Weekly Portion: Shoftim | Rabbi Yisrael Meir Zingerwitz

"On the testimony of two witnesses or three witnesses, the dead shall be put to death."

The words are seemingly puzzling; what is the meaning of "the dead shall be put to death"? After all, as long as he is on trial, he is still alive, and if his sentence is death, then he shall be put to death—but why does the verse call him "dead" already now while he is still alive?

In the Midrash Tanchuma (in the portion of Vezot HaBracha), it is brought that during the time of King David, there was a plague, and one hundred young men from Israel died every day. The people of Israel lost many casualties until King David came and instituted the saying of one hundred blessings every day, and he stopped the plague. Here, too, one must stop and understand what is the connection between the death of those one hundred young men every day and the saying of one hundred blessings!

Regarding our first question (about the expression "the dead shall be put to death"), our Sages explain: "Is there a dead person who is liable for death? Rather, a wicked person in his lifetime is considered as dead. Why? When he sees the sun rising and does not bless 'Blessed is the Creator of the luminaries,' it sets and he does not bless 'Who brings on the evening,' he eats and drinks and does not bless. But the righteous bless for every single thing, and not only in their lifetime but even in their death, as it is said: 'The pious shall exult in glory, they shall sing upon their beds.'"

A person can live technically, the heart beats and his organs function, but in fact, he is defined as dead as long as he does not thank the Holy One, blessed be He, for the sun that rises and sets, for the tasty and pleasant foods that he puts into his mouth, and so on. Therefore, the Torah says in our portion "the dead shall be put to death" to teach us that although the wicked person was killed by the court that sentenced him to death, in fact, he was dead even before that when he did not thank the Holy One, blessed be He, for His goodness and kindness. Therefore, when King David saw that one hundred young men from Israel were dying every day, he understood that those who died in the plague were considered as those who had already died before, since they did not thank the Lord, blessed be He, for all the good He had bestowed upon them, and therefore he instituted for Israel to say one hundred blessings every day to revive the living, lest they die.

The Netziv of Volozhin (Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, head of the important Volozhin Yeshiva and one of the greatest Torah scholars in Eastern Europe in the 19th century) gave a parable and thereby illustrated the matter: It happened to a man in whose courtyard grew a rare flower of beauty that grows only in remote forests. The flower aroused great curiosity, and the man's courtyard was filled with visitors who sought to see the rare wonder.

Over time, the courtyard became a place of total disorder. The man did not want to disappoint the masses who sought to see the wonder, so he plucked the flower from the ground and placed it inside a beautiful vase. After that, he rented a spacious hall and placed the vase in its center so that everyone could observe the magnificent flower.

However, after a week, the flower began to dry out, and after ten days, it withered and died...

Apparently, the flower died after ten days, but the truth is that the moment the owner of the courtyard took pruning shears and disconnected the flower from its source of life, it was already defined as dead. Although the death was only noticeable on the flower after ten days, from the perspective of absolute truth, it died the moment it was disconnected from the ground that provided the source of its life. The moment the flower stopped its intake from Mother Earth, it was dead.

The Netziv explains that during the time of King David, there were tall and impressive young men full of life, but in practice, they were walking dead, and this is because when a person does not thank the Holy One, blessed be He, he disconnects from the source of life. When a person does not understand that there is a leader and Creator for the creation, he loses the meaning of his life.

We thank You, Master of the Universe, for every day that the sun rises and for every breath that we draw. Everything is from You, and everything is Yours.