Our Parsha begins with the commandment  "שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך". Unfortunately nowadays, as the טור  notes at the very beginning of חושן משפט, due to the fact that the chain of the סמיכה has been broken, we no longer are able to perform this מצווה  of appointing judges. There are laws that can be judged even in our times, but the ideal judicial system will only return when the סמיכה  is reinstituted.

Nevertheless, there are important lessons to be learned from this פסוק which are particularly relevant as we begin our ascent towards the ימים נוראים.  The בעלי הדרוש  point out that the words "תתן לך" can be understood as an allusion to the fact that each individual is meant to serve as his own judge and as his own policeman. Being one’s own judge requires us to make our decisions without prior bias, and without  our convincing ourselves that anything which we want to do is acceptable and proper. What is included in the obligation to be one’s own שוטר? Certainly it involves exercising self-discipline to rein in our desires and impulses. One of the strategies that some might find useful in making ourselves more efficient “law enforcement officers” is the following.

The ספר "חובת התלמידים" (in chapter 14) recommends that in a situation that one feels a drive to doing something which is not prohibited, but not particularly appropriate for a בן תורה , he should tell himself that perhaps he’ll do it, just not right away. The ability to not immediately surrender to one’s desires is an important step towardsv eventually being able to overcome those temptations altogether. By pushing off our desires, even for a limited time, we strengthen our self-discipline in a manner that doesn’t require a major effort, and furthermore, we prepare ourselves for even greater challenges that we might face in the future.  (This approach could be used when one is involved in Torah learning and feels the urge to engage in בטלה. Convincing oneself that no harm will be done by pushing off the interruption in the learning for a few minutes, can eventually result in one’s ability to avoid the בטלה altogether.)

One might suggest that the practice which the שולחן ערוך quotes (in (סימן תר"ג of refraining from certain practices duringעשרת ימי תשובה  is associated with this idea. Abstaining  from behavior which in the strict sense is permissible (but not ideal), is a wonderful way  of “flexing one’s restraint-muscles” and giving oneself the strength to do a proper תשובה.   

The ability to not succumb to instant gratification is a quality which is not only useful in fighting the יצר הרע but also is a key to success in life in general. In a well-known experiment conducted in Stanford University, a number of children were given each one marshmallow, and were told that if they would avoid eating the marshmallow for about fifteen minutes they would be given a second one as well. The experiment showed that those few children that did wait the fifteen minutes gained not only an additional treat. It turns out that those children went on to becoming more successful in life in varied areas. Apparently self-discipline and the willingness to push off the animalistic need for the pleasures of the moment, are traits which brings with them not only rewards in the world to come, but also are part of the recipe for accomplishment in עולם הזה as well. 

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