The Imperative for Judicial Systems From Moses to the 21st Century

This week, we read Parashat Yitro, in the book of Exodus. Parashat Yitro is perhaps most well known for telling the story of the Jews going to Mount Sinai and receiving the Ten Commandments. Despite the occurrence of this major event in Jewish history, the portion is actually named after Moses’ father in-law Yitro (Jethro). This is because, at the beginning of the portion, Jethro travels with his family to visit Moses. During his visit, he sees that Moses is working tirelessly to answer all of the questions of the Israelite community. He was the sole person responsible for making co­mmunal judgments and decisions. When Jethro sees this, he advises Moses that there is an alternative way to get the same work done without placing the entire burden on one person. Jethro says, “For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone…you shall also seek out from the entire nation men of substance, God fearers, men of truth, who hate monetary gain…let them decide every minor dispute themselves” (Exodus 18:17-22). ­­

Moses takes Jethro’s advice, and appoints judges to help him in making decisions that he was previously responsible for making on his own, strengthening the whole Israelite community as a result. The idea of creating a strong judicial system that was put forth by Jethro has carried forward into modern day society.

In the United States, one of our three branches of government is the judicial branch. Often referred to as the guardians of the Constitution because their rulings protect the rights and liberties granted by the Constitution, the job of our federal courts is to make fair and impartial judgments by interpreting and applying our laws.

Our courts have jurisdiction on many aspects of our society. This is especially displayed by the current Supreme Court term. Just in this term alone, the Supreme Court will be deciding cases related to important issues such as reproductive rights, affirmative action, labor unions and elections, among many others. Making judgments on these issues is no small endeavor, which is why it is important that our court’s judges possess the qualities that Jethro spoke of. Further, it is important that we have enough judges in our courts. Currently, the judicial system is off-balance due to an extraordinary number of vacancies in our federal courts. In 2015, the Senate only confirmed 11 judicial nominees, which is the lowest number in over 50 years. Just as the Israelite court was weaker before Moses had more judges to help him make important decisions, when nominees to our courts are unreasonably held up, our justice system is broken and we are limited in the benefits that can be reaped from it. 

Educating ourselves about our judicial branch of government and how judicial nominations work is one way to ensure that our courts function fairly. For more information on judicial nominations and other issues related to courts, visit our judicial issues page. To learn more about Parshat Yitro, listen to this podcast from Union for Reform Judaism President, Rabbi Rick Jacobs and check out the URJ’s Torah Study page.