Bittul Reveals Inner Emes

שופטים ושוטרים כו'

"Judges and officers, etc." (Devarim 16:18).

The Sfas Emes opens with the parsha's opening words about appointing judges and officers, which he will read as a hint about the avodah of Elul.

י"ל עפמ"ש מאא"ז מו"ר ז"ל רמז על שם חודש אלול ע"פ הפסוק הוא עשנו ולא אנחנו דיש קרי וכתיב לו אנחנו כו'

We can explain this based on what my grandfather, my teacher and master of blessed memory, said, hinting at the name of the month of Elul through the verse "He made us and not we ourselves" (Tehillim 100:3), where there is a difference between the way it is read and the way it is written, for it is written 'lo' (not) yet read 'lo' (to Him) we are His, etc.

His grandfather taught that the name Elul is alluded to in the verse 'He made us and not we ourselves,' which contains a written/read variation between 'not' and 'to Him.'

ועל ב' בחי' אלו נק' אלול

And it is upon these two aspects that the name Elul is based.

These two readings reflect two aspects of avodah that the name Elul encompasses.

כי זה תלוי בזה

For this one depends on that one.

The two aspects are interdependent — one leads to the other.

כפי ביטול האדם מתקרב אליו ית'

According to a person's bittul, his nullification of himself, he draws close to Hashem Yisbarach.

The more a person nullifies his own sense of self, the closer he comes to Hashem.

ודפח"ח כי יש ב' בחי' בעבודת הבורא ית' לבטל הגוף והגשמיות והוא בחי' שוטרים לכוף את הגוף לשנות את טעמו

And these are pleasant words of Torah from his holy mouth, for there are two aspects in the avodah of serving the Creator Yisbarach: to nullify the body and the physicality, and this is the aspect of "officers," to subdue the body and to change its inclination,

There are two modes of serving Hashem: the first is nullifying the body and physical desires, corresponding to 'officers' who subdue and redirect the body's natural pull.

בחי' סור מרע

which is the aspect of "turn away from evil" (Tehillim 34:15).

This nullifying of the body is the avodah of 'turn away from evil.'

והשנית בבחי' התקרבות אל הבורא ית' בחינת עשה טוב

And the second is the aspect of drawing close to the Creator Yisbarach, the aspect of "do good" (Tehillim 34:15).

The second mode is actively drawing near to Hashem, which is the avodah of 'do good.'

וזה שופטים שהוא בהשגת הדעת כאשר הארכנו במ"א שהם נגד עבודת ימי המעשה והשבת: לא תקח שוחד כ' רש"י ז"ל אף לשפוט אמת

And this is "judges," which is attained through the grasp of the daas, as we have elaborated elsewhere, that these correspond to the avodah of the weekday days of doing and to that of Shabbos: "You shall not take a bribe" (Devarim 16:19) — Rashi of blessed memory explains, even to judge truthfully.

This drawing close corresponds to 'judges,' achieved through clarity of mind; the two avodahs parallel the weekdays and Shabbos. The Sfas Emes then turns to the verse about not taking a bribe, where Rashi adds that this applies even to one who would judge truthfully.

הוא רמז לשמור מן הפניות בעת עשות המצות והטוב

This is a hint to guard oneself from ulterior motives at the time of performing the mitzvos and the good.

The warning against bribery hints at guarding against self-interested motives even while performing mitzvos and doing good.

ובמד' ה' אוהב משפט ואוהב את ישראל ומסר להם המשפט

And in the Midrash: "Hashem loves justice" (Tehillim 37:28), and He loves Bnei Yisrael, and He handed over to them the rendering of justice.

The Midrash teaches that because Hashem loves justice and loves Bnei Yisrael, He entrusted the rendering of justice to them.

חקיו ומשפטיו לישראל

"His statutes and His judgments to Yisrael" (Tehillim 147:19).

This is supported by the verse that Hashem gave His statutes and judgments specifically to Yisrael.

פי' שבכח איש ישראל לשפוט האמת ולסלק נגיעת עצמותו

The explanation is that it lies within the power of every individual of Yisrael to judge the truth and to remove the personal bias of his own self.

Every Jew has the inner capacity to judge truthfully and to strip away his own personal bias.

כי האמת נמצא בכל איש ישראל

For the emes, the truth, is found within every individual of Yisrael.

This is because the emes is innately present within every single member of Bnei Yisrael.

לכן צדק צדק תרדוף כי ע"י היגיעה יוכל למצוא הצדק והאמת שנטמן בלב איש ישראל

Therefore, "Justice, justice shall you pursue" (Devarim 16:20), for through toil one is able to find the righteousness and the emes that is concealed in the heart of every individual of Yisrael.

Hence the command to pursue justice doubly — through genuine effort one can uncover the truth that lies hidden in the Jewish heart.

ובנ"י נק' עדים כמ"ש אתם עדי

And Bnei Yisrael are called witnesses, as it is written "You are My witnesses" (Yeshayahu 43:10).

Bnei Yisrael are designated as Hashem's witnesses, as the navi states 'You are My witnesses.'

לכן צריכין לראות לסלק הנגיעות להיות עד אמת

Therefore they must take care to remove their biases, so as to be a witness of truth,

To serve as a true witness, one must remove all personal bias.

רק לברר האמת כי לה' המלוכה

only to clarify the emes, for the kingship belongs to Hashem,

The sole aim is to clarify the truth, recognizing that all sovereignty belongs to Hashem.

ולא לשום דבר אחר

and not for the sake of any other thing.

It is never for any self-serving or external purpose.

ולכן בחר בנו הש"י לעדים לאשר האמת נמצא בלבות בנ"י כמ"ש:

And therefore Hashem Yisbarach chose us as witnesses, to affirm that the emes is found in the hearts of Bnei Yisrael, as it is written:

For this reason Hashem chose Bnei Yisrael as His witnesses — to attest that the emes resides within their very hearts.

Summary: Reading the parsha's opening words 'judges and officers' as a hint to the avodah of Elul, the Sfas Emes brings his grandfather's teaching that Elul is alluded to in the verse 'He made us and not we ourselves,' whose written/read variation reflects two modes of serving Hashem. 'Officers' represent the bittul of the body and physical desires — 'turn away from evil' — while 'judges' represent drawing close to Hashem through clarity of daas — 'do good' — corresponding to the avodah of the weekdays and Shabbos. The warning against taking a bribe, even to judge truthfully, teaches that one must guard against ulterior motives even while performing mitzvos. Because the emes is planted within every Jew, each one has the power to judge truthfully once he strips away his personal bias, and through the toil of 'justice, justice shall you pursue' he uncovers the truth hidden in his heart. This is why Hashem chose Bnei Yisrael as His witnesses: to attest, with sovereignty belonging to Him alone, that the emes dwells within their hearts.