Man is capable of great sacrifices to preserve peace and harmony. However, it is impossible for man to simultaneously exemplify absolute emes and absolute shalom. Just as their faces are different, so to do their opinions differ. Reaching agreement between litigants derives from a desire to maintain peace. However, at its core, litigants’ perspectives are mutually exclusive. The truth is either with me or with you. There is an aspect of sheker, falsehood, on the part of the person who would change his opinion. Likewise, if judges disagree and recommend arbitration, emes will not be realized.
Emes and Shalom argued against creation of man because one of them would always have to relent. If Hashem created man exemplifying the attribute of emes, people would be in constant conflict. So, Hashem resolved the dispute by separating emes from shalom. To guarantee harmony in this world, we must accept the principle of compromise as opposed to absolute emes.
However, for Hashem there is no inherent conflict between emes and shalom. Oseh shalom bimromav, Hashem who makes peace between Michael and Gavriel, will ultimately bring peace upon Israel, a peace that no longer compromises between emes and shalom.
During the rebuilding of the Temple, the prophet Zechariah asked Hashem whether they should continue to observe the fast days established to commemorate the destruction of the First Temple. The reply was that these fast days will be days of joy in the future and the concluding words were ha’emes v’hashalom yihi’u. With the coming of Mashiach, emes and shalom will coexist amicably. Rambam (Hilchos Ta’anis) says that in the days of Mashiach all these fast days will be transformed into days of joy and uses the same terminology as the prophet.
Ramban describes the period of Mashiach as tzedek sheini, the second tzedek mentioned in the verse in Shoftim. Until then, we must rely on the former tzedek mentioned in that verse, one based on Choshen Mishpat. Tzedek tzedek tirdof l’ma’an tichyeh v’yarashta es ha’aretz means that we must pursue the first form of tzedek so we may inherit the land. Eretz means Malchus Hashem. While we cannot be content as we have not yet attained the period of ha’emes v’hashalom yihi’u, Hashem instructed us to live in the best manner possible prior to our reaching that stage, by following the Torah and our sages. Litigants and judges will reach perfection, the second tzedek, only in the days of Mashiach. Until then, we must practice judgment based on compromise between emes and shalom.
The period of tzedek sheini will usher in the realization of Elokim Nitzav BaAdas Kel, with complete access to Hashem. Hashem will make a circle for the righteous and we will fully realize Hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu, with complete reconciliation between emes and shalom. Until then, Hashem entrusted frail, imperfect, guilty man to judge his fellow human beings, even though he may be as guilty or corrupt as the litigants he is judging.
Emes v’shalom shiftu b’sha’areichem, judge truth and peace in your gates. This refers to compromise, an imperfect form of justice, or tzedek rishon, the lower form of tzedek mentioned by Ramban. Until we attain tzedek sheini, the elevated tzedek, Hashem instructed man to be guided by his conscience, by reflective tzedek. It indicates man’s imperfections, yet it is the only way to prevent constant conflict between litigants.
The Baal HaTanya refers to tzedek tita’a (lower) as the expression of the will of Hashem through creation and natural law. It is an imperfect reflection of the tzedek ila’a (elevated). The righteous have always sought to experience the higher tzedek, the tzedek of tiferes, a synonym for emes, as it says Titen emes l’Yaakov. Yaakov’s attribute is tiferes, blending the attributes of chesed (Abraham) and gevurah (Isaac).