“Judges and officers you shall place for you within all your gates that the Lord your God is giving you for your tribes, and they shall judge the people with fair judgment” (Deuteronomy 16:18). “Judges and officers you shall place for you within all your gates that the Lord your God is giving you for your tribes, and they shall judge the people with fair judgment” – halakha: A person’s relative, what is the ruling, is it permitted for him to sit in judgment for him?
This is what the Sages taught: These are considered relatives:1Whose testimony is not accepted. One’s father, one’s brother, one’s father’s brothers, and one’s mother’s brothers…Why is it so? Just as a relative is ineligible to testify, so is he ineligible to judge. What do you see that leads you to say so?
Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said: It is written: “The priests, sons of Levi, shall approach, as the Lord your God chose them to serve Him, and to bless in the name of the Lord, and by their word shall be every dispute and every case of leprosy” (Deuteronomy 21:5). Come and see that it compares leprosy to disputes, and disputes to leprosy. Just as [the examination of] leprosy is only during the day, so judgment is only during the day, and just as disputes exclude relatives, so, too [the examination of] leprosy excludes relatives.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: Do not regard justice lightly, as it is one of the stanchions that support the world. Why? It is as the Sages taught: The world stands upon three matters: Upon justice, upon truth, and upon peace. Consider that if you distort judgment you destabilize the world, as it is one of its stanchions.
The Rabbis say: The potency of justice is considerable, as it is one of the legs of the Divine Throne. From where is this derived? “Righteousness and justice are at the base of Your throne; kindness and truth greet Your countenance” (Psalms 89:15). The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Since that is so, the punishment for injustice is harsh; be careful.’ From where is this derived? It is from what we read in our context, “Judges and officers.”