CHASSIDIC PEARLS BY RABBI LAZE BRODY PARSHAS SHOFTIM

(PLEASE LEARN THIS FOR THE REFUA SHELAMA OF HaGaon HaRav Yitzchok Zilberstein Shlita-Yitzchok ben Rochel RAV CHAIM KANIEVSKY-Rav Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim ben Pesha Miriam,Rav Shteinman - Aaron Yehuda Leib ben Gitel Feiga, Rav Weiss - Yitzchak Tuvia ben Rikal, Rav Yosef - Yaakov Chai ben Margalit Harav Shlomo Leib Ben Miriam - HaRav Shlomo Brevda Harav Yeshaya Yaakov Ben Raizel - HaRav Yeshaya Yaakov Portugal Harav Meshulem Fish Ben Tziril - The Toshe Rebbe Rav Yerachmiel Shlomo Hakohen ben Raizel. -Rav Yerachmiel Shlomo Rothenberg, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva of Mountaindale Rav Shaul ben Pasha-Gavaad Zurich, Switzerland and rav of Beis Medrash Agudas Achim for a refuah shleima b’soch kol cholei am Yisrael.)(AND L"N RAV YOSEF SHALOM BEN RAV AVRAHAM(RAV ELYASHIV ZT"L)

"Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your gates" (Devarim 16:18). A person is liable to misconstrue the above passage and say, "It's not my responsibility to appoint magistrates and policemen; the Torah's directives must therefore be for the leaders of the nation, but they don't obligate the individual." Nothing could be further from the truth. Even when the Torah speaks to the leaders of the nation, it has an important intrinsic message for the individual. The Torah says your gates in the Hebrew second-person singular in our passage at hand, to further emphasize that it is hereby conveying a significant lesson for the individual. Rebbe Nachman of Breslev explains (Likutei Moharan I:154) that where there's judgment below, there can't be judgment above. In other words, when we judge ourselves, the Heavenly Court is not allowed to judge us. Practically speaking, this means that when we regularly confess our wrongdoings to Hashem, seek forgiveness, and resolve to improve, then Hashem doesn't allow the Heavenly Court to judge us; Hashem judges us Himself. There's a vast difference between Hashem's judgments and those of the Heavenly Court – whereas the Heavenly Court judges in exacting, hair-splitting precision by the letter of the law, Hashem's judgments are merciful and forgiving. When the Heavenly Court tries the case, one is almost always found guilty. When Hashem tries a case, one is always declared innocent. So, if we want to avoid suffering and tribulations, we should set aside sixty minutes a day for self-evaluation and personal prayer, where we judge ourselves in front of Hashem. If we find ourselves guilty of wrongdoing, all we have to do is confess, ask for forgiveness, and commit to do better. The Heavenly Court subsequently is not allowed to touch the case and to try us even for the worst crime, providing that we've confessed to Hashem and are truly making teshuva on our own initiative. Where there's judgment on earth, there can't be judgment in heaven. A person that spends an hour a day in personal prayer and self-evaluation is bound to win a favorable verdict on the critical annual judgment day of Rosh Hashana. Our sages teach that we should make teshuva at least one day before we die. The Midrash asks, "Who knows when they're going to die?" The logical answer is that we should make teshuva right now, for today might be our last day. That way, we're making teshuva our entire lives! Rebbe Nachman's concept of judging ourselves makes our passage at hand crystal clear: Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your gates – each one of us should have his or her own personal courtroom to judge ourselves every single day of our lives. That way, we never accrue spiritual debts, we're constantly in teshuva, and we invoke upon ourselves phenomenal Divine compassion. Not only are we not punished for our confessed misdeeds, but Hashem gives us tremendous rewards for our teshuva,