Parshat Shoftim - Dvar Torah Sefer Beis Yitzchok Admor M'Turka

שֹׁפְטִ֣ים וְשֹֽׁטְרִ֗ים תִּֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ בְּכׇל־שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ לִשְׁבָטֶ֑יךָ וְשָׁפְט֥וּ אֶת־הָעָ֖ם מִשְׁפַּט־צֶֽדֶק׃

Deuteronomy 16:18

You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice.

The sages of Israel have a well known question on this verse. As this verse seems to be speaking in the singular... "You shall appoint.. for your tribes.. that the LORD your God is giving you... However, this verse ends with something mysterious when it says they shall govern with justice.. it should have said and you shall judge, to be constant with the style of the verse.
With the help of Heaven we are going to try and explain this question. First we have to know the answer to the question of what is the purpose of the completely holy soul, which is carved out from the Throne itself of HaShem, which benefits from the radiance of the Divine Presence, to be cast down to this physical world, which is a place of danger for the soul which has to dwell inside of a body which is inclined towards sin.

To answer this second question we are going to see the commentary of the Medrash Shmuel on the following Mishnah -

משנה אבות ב׳:ח׳

רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי קִבֵּל מֵהִלֵּל וּמִשַּׁמָּאי. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אִם לָמַדְתָּ תוֹרָה הַרְבֵּה, אַל תַּחֲזִיק טוֹבָה לְעַצְמְךָ, כִּי לְכָךְ נוֹצָרְתָּ.

Pirkei Avot 2:8

Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai received [the oral tradition] from Hillel and Shammai.He used to say: if you have learned much Torah, do not claim credit for yourself, because for such a purpose were you created.

From this we see that it is not suffice to just learn Torah and serve God for yourself, by yourself. As the main purpose of creation is to teach others. Before the soul came down to this world, it was learning Torah, but it was just in a way where it was receiving the Torah but not teaching or sharing it with others. Therefore the soul came down to this world in order that is should share of its wisdom to others as well, which is the purpose of man. And this is the meaning of the above Mishna in Avot.. If you learned much Torah, instead of reading do not credit yourself, we can read it as do not hold it (tachzik) for yourself and not teach others, because for this reason you were created.. You were not sent down here to hold the Torah to yourself, because you were already doing that in Heaven.
And we actually see a source for this from Avraham and Sarah -

בראשית י״ב:ה׳

וַיִּקַּ֣ח אַבְרָם֩ אֶת־שָׂרַ֨י אִשְׁתּ֜וֹ וְאֶת־ל֣וֹט בֶּן־אָחִ֗יו וְאֶת־כׇּל־רְכוּשָׁם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר רָכָ֔שׁוּ וְאֶת־הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂ֣וּ בְחָרָ֑ן וַיֵּצְא֗וּ לָלֶ֙כֶת֙ אַ֣רְצָה כְּנַ֔עַן וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ אַ֥רְצָה כְּנָֽעַן׃

Genesis 12:5

Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan,

It says these are the souls they made in Charan
The below Medrash asks an amazing question on this to prove the point.

בראשית רבה ל״ט:י״ד

וְאֶת הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ בְחָרָן (בראשית יב, ה), אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בַּר זִמְרָא אִם מִתְכַּנְסִין כָּל בָּאֵי הָעוֹלָם לִבְרֹא אֲפִלּוּ יַתּוּשׁ אֶחָד אֵינָן יְכוֹלִין לִזְרֹק בּוֹ נְשָׁמָה, וְאַתְּ אָמַר וְאֶת הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ, אֶלָּא אֵלּוּ הַגֵּרִים שֶׁגִּיְּרוּ, וְאִם כֵּן שֶׁגִּיְּרוּ לָמָּה אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ, אֶלָּא לְלַמֶּדְךָ שֶׁכָּל מִי שֶׁהוּא מְקָרֵב אֶת הָעוֹבֵד כּוֹכָבִים וּמְגַיְּרוֹ כְּאִלּוּ בְּרָאוֹ. וְיֹאמַר אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה, לָמָּה נֶאֱמַר אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ, אָמַר רַב הוּנָא אַבְרָהָם הָיָה מְגַיֵּר אֶת הָאֲנָשִׁים וְשָׂרָה מְגַיֶּרֶת אֶת הַנָּשִׁים.

Bereshit Rabbah 39:14

The souls they made in Charan. Rebbe Eliezer Bar Zimra. If all the people of the world got together to make even a simple mosquito, they would not have success in placing a soul within in.. but now the verse here says the souls that Avraham made in Charan? (how could a human make a soul!).. Rather these were the converts that Avraham made. OK, if they converted why does it use the wording 'souls they made', it should have just said the people he converted. Rather, this comes to teach us that whoever brings an idol worshiper closer to Torah and converts him, it's as if this convert was created from new, a completely new creation. In regards to why it says they made if it was only Avraham? Rav Huna says that Avraham would convert the men and Sarah his wife would convert the women.

This now explains well our verse of 'You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that the LORD your God is giving you' - as we see in the holy writings of Israel that from here there is a hint that the soul, acts as a judge on all aspects of the body, so therefore the verse opens up in the singular, therefor the verse opens up in the singular, to represent the soul that rules over the body, and the purpose of owning the body is not for your own sake, rather to teach others Torah, so it makes total sense that the verse ends in the plural when it says 'They shall judge with with righteousness' (our initial question) - Which teaches us that the purpose of coming to world is to teach others Torah, and we see this known and lofty principal is embedded right here in this opening verse of Parshat Shoftim.
This concept actually can work well to shed light on a unique teaching from the sages

סנהדרין צ״א ב:י״ח

אמר רב יהודה אמר רב כל המונע הלכה מפי תלמיד כאילו גוזלו מנחלת אבותיו שנאמר (דברים לג, ד) תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהילת יעקב מורשה היא לכל ישראל מששת ימי בראשית

Sanhedrin 91b:18

Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: With regard to anyone who withholds halakha from being studied by the mouth of a student who seeks to study Torah, it is as though he robs him of the inheritance of his ancestors, as it is stated: “Moses commanded us the Torah, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob” (Deuteronomy 33:4), indicating that the Torah is an inheritance for all of the Jewish people from the six days of Creation.

We have to understand here what's going on that something is being stolen and taken. Based on what we just learned above about the soul coming down here to teach others, and not just for your self, it fits right in to the above Talmud which says if you withhold Torah from your students, you are stealing because all the Torah you study that you keep to yourself and don't share, its called stealing.
This concept can also be seen in Tractate Pesachim -

פסחים נ׳ א:ז׳

דְּרַב יוֹסֵף בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ

Pesachim 50a:7

Rav Yosef added: And I heard that they (Angels) were saying in that world (Heaven): Praiseworthy is the one who arrives here with his studies in hand.

What does it mean his teachings in his hand? The intention here means to say that its in your hand because you now own it.. the only way to own the Torah is to teach is to others, because prior to that it was considered stolen and not in your hand! Fascinating!

On this notion we can explain another verse from our Parsha -

דברים כ׳:ז׳

וּמִֽי־הָאִ֞ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־אֵרַ֤שׂ אִשָּׁה֙ וְלֹ֣א לְקָחָ֔הּ יֵלֵ֖ךְ וְיָשֹׁ֣ב לְבֵית֑וֹ פֶּן־יָמוּת֙ בַּמִּלְחָמָ֔ה וְאִ֥ישׁ אַחֵ֖ר יִקָּחֶֽנָּה׃

Deuteronomy 20:7

Is there anyone who has paid the bride-price for a wife, but who has not yet married her? Let him go back to his home, lest he die in battle and another marry her.”

Chazal says on this verse -

רש"י על סוטה מ״ד א:י״א:ג׳

לפיכך - שהירא זהו הירא מעבירות תלה התורה בנה ונטע ואירס לחזור בגללן כדי שיתלה בכך החזרה ולא יתבייש לומר מעבירות שבידו הוא ירא וחוזר:

Rashi on Sotah 44a:11:3

This man who returns home is really returning from fear of his sin, so the Torah gave him a way out that doesn't embarrass him to say because of the sins in his hand he is leaving, so he plants a vineyard or buys a home, ect.

Wait a minute.. if this soldier has sin on his hand and is afraid.. he can just repent in a moments notice and have a clean slate, so why does he have to go home? As we see below a man can atone instantaneously.

קידושין מ״ט ב:ד׳

על מנת שאני צדיק אפילו רשע גמור מקודשת שמא הרהר תשובה בדעתו

Kiddushin 49b:4

If one says to a woman: Be betrothed to me on the condition that I am a righteous man, then even if he was a completely wicked man she is betrothed, as perhaps in the meantime he had thoughts of repentance in his mind and is now righteous.

This question of why he doesn't repent on site is explained well by our theme of this piece, that he has sin on his hands because he didn't teach anyone Torah, and he can't repent from that on his own where he is standing, because he will need others to teach to fully rectify the situation, so he must return home, as its not enough to repent on site, so he returns and pays his dues from stealing Torah, by teaching others Torah.
This also explains the verse from the Prophet Hoshea..

הושע י״ד:ב׳

שׁ֚וּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל עַ֖ד יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ כִּ֥י כָשַׁ֖לְתָּ בַּעֲוֺנֶֽךָ׃

Hosea 14:2

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have fallen because of your sin.

הושע י״ד:ב׳

שׁ֚וּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל עַ֖ד יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ כִּ֥י כָשַׁ֖לְתָּ בַּעֲוֺנֶֽךָ׃

Hosea 14:2

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have fallen because of your sin.

הושע י״ד:ג׳

קְח֤וּ עִמָּכֶם֙ דְּבָרִ֔ים וְשׁ֖וּבוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֑ה אִמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֗יו כׇּל־תִּשָּׂ֤א עָוֺן֙ וְקַח־ט֔וֹב וּֽנְשַׁלְּמָ֥ה פָרִ֖ים שְׂפָתֵֽינוּ׃

Hosea 14:3

Take words for yourselves, And return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Forgive all guilt And accept what is good; Instead of bulls we will pay [The offering of] our lips.

This verse opens up in the singular"For you have fallen because of your sin." and it ends with the plural "Take words for yourselves" And this is explained as its not suffice for a person to return all by himself from his sins he has on his hands, rather, the foundation of repenting is teaching the path of repenting to others, and arouse in them as well to repent for their sins, and together we shall all return to HaShem (not by ourselves!)