Derasha 8 on Shoftim 17:08

TT #57 · 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 “ve-kamta ve-alita.”

Sefaria · Sanhedrin

Core Text of Chazal

וקמת ועלית. מלמד שבית דין של מטה הולכין אצל בית דין של מעלה.

English: “And you shall arise and go up” — this teaches that the lower court goes up to the higher court.

On the daf / in context

The verbs of rising and ascending describe the formal referral of the case and the judges to the central Sanhedrin.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli / Sifrei) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The language of ascent is taken as the procedural requirement.

What Is Learned

When a case is referred, the judges of the lower court themselves ascend with the case to the Great Sanhedrin.