Parashat Shoftim
6th Elul, 5785 / August 30th, 2025
By Bobby Franklin
This Week’s Readings:
Torah: Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9
Haftarah: Isaiah 51:12 – 52:12
Brit Chadashah: Philippians 4:10-20
As I am writing this, I am trying a new medication to help regulate my ADHD. For those who do not know, I took Adderall for 23 years and recently spent an interesting 43 days off of it after some shenanigans with getting the medicine from my doctor. I am on a new medication right now and I am unsure if it is helping. For example, I felt so out of it I had to force myself, door closed, all distractions off, Bible in hand, in order to write this. Of course we have a baby coming in under two months and I really want to get this all figured out by the time she comes. So I was able to find in this Parashah some encouragement. Confirmation that G-d is there with us, but that does not mean that we can do anything and everything. I want the medication to work, but I might ultimately give up and stop taking it. G-d is with me here in helping me to be strong enough to take the medication and deal with the side effects, as well as to make the decision whether or not it is time to pull the plug. But he does not just make the medicine work.
The Torah portion talks about having confidence in battle for Adonai our G-d is with us. Now this can of course be taken literally. But I see it as our battle to do stuff as mundane as getting up in the morning and making breakfast. G-d reminds us that he is there with us during difficult times. But he does expect us to get up and do them. He knows that sometimes things are beyond us, but that most of the time if we push ourselves, we will find the strength that He gives us goes beyond what we thought we could do. For example, writing this drash. I really, really did not want to do it. But I had done almost nothing the entire day and I needed a productivity win. And ultimately, I am glad that I worked on it because I was reminded of the power of G-d and his compassion for us. He loves us and he gives us the strength to push through the difficult and scary things that we just have to do.
The Haftarah portion speaks of G-d comforting us even when we have failed. When things are hard G-d knows that we will not always succeed. That’s kind of the point, we are human and we fail. The way I interpreted this passage is that G-d understands that we will fail and that is alright, so long as we get up and keep trying. “Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem!” is what Isaiah says. G-d wants us to keep trying our best with the knowledge that he is on our side and with us when we are fighting our “demons” be they physical or mental.
In the Brit Chadashah we have Paul talking about how at different times in his life; good and bad, rich and poor, he has been able to find strength through Messiah Yeshua, who strengthens him. It is important to remember that even in the best of times G-d is with us, for even in the best of times there is hardship. My life is overall going really great right now, yet again as I write this, I feel rather miserable. G-d is not just with us at our lowest low, but also at our highest high. It may be counter intuitive but that is almost more comforting to me than the lowest low; we know G-d is there for us when things are bad, but the idea that G-d is there for us when things are good too even if they don’t feel good is comforting.
And so, be it in battle or at home writing, G-d is with us and expects that we do our best. I think it is fitting to end talking about a battle, so I will end with a quote from Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson given right before the historic 1805 battle of Trafalgar; England expects that every man do his duty. I really think that for us this drash can be summed up as “G-d expects that everyone do their duty, with him by their side. I believe that, and I draw great strength from that.