Justice

Parashat Shof'tim gives the people the right to set a king over themselves. But their responsibility is to set up a just and righteous government, whether it is a monarchy or not. 

Rabbi Firestone speaks of the important role of the prophetic voice, then and now. However, American Jews often cringe when someone in the political arena claims to speak the word of God. We often have a visceral reaction against the mixing of religion and politics because we know the potential danger when there is no wall between the two.

But neither our ancient ancestors or our founding fathers (and mothers) envisioned a concrete wall between "church" and "state." For both, the understanding was that this "separation" is more of a permeable membrane. While the American government does not have the right to dictate what our religious practices should be, Judaism teaches us that our religious values should inform our political actions.

The breaking of a heifer's neck in an ever-flowing wadi, followed by the priests' pronouncing a blessing of the Eternal God, and the elders washing their hands over the heifer and making a declarat