This week the Torah portion, Shoftim, begins with a clear injunction to establish a system of justice when the Israelites enter the Promised Land:

“Judges and officers you shall appoint for yourself in all your gates”

However, as is common, the Hasidic reading is more interested in the personal and psychological possibilities of this text. Let’s look together at how such a reading could help us prepare for the upcoming Days of Awe.

The Hebrew word “gates” could be interpreted as “cities.” Based on a reading in the Talmud, the rabbis therefore consider each human a “city.” What, then, are the guards at the gates to our own, personal city?

The answer is that we have seven gates which we must guard: the eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth. These sensory gates are considered “gates of the soul.” Torah here calls us to guard what we allow to enter our holy inner domain, to monitor what we take care to see, listen to, and speak.  In other words, we must be vigilant and judge for ourselves every input, output, and perception.

During this month of Elul we are called upon to be extra vigilant as we prepare to stand before the Throne of Glory in all our vulnerable humanity. We are also instructed to review our past deeds and honestly assess when we have misused these gates. Have we spoken in anger or in judgment or dishonestly? Have we looked where we weren’t invited? Listened to gossip? The examples multiply, a unique litany for each of us.

The High Holy Days call on us to regret and repent these transgressions and the damage done by them to our own inner city.  During Elul with our increased awareness of our behavior as day follows day toward the ultimate accounting, let us be on heightened guard of what we allow to enter and leave the gates of our own precious soul.