from the Light. My role is to serve." Read them aloud morning and night.
Sweeten judgment before Shabbat.
Choose one person you have been judging and give them, today, the benefit of the doubt, in thought, word or a concrete gesture. Enter Shabbat with at least one judgment sweetened.
Walk whole with the Light of the Creator.
During Shabbat, visualize your three gates guarded by golden light. Say to yourself: "Whole, not perfect." Feel the quiet certainty of one who guarded the gates, repaired what could be repaired, and handed the rest to the Light of the Creator.
"I guard my gates. I judge myself with love and see others with mercy. Whole, not perfect, I walk with the Light of the Creator."
Find a full library of content on the portion of Shoftim here, articles, videos and meditations.
kabbalah.com/en/collections/shoftimKabbalistic insights, the consciousness of each Torah portion, and the calendar's windows of Light, straight to your WhatsApp.
Join the WhatsApp group
Comments
Share what this study awakened in you. We're here to listen.
Loading…