"You shall appoint judges and policemen to be present at all your city entrances which the Lord your G‑d gives your tribes; and they shall judge the law cases of the people with righteous decisions." (Deut. 16:18)

This is the mitzvah to appoint judges and law enforcement officers and yet it is said "But [in Hebrew, 'ki'] the L-rd [Elo-him] is the judge, He humiliates this person and raises up another" (Psalms 75:8) The word "ki" at the beginning of the quote is spelled kaf-yud. The numerical value of the letter yud when is spelled in full [yud, vav, dalet] is 20. After the word "ki" the verse uses the word describing the divine attribute of strictness; "…Elo-him is the judge, He humiliates this person" - the word for "this" is 12 in gematria, the same number value as the two letters hei [when spelled out hei-alef] in the holy name Havayah; "…and this one raising up" - the word "and", spelled vav vav in full [also number value 12] - is used.

Judgment originates in the highest sefira of keter and descends down to this world in the wisdom of the properly appointed judges….

The letter kaf from the word "ki" is the first letter of the name of the highest sefira, keter. The Hebrew word for the number 20, "esrim", is also the numerical value of keter, which confirms that judgment originates in the highest sefira of keter and descends down to this world in the wisdom of the properly appointed judges. Their level is hinted at by the yud following the letter kaf. Yud always signifies the sefira of chochma and the numerical value of yud in full is 20, showing its connection back to the sefira of keter. The yud is chochma, and the vav dalet of its spelling in full (together, a numerical value of 10) hints at bina, which contains the spark of wisdom from chochma. The two letters hei in the holy name represent the sefirot of bina and malchut. The two vavs represent the sefirot of tiferet and yesod at the spiritual level and the two witnesses that provide evidence to the judges on the physical level.

By killing a person who has become a vehicle for his own evil inclination the court in this world saves his soul from punishment in the spiritual worlds….

The next commandment is for the judges to impose the proper penalty, whether the judgment should be death by sword, strangulation, stoning or burning. Who is sentenced to death by the sword? Sama-el, the spiritual source of the person's inclination to do wicked deeds. By killing a person who has become a vehicle for his own evil inclination the court in this world saves his soul from punishment in the spiritual worlds. This is the explanation of the verse "For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it shall come down on Edom and upon the people of who are an anathema to me, to receive their judgment." (Isaiah 34:5)

The sword of the Holy One Blessed Be He - the sword of judgment in the spiritual realms - is hinted at in the very name Havayah [spelled yud, hei, vav, hei]. The yud represents the handle of the sword and also the sefirot of keter and malchut. The vav is the body of the sword, the six directions of the world, tiferet, combining judgment with mercy. The two letters hei symbolize the two sharp cutting edges [in Hebrew, "pipiyot"] of the sword, two mouths ["pi" means "mouth" in Hebrew] - the higher mouth, malchut and the mouth of the judge in This World. It is written regarding these two mouths, "Pursue justice, true justice, in order that you may live, and inherit the land which the Lord your G‑d gives you" (Deut. 16:20). The repetition of the word "justice" in the text refers to the two decisions involved in justice: the decision of the court in the spiritual realms and the concurrent decision of the court in the physical realm. From this we see that there is judgment involved in everything, no matter how small the matter, as we have learnt "No-one bruises their finger in this world unless it was so decreed against him in heaven" (Chulin 7b). The sheath of the sword of justice is the name Ado-nai, representing malchut, when combined with the merciful holy name Havayah. The unity of these is the meditative state of union with the infinite symbolized by the names when spelled together: yud alef hei dalet vav nun hei yud.

Zohar, parashat Shoftim, p. 274b; translation and commentary by Simcha-Shmuel Treister

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