“ועשית חשן משפט מעשה חשב כמעשה אפד תעשנו זהב תכלת וארגמן ותולעת שני ושש משזר תעשה אתו.”
רש”י: ‘חושן משפט’ – שמכפר על קלקול הדין. דבר אחר, משפט, שמברר דבריו והבטחתו אמת…
Rashi: Choshen Mishpat (lit. a breast plate of judgement) – (called so) because it atones for flaws in judgement. A second explanation: judgement in the sense that it clarifies its words and its promises are true…
According to Rashi, the choshen mishpat both atones for errors in judgement, and executes (through the Urim v’Tumim found within it) a sort of judgement as well. Certainly, these dual roles are interconnected, but how?
The kilkul hadin – flaws in judgement – mentioned by Rashi should not be taken simplistically as referring to corrupt judges, deliberately twisting piskei din in exchange for large cash payments and the like. Rather, it refers to the delicate nature of mishpat, of which Rav Yisroel Salanter writes(1) “בדין, הנטיה עלולה למאד” – in judgement, inclination is very likely. This delicate nature is reflected in several halachos; for example, a dayan is prohibited from listening to the claims of one of the litigants when the other is not present(2), as this may create a slight predisposition in favor of the first litigant.
Given the delicate nature of mishpat, and the subtlety with which inner forces such as pride, love, hate, and jealousy play upon a person, how is the dayan expected to overcome the “negios” – biases – these forces create. We instinctively assume that the dayan must “dig” deeper and deeper into himself, uncovering more and more hidden negios, until he finally gets to “the bottom”. But how will he know when he has actually gotten there? The delicate interplay between mishpat and negios is more complex and subtler than any attempt at self-analysis could be.
Rather, we learn from the words of Rashi above, that what atones for flaws in judgement, what counters negios, is the judgement of the choshen mishpat, which Rashi refers to as “בירור דברים” – analysis and clarification. Meaning that as opposed to turning inwards, the dayan turns towards the matter at hand, namely the Torah, and seeks to clarify it. Limmud HaTorah, Eisek B’Torah, is our true hope in rendering a decision not corrupted by negios. The dayan’s entire focus is directed away from himself, away from any preferred conclusions, and towards the understanding and clarification of the Torah. As Rav Yisroel writes(3):
“והתורה נתונה לבני אדם לשפוט בה ע”פ שכל אנושי, וע”פ רבוי הראיות ומשקלם יתבררו הדברים, ולאיזה צד אשר יפול ערך הראיות, אם מצד הרבוי או מצד המשקל, שם תהיה ההכרעה וכן יקום הדבר.”
And the Torah is given to men to judge with it by means of the human intellect, and according to the number of proofs and their weight, the matters are clarified, and to whichever side the merit of the proofs are found, that will be the decision and so it shall be.”
͠ ͠ ͠
Though most of us are not dayanim, negios accompany us throughout life, and so, we find ourselves in a lifelong struggle towards making the right decisions. The first step may be a basic self-awareness, but our strongest weapon in this struggle is בירור הדברים through Limmud HaTorah, which regretfully, we often ignore when it is in fact most critical.
Take, for example, the subject of Shalom Bayis. This is an area quite literally bursting with negios: “קנאה, תאוה, וכבוד” – everything. Indeed, people often seek out (at many times wisely,) marriage counseling for this reason alone, just to include a less biased opinion. Yet, how often do we turn away from ourselves and towards the Torah? Marriage is a topic found extensively in Torah; there is a tremendous amount of בירור הדברים to be done, and this can enable us to take a less biased approach towards marriage.
The choshen mishpat atones for error in judgement because it represents the element of mishpat which allows us to overcome negios: בירור הדברים through limmud d’var Hashem.
________________________________________________
[1] Ohr Yisroel Iggeres 30
[2] Sanhedrin 7b, Shulchan Aruch CM 17:5
[3] Ohr Yisroel Iggeres 30