Derasha 10 on Shoftim 17:08

TT #59 · Parashas Shoftim · First Aliyah · Passuk 8

The Complete Passuk

כִּ֣י יִפָּלֵא֩ מִמְּךָ֨ דָבָ֜ר לַמִּשְׁפָּ֗ט בֵּֽין־דָּ֨ם לְדָ֜ם בֵּֽין־דִּ֣ין לְדִ֗ין וּבֵ֥ין נֶ֙גַע֙ לָנֶ֔גַע דִּבְרֵ֥י רִיבֹ֖ת בִּשְׁעָרֶ֑יךָ וְקַמְתָּ֣ וְעָלִ֔יתָ אֶ֨ל־הַמָּק֔וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְחַ֛ר יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ בּֽוֹ׃

If a case is too baffling for you to decide, be it a controversy over homicide, civil law, or assault—matters of dispute in your courts—you shall promptly repair to the place that the Eternal your God will have chosen,

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Sanhedrin on “el ha-makom.”

Sefaria · Sanhedrin

Core Text of Chazal

אל המקום. זה מקום הבחירה, בית דין הגדול שבירושלים.

English: “To the place” — this is the place of the Divine choice, the Great Court that sits in Jerusalem.

On the daf / in context

The destination of the ascent is identified as the Great Sanhedrin of seventy-one that sits in the Temple chamber in Jerusalem.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli / Sifrei) — not a formal named middah of the 13. “The place that the Eternal will choose” is taken as the permanent seat of the central court.

What Is Learned

Unresolved cases are taken specifically to the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, the place chosen by God for the central judicial authority.