Many times, in conversations with different people, the idea arose that, at least from a rational perspective, the Torah brought to society a series of universal principles and rules, such as the prohibition of stealing, killing, committing adultery, and other guidelines that today in the Western world seem obvious, but which find their root in the Torah.
While this is not the only reason for the Giving of the Torah, it undoubtedly served as the basis for the modern Western way of life.
Now, in this week's Torah portion, several mitzvot related to judges and community leaders appear that don't seem to be observed as much as they should be. Of course, the intention isn't to speak ill of anyone in particular, because, as our sages say, one cannot judge another person until one has been in their place. Simply to raise a point for reflection, I will present some of the ideas that appear in this week's Torah portion that are not given much consideration today:
1) "and they shall judge the people with justice" (Devarim 16:18), Rashi comments: appoint expert and righteous judges, to judge with justice.
2) "Do not pervert judgment" (ibid 16:19)
3) "Do not take a bribe" (ibid)
4) "And silver and gold will not increase much" (ibid 17:17), this verse speaks of the king, expressing that he should not possess too much money (beyond what is necessary to maintain his army).
5) "You shall be blameless before God your Lord" (ibid 18:13), this verse speaks about the prohibition of finding out the future through the stars or other methods, one must be blameless, have absolute faith in God.
Regarding the fourth point, when we analyze Jewish history we see that King Solomon, about whom the Torah itself testifies that he was the most intelligent man in history, did not fulfill this precept (which is associated in the verse mentioned with the prohibition of the king having many wives).
Why? The Torah says that if the king has many wives and/or seeks to increase his wealth beyond what is necessary, it will distract him from his duties and he will be unable to focus on his reign. King Solomon thought: that won't happen to me. I can have many wives and a lot of money and I won't fall into that trap.
However, we see that this was not the case. From this we learn that we should not fulfill (or fail to fulfill, God forbid) the Torah simply because we understand the reason for a particular mitzvah or because we think that a certain logic no longer applies. Solomon thought that, being the wisest man on earth, having more money than necessary would not affect him. But he was wrong (the same thing happened to him with having many horses and wives, see Deuteronomy 17:16).
How much more so we, who are far from Solomon's spiritual and intellectual level, must learn to trust that what the Torah says is correct and must cherish it, even when we think it does not apply to us.