Parashat Shofetim/ParashahSummary

Parashat Shofetim – Summary

• Parashat Shofetim continues Moshe's discourse on the commandments with laws relating to the four primary institutions of political and religious leadership: judge, king, prophet, and priest.
  
  
• Appointment of Judges – At the end of Chapter 16, Moshe instructs the people to appoint judges who will pursue justice and warns against the planting of trees alongside the altar or the erecting of single-stone monuments (matzeivot).
• Idol Worshiper, Judges, and King – Chapter 17 presents the instructions regarding the punishment of the idol worshiper, the obligation to obey the high court, and the commandment to appoint a king. The Torah outlines several restrictions on the king's conduct and instructs him to write a Torah scroll to keep with him always.
• Priests and Prophets – Chapter 18 restates that the priests will not receive an inheritance in Israel because of their special religious duties, but will instead be supported by certain mandatory donations from the people. The chapter warns against witchcraft and fortunetelling, instead instructing us to listen only to true prophets.
• Judicial Laws – Chapter 19 opens with laws of the inadvertent murderer and the cities of refuge. This is followed by the laws of the intentional murderer and additional laws related to witnesses and the judicial process.
• Laws of War – Chapter 20 outlines various laws related to battle including: exemptions from military service, the requirement to offer terms of peace before attacking a "distant" city, and the prohibition against cutting down fruit trees when laying siege.
• The Unsolved Murder – Chapter 21 describes the Eglah Arufah (beheaded heifer) ceremony to be performed by the priests and city elders in the case of an unsolved murder.

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