The Jewish tradition has always been deeply concerned with the pursuit of justice (tzedek), as expressed so powerfully in the opening of Parshat Shoftim:

“Justice, justice shall you pursue (tzedek, tzedek tirdof), that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 16:20)

The rabbinic sages, who often paid close attention to the Torah’s choice of words and formulations, naturally found significance in the repetition of the word tzedek. Why does the Torah say tzedek, tzedek rather than simply tzedek? For the rabbis, this repetition was not merely stylistic; it was an invitation to probe more deeply into the nature of justice itself and express it in a concrete way:

In Sifrei Devarim, a midrashic collection from the period of the Mishnah, this repetition prompted the following interpretation:

“Tzedek, tzedek shall you pursue” (Deut. 16:20) — on what basis do I know that [in a capital case], if a suspect emerged from trial with a verdict of innocence, they may not return him to be re-tried for guilt? The Teaching states: “Tzedek, tzedek shall you pursue.”

[In a civil suit,] if he emerged with a verdict of guilt, on what basis do I know that they may return him to be re-tried for innocence [in light of new evidence]? As it is said: “Tzedek, tzedek shall you pursue.” (Sifrei Devarim 154, Finkelstein ed., p. 199)

This midrash sees the doubling of the word tzedek as an emphatic call to ensure the fairest possible treatment of the litigant in a court of law.

A second interpretation likewise treats the doubling of tzedek as emphatic, but........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)