Beis Din, Gilgulim, And Compromise -Yisro 5771

This week’s Parsha begins with the visit from Yisro and his advice to Moshe Rabbeinu on how to run the Batei Dinim. At the end of that advice we find Yisro saying the following, 18:23 (אִם אֶת-הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה, תַּעֲשֶׂה, וְצִוְּךָ אֱלֹ קִ ים, וְיָכָלְתָּ עֲמֹד; וְגַם כָּל-הָעָם הַזֶּה, עַל-מְקֹמוֹ יָבֹא בְשָׁלוֹם) If you do the following then you will be able to persevere and also all of Klal Yisrael will be able to come in peace.

There is a Kasha here on the (יָבֹא בְשָׁלוֹם) and that is the Gemara in Maseches Berachos which says that the proper words with which to say goodbye to someone is Leich L’shalom, go to peace. If someone has passed away then the custom is to say Leich B’shalom, go in peace. Leich L’shalom, a living person can go to peace and still have a relationship with someone else and have Shalom. However, a Niftar who does not have a potential to have a disagreement with anyone, so it must be Leich B’shalom. Go to a place that there will be Shalom. So why here does Yisro use an expression of (יָבֹא בְשָׁלוֹם) which is an expression that would be used for a Niftar?

The Kasha is even stronger when we look back in Parshas Shemos and we see that Yisro himself when he gave permission for Moshe Rabbeinu to leave in 4:18 (וַיֵּלֶךְ מֹשֶׁה וַיָּשָׁב אֶל-יֶתֶר חֹתְנוֹ, וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אֵלְכָה נָּא וְאָשׁוּבָה אֶל-אַחַי אֲשֶׁר-בְּמִצְרַיִם, וְאֶרְאֶה, הַעוֹדָם חַיִּים; וַיֹּאמֶר יִתְרוֹ לְמֹשֶׁה, לֵךְ לְשָׁלוֹם) where Yisro uses the proper expression of (לֵךְ לְשָׁלוֹם). Why here does Yisro say (וְגַם כָּל-הָעָם הַזֶּה, עַל-מְקֹמוֹ יָבֹא בְשָׁלוֹם)?

I would like to share with you 2 answers on this question. The first is something that Rav Pam often said in the name of the Chofetz Chaim. He said that this Posuk is a Remez to Gilgulim. The idea that a Neshama can be forced to come back to this world for a second or even a third life if he had some unfinished business so to speak in his first life. That we understand is a pain for the Neshamah and the Neshamah does not want to go through the Tzar of coming back.

If someone owes money to someone else then there is a concept that he has to come back to repay that money. Probably not if someone is an Ones, however, if someone has some sort of guilt of owing money to someone else then yes. If the Batei Dinim run properly and people go to them and things are resolved the Neshamah comes upstairs B’shalom. So the Posuk of (וְגַם כָּל-הָעָם הַזֶּה, עַל-מְקֹמוֹ יָבֹא בְשָׁלוֹם) means that Yisro was saying if the Batei Dinim are run properly than the Neshamah will come upstairs with a complete peace in the Olam Ha’emes. However, if the Batei Dinim don’t run properly and people wait on line for many hours and don’t come, then they lack that B’shalom because they are liable to have to come back for another Gilgul because of the financial issues that were not resolved. This is one Pshat. 

I saw a second Pshat in the Netziv’s Hameik Davar. We know that Batei Dinim can rule in 1 of 2 ways. Either Bais Din can try to figure out what the Halacha is and settle a dispute that way or through Peshara which is sort of a compromise. The idea is that the Bais Din can try to make some accommodations between the sides. That is called a Peshara. We know that Peshara is something which is healthy for the litigants because somehow they will both walk out friendly maybe not best friends but at least some sort of civility towards each other. 

Mashe’ainkain, Shuras Hadin where each side typically feels that they are totally right, when the Bais Din Paskens for one side without any Peshara the other side of course feels cheated (unless they are Baalei Madreiga who don’t).  Most people are that way and therefore we advise them to do Peshara.

There is a Halacha in Choshen Mishpat that if a Dayan knows a Halacha he is prohibited from making a Peshara. What I mean to say is, in most Dinei Torah most Dayanim have to sit down and work through the Sugya because things are not usually clear in Shulchan Aruch. Then they can offer a Peshara because they do not know the Halacha. If they know the Halachah, it is prohibited to do a Pesharah and therefore Moshe Rabbeinu never did a Peshara. He always had to do Shuras Hadin. He learned the Torah as a gift from the Ribbono Shel Olam and knew exactly what to do.

Part of Yisro’s advice says the Netziv, was to get 18:21 (שָׂרֵי אֲלָפִים שָׂרֵי מֵאוֹת, שָׂרֵי חֲמִשִּׁים, וְשָׂרֵי עֲשָׂרֹת) people who were not totally clear in the Halacha so that they would be able to offer Peshara. Mashe’ainkain Moshe Rabbeinu when he Paskens it affects the Sholom of the people. Peshara is called Mishpat Sholom it is called a judgment of peace and therefore the Netziv Teitches (עַל-מְקֹמוֹ יָבֹא בְשָׁלוֹם).This doesn’t refer to the normal Sholom that a person says as a greeting or as a departure greeting to a Neshama. Rather it means they will come with the judgment of peace which is ideal in a Bais Din.