Biblical commandment underscores accountability as global scandals expose corruption and spiritual vacuum..
This week’s Torah portion teaches a clear moral principle: exploitation carries responsibility. In Book of Exodus (Shemot 22), the Torah commands that one who seduces a young woman cannot escape accountability, even if consent is claimed. Moral responsibility is not erased by power, persuasion, or status.
That message resonates in contemporary discourse surrounding figures such as Jeffrey Epstein, whose criminal exploitation of young women shocked the world. Epstein’s associations with political, academic, and business elites triggered widespread scrutiny and raised enduring questions about influence, power, and moral failure.
His ties to philanthropist Les Wexner and the Wexner Foundation became part of public debate, particularly in Israel, where the foundation supported leadership programs for public officials.
The Torah and later rabbinic sources emphasize that justice must not be shaped by ideology, wealth, or social pressure. The Talmud (Gittin 88b) and the Shulchan Aruch warn against placing trust in courts detached from divine accountability.
The verse in Book of Psalms (82) declares: “God stands in the congregation of God; in the midst of judges He judges,” underscoring that justice requires humility and fear of Heaven.
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, of blessed memory, embodied that reverence. He would not even drink tea in the courtroom, teaching that a judge must feel the weight of responsibility — “as though a sword rests upon his neck.”
The prophetic vision in Isaiah concludes with hope:
“Zion shall be redeemed through justice.”
The enduring message is clear: societies flourish when justice is guided by moral truth rather than political fashion.
