No Trees in Temple

The question: Which comes first, truth or justice? He answer: It depends whose truth and whose justice.

Don’t Alter the Altar!

The Altar in the Holy Temple was one of its most important components. According to Maimonides, the Altar, and the sacrifices that were offered upon it, was the focal point of the Temple.

Concerning this Altar, the Torah has given us several commandments:

First, it had to have been made out of stone.

Second, as stated in this week’s parsha, we are commanded not to plant a tree next to the Altar. And while the Torah speaks of a specific pagan tree called an Asheira, it was understood to include the planting of any tree.

Third, the juxtaposition of the commandment not to plant trees near the Altar and the commandments for a judge to not pervert justice, prompted our Sages to declare: “Whoever appoints a judge who is not worthy, it is as if he placed an idolatrous tree near the Altar.”

Justice versus Vegetation

What is the reason the Torah was so opposed to having trees near the Altar? And how does an unscrupulous judge compare to the planting of the tree near the Altar?

Meshech Chochma, an early twentieth century commentary on the Torah, suggests the following analysis:

While sacrifices were a staple of the daily Temple order, it was not for G-d’s needs. G-d does not need our sacrifices. They do not and cannot enhance Him or satisfy any need, since that would imply that G-d is somehow dependent on our actions. G-d is ultimate perfection and cannot be needy or dependent on anyone or anything. G-d chooses to “want” our conformance with His will, not because He needs it, but because He desires it.

The sacrifices—as indeed, all of the Mitzvos we were commanded to perform—were intended to make us more G-dly, to draw us closer to Him, as the Hebrew word for sacrifice-korban indicates.

In Kabbalah we are taught how the korban would have all sorts of spiritual and cosmic effects. But the bottom line about sacrifices is that G-d did not truly need them for Himself.

To underscore the fact that sacrifices in Judaism—unlike in other pagan cultures—were not for G-d’s benefit, the Torah therefore commanded us not to make the Altar out of anything else but stone. Stone, unlike vegetation, does not grow from the ground in which it is situated. Nor does stone have to be fed and nurtured.

This was a dramatic way of expressing the notion that just as the stone does not benefit from the earth and its vegetation, so too, G-d Who commanded us to bring the sacrifices on the Altar, does not need or benefit from our sacrifices. They are solely for our benefit.

Hence the Torah’s insistence that we do not even plant a tree next to the Altar, to further distance us from any notion that the Altar is in any way, shape or form a symbol of G-d’s dependency on us and our efforts.

We can now understand the juxtaposition of the laws concerning the integrity of a judge and the prohibition against planting trees next to the Altar.

Emulating G-d

When a judge rules, he must emulate G-d by not having any vested interests in the outcome of that case. And just as G-d receives no benefit from the world He created, similarly, the judge cannot perceive himself deriving any benefit from the case. His exclusive interest must be the pursuit of truth and that justice be served.

In summary, the Altar made out of stone teaches us how G-d does not need or benefit from our actions.

The flip side of that is that we derive all of our needs from G-d and the performance of His commandments, represented by the sacrifices.

Likewise, a judge who is honest in his judgments contributes to the well-being of society.

We are All Judges

And while very few of us are judges in the literal sense of the word, the way we interact with others involves our sense of judgment.

When we confront a situation that demands our judgment of the person, event, etc., we have to ask ourselves a question: What is our objective? Are we looking out for ourselves, or are we looking to make the world a better place by virtue of the way we respond to the person or situation at hand?

Stabilizing the World in Preparation for Moshiach

The person who chooses the latter, is a judge who emulates G-d, Who does not have a vested interest in His judgment and who therefore makes the world endure, as our Sages declare in Ethics of the Fathers: “The world exists on three things:, justice, truth and peace.”

The prophet Isaiah declares that “Zion will be redeemed with justice.” This suggests that the difference between exile and Redemption corresponds to the difference between proper justice and the lack of it.

Exile is not just a geographic phenomenon, it represents the way we view things and life in general. It is when we see things through the prism of our selfish interests and egos. Redemption is a mindset in which we see things through the G-dly prism of selflessness and service to others.

To emerge from this exile mindset, we must focus on the notion of true justice, which is founded on the relentless pursuit of the truth, and the ability to go beyond our vested interests.

Justice before Truth?

It should be noted that the above citation from the Mishnah places justice before truth and peace. Yet, the Biblical verse (Zecharya 8:16) cited there to support the statement of the Mishnah places truth before justice.

The Rebbe explains that from G-d’s perspective truth precedes His laws; His laws are based on Divine truth. However, our sense of truth is not intuitive or absolute. In order to find truth we must consult and follow the judgments of the Torah which are unmitigated truth.

Living in these last moment of exile—a state of mind that conceals truth—the only way we can access truth is through the teachings of the Torah, specifically the practical judgments of the Torah, which embody G-d’s will and truth.

Thus our Sages teach that the exiles will be redeemed through the study of Mishnah, specifically.

Why Mishnah and not Talmud?

Because Talmud is G-d’s will as it is cloaked in wisdom. Where does one “find” G-d’s unadorned will expressed? In the Mishnah and similar works, such as Maimonides’ Mishnah Torah and the Shulchan Aruch) that are restricted to teaching us what G-d wants us to do.

In addition, we can discover ultimate Divine truth in the study of the inner, spiritual dimension of Torah, i.e., the teachings of Chassidus and Kabbalah. Whereas the rest of Torah knowledge expresses G-d’s will, these esoteric teachings reveal the hidden dimension of G-d, where His essential truth is most revealed.

Justice: Stone Solid

Based on the above, we can find a more profound understanding of the prohibition against planting trees next to the Altar and the Altar’s construction out of stone.

A tree lacks the objective truth of a stone. A tree changes from season to season. Truth never changes.

Since the judges were placed next to the Altar, it could not, in any way, shape or form allow its message of absolute truth to be compromised. It had to be rock solid; laws that will never change.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Shoftim by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.