21:1).</b> Scripture says (elsewhere) in reference to this verse: <i>These also are sayings of the wise. To have respect of persons in judgment is not good</i> (Prov. 24:23). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: Remember that I gave you the Torah, in which is written: <i>These are the statutes and commandments. To have respect of persons in judgment is not good</i>. What is meant by this? If a judge acts differentially toward a particular witness and perverts the law because of him, the Shekhinah departs (from him), for it is written: <i>The Lord is good to all</i> (Ps. 145:9). Because of that it is written: <i>God standeth in a congregation of God; in the midst of judges He judgeth</i> (ibid. 82:1).
The ministering angels asked: Who is the one who caused the Shekhinah to depart from Israel? He replied: I have removed My Shekhinah from such-and-such place in which I have beheld a judge perverting justice, and I have forsaken that place, as is said: <i>For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety at whom they puff</i> (Ps. 12:6). What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He unsheathes His sword before the judge to remind him that there is a judge on high, as is said: <i>Be ye afraid of the sword; for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment</i> (Job 19:29). <i>Shadin</i> (“judgment, involvement”) is written here to indicate (by its similarity to Shaddai [Almighty]) that when a judge judges truthfully, the Shekhinah does not depart form that place, as it is said: <i>When the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was moved to judge, and save them out of the hands of their enemies, all the days of the judge</i> (Judg. 2:18). Thus it is written: <i>Keep ye justice, and do righteousness; for My salvation is here to come</i> (Isa. 56:1), that is, then I will associate Myself with you.
You find this to be so in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, concerning whom it is written when he beheld the dream: <i>And behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great</i> (Dan. 4:7). <i>And so he said: Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruits; let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches</i> (ibid., v. 11). Daniel went to him, trembling, as is said: <i>Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while, and his thoughts affrighted him. The king spoke and said: “Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation, affright thee”</i> (ibid., v. 16). <i>Belteshazzar answered and said: “My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine adversaries”</i> (ibid.).<sup class="footnote-marker">2</sup><i class="footnote">The verse seems to suggest that Daniel is cursing Israel, when in fact he is threatening Nebuchadnezzar.</i> Who was Nebuchadnezzar’s hater? Israel. Why? He had killed (some of) them, destroyed the Temple, and exiled (the rest of) them. Then Daniel raised his eyes heavenward and said: “My Master, My Lord, let the dream and its explanation be fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar, your enemy and your adversary.” When Nebuchadnezzar beheld the dream and heard the explanation, he inquired of Daniel: “What do you advise me to do?” He replied: “The unhappy ones whom you have exiled from your land are starving, thirsty, and naked. Open your storehouses and feed them if you would counteract the dream,” as is said: <i>Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by almsgiving, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; that there may be a lengthening of thy prosperity</i> (ibid., v. 24).
Do not believe for a moment that the righteous Daniel would have offered such advice to Nebuchadnezzar, who hated the Omnipotent One, if he had not known that Israel was wasting away from hunger as it wandered about in exile. Hence he gave this advice to him because of his concern for them, and because he knew that ultimately Nebuchadnezzar’s soul would suffer. The wicked one immediately opened his storehouses and distributed their contents to them for twelve months. However, at the end of the twelve months the wicked one forgot his dream (and stopped feeding them). While walking about his palace one day, he heard the tumultuous uproar of the poor crying before his storehouses, and He asked his servants: “What is this noise I hear?” They informed him: “The poor whom you carried into exile are pleading for food.” A wicked thought entered his heart at once: <i>The king spoke and said: “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for a royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”</i> (ibid., v. 27). Then he added: “Were it not for the wealth I possessed, how could I have built this country?” He commanded that they be stopped, as it is written: <i>While the word was in the king’s mouth</i> (ibid., v. 28). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Why were you untroubled during the past twelve months? Was it not because of the righteous deeds you were performing? If this is so for the peoples of the world, how much more so for Israel! Thus saith the Lord: <i>Keep ye justice, and do righteousness</i>.