Beyond the Big Ten
In what sedra does the Torah tell us about Akeidat Yitzchak? Vayeira. Correct.
In what sedra does the Torah tell us about the sale of Yosef? Vayeishev. Correct.
In what sedra does the Torah tell us about the Splitting of the Sea? B’Shalach. Correct.
In what sedra does the Torah tell us about Matan Torah? Yitro. Sorry, no points. The correct answer is Yitro and Mishpatim. And no partial credit for answering only Yitro, because that creates a big problem.
There are foolish people who either read just Yitro or L’Havdil, see Charton Heston in the Ten Commandments and conclude that Matan Torah was somehow limited to the Aseret HaDibrot. It ain’t so.

And if you start your review of Mishpatim thinking that it all follows Matan Torah - new topic, let’s move on - then you are mistaken too. Just as G-d spoke to Moshe from the top of the mountain on that awe-filled day of Divine Revelation, He con- tinued to speak to him on Har Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights, during which time He presented Moshe with all of Torah and instructed him: “And these are the statutes you shall place before them.”

Look at the abundance of mitzvot in Mishpatim. Among its 53 mitzvot and several more that are counted else- where, we find samples of mitzvot between G-d and the Jew, between man and his fellow, those that apply in all times and those that apply only during the time of the Beit HaMikdash, those that apply to each individual Jew and those that apply to the community as a whole via the Sanhedrin, those that have “obvious” reasons and those that are enigmatic. Many of the mitzvot of Mishpatim are details and explana- tions of the mitzvot of the Aseret HaDibrot. Many strike out in “new” areas” of Torah and Jewish Life.

And lest a person still look at the sedra and think that this is after the great events at Sinai and somehow detached and less... special than the Big Ten, he should just keep reading and see that the story of Matan Torah continues towards the end of Mishpatim, including the famous and special statement of the People - NAASEH V’NISHMA.

The clouds that obscured Har Sinai in Parshat Yitro are still present at the end of Mishpatim.

REMEMBER THE SHABBAT DAY AND SANCTIFY IT. That is part of Divine Revelation at Har Sinai.

So is, if your dog goes into your neighbor’s garden and digs up his prize roses, and gets badly scratched in the process, then your neighbor is going to have a claim against you and you’ve got vet bills you’d like him to pay... etc. etc. etc.