Parshat Mishpatim
January 31st-Feb. 1st, 2003
29 Shevat, 5763

"And these are the ordinances (mishpatim) that you [Moshe] should place before them [the Jewish people]…" (21, 1; my emphasis)

If anyone is getting tired of all the "narrative" portions of the Torah (Genesis, the first few portions of Exodus), and is ready to dive in to some hard-core Mosaic legislation, then this parsha is definitely for you! Although there is a brief continuation of the

story line of our people’s experience at Mt. Sinai, including our moving collective acceptance of the responsibility to fulfill the totality of G-d’s mitzvos (commandments) to the best of our ability (24, verse 3 and 7), the emphasis here is definitely on laws, statutes, ordinances (mishpatim).

The Sefer HaChinuch (Book of Mitzvah Education) enumerates a total of 53 commandments (!) discussed by the Torah in this portion, the bulk of them falling under the heading of what we would call, "civil and criminal law." Laws of fines and penalties, details of capital punishment, property damages, torts, regulations for debtors and creditors…The attorneys among our people will feel right at home (or, perhaps, at work) as they peruse these verses. Many of the Talmudic tractates typically studied in yeshivos are rooted in topics specifically covered in this parsha.

One might well feel that all this nitty-gritty of the legal relations between people in society isn’t very "religious" or "spiritual," nor does much of it seem very uniquely Jewish. What culture or civilization doesn’t prohibit theft, or provide for compensation to an injured party?

To answer this, we need first to throw out whatever conception of "religion" we have when we consider our Torah. Having grown up in a non-Jewish environment (and a secular one as well), many of us automatically associate "religion" with things like attendance at a house of worship, recital of prayer and benedictions, rituals accompanying life-cycle milestones, and so on. Moreover, we might tend to assume that only one "sphere" of our lives (or buildings, or calendar days) is sacred, and the remainder is not. Certain areas of our lives need to be regulated by "religious" considerations, while others do not.

It’s true that the Torah does make certain distinctions in this regard. The Sabbath is objectively endowed with more holiness (kedusha) than the six days of the week, and the Temple grounds are invested with more sanctity than any other spot on earth--and certain specific Torah laws and prohibitions follow directly from these absolute spiritual realities (or others of a similar nature). But the "call of the Torah" is to invest all of our lives, in all of their many facets, with holiness and sanctity. The mitzvos--the Almighty’s instructions on how we can elevate this physical world, and our physical selves, to His service--span precisely ALL areas of our lives…because we Jews are commanded to be a "holy nation" (goy kadosh) through and through.

Certain Torah laws may seem, in our minds, to be more associated with "holiness," especially if they pertain directly to our relationship with G-d (like prayer). However, tthe truth is that the laws of damages and property (and the like) in this week’s portion are no less crucial in building us into a holy nation--that oft-repeated goal of the entire Torah-- than any others. What is meant to be holy? Our work space, our domestic space, our public lives, our private lives, our thoughts and our speech and our dietary habits…and so on. In short: The whole shebang!

All of the mitzvos of the Torah help to sanctify us, for they all come from the One

Who is most sanctified--the Holy One, Blessed be He. This is precisely the truth that is contained in the very first words of the portion, as our Sages explain in the Midrash (and as Rashi cites in his commentary). "And these are the ordinances that you should place before them…" Why does this verse need to begin with, "And," which serves to highlight the idea of a continuation with (or an addition to) what has preceded it? Rashi explains that the Torah does indeed want to highlight the continuity between this portion and the previous one. "Just as those [ordinances] which have been stated previously came from Sinai [i.e., the Ten Commandments in last week’s portion], so too do these [in this week’s portion] come from Sinai."

Just as the commandment not to have any other gods (# 2 of the 10) and to keep the Sabbath holy (#4) were uttered at Sinai--i.e., had their source in G-d Himself Who spoke them at the public revelation at Sinai--so, too, these laws of damages and such in this week’s portion came from Sinai, i.e. from G-d Himself, as well. These laws may have been taught privately to Moshe (as opposed to having been uttered publicly to the whole nation), who then passed them on to the Jewish people…but they are no less divine in origin than the Decalogue. The Torah needs to teach us this because we might assume that all these pedestrian regulations of fines for goring oxen, and so on, all these laws that seem (on the surface) to resemble your standard civil code, were made by Moshe himself (or his court of wise men). After all, these laws don’t seem religious or spiritual…or divine in origin!

So the Torah specifically links them to what came before: "And these are the ordinances that you should place before them…" The previous ones are divine in origin, and these laws are as well! The previous ones (spoken by the awe-inspiring Divine voice at Sinai) are clearly intended to shape us into a holy nation….and these are as well! All of the mitzvos of the Torah have one Source, G-d, and all of them have one goal, to form us into a holy nation. We have to relate to all of them (and guard them) in precisely that way and with that perspective, studying and performing them with the constant awareness that they are precious mitzvos, divine directives, life-enhancing commandments from our Creator.

Whether they pertain to our relationship to G-d, or our relationship to our fellow man (created in the image of G-d), the mitzvos were given to us by the Holy One, in His infinite wisdom and kindness, so that we could transform our lives, and ourselves, and become holier people. What’s more, even the laws that are seemingly most accessible to our human understanding, still contain depths of meaning and wisdom that we can never fully fathom. Start to study Talmud and Midrash, as they burrow beneath the surface of the Torah’s verses (and traverse their immense breadth), and you’ll quickly see what I mean. Divine laws from the Great Lawgiver (not Lawyer)!

May we let ourselves be inspired by the many (and various) laws in this portion, just as we were inspired by the Revelation at Sinai in last week’s portion. It’s all good…and it’s all from G-d.

SHABBAT SHALOM.

My e-mail address is yosefe@comcast.net

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