Shoftim: Justice!

Welcome to Shabbat Moment, a text study series with Yael Shy, from our friends at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Every week we share Yael’s Torah text study, mindfulness practice tips, and discussion questions for you to reflect + share with others at your Shabbat table. Subscribe here to get the Shabbat Moment delivered straight to your inbox!

This week’s Torah portion is Shoftim: Justice!

What does it mean to live a healthy life?

According to the Torah, living a healthy life depends on a world that is fair and righteous in its systems. In this week’s Torah portion, we see that justice is not something that it would be nice if we had, and it is not even something we do for the sake of others. We must “pursue” – chase after – justice (a thing that runs away from us?) for the sake of our life.

We are asked to create a justice system where we, and all our community-members, are treated as whole and complete – even when we get into conflicts. We are asked to create and safeguard a system where justice permeates through the entire system and our highest values are represented at each stage of the process.

Find Your Friday

About the Author

Special thanks to Yael Shy and our friends at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality for joining us in creating weekly Shabbat moments for your Friday nights.

Yael Shy is the CEO of Mindfulness Consulting, LLC, where she teaches and consults on mindfulness for universities, corporations, and private clients around the world. She is the author of the award-winning book, What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (Parallax, 2017), and the founder of Mindful NYU, the largest campus-based mindfulness initiative in the US. Yael is a graduate of the IJS Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training Certification.