LEAD TIDBIT
Holy and Mundane - no, strike that - Holy and Holy

This is probably a lesson from many, many different places in the Torah, but let's take it from the combined readings of this Shabbat: Mishpatim and Sh'kalim.

There is a mental image - from real life, reinforced by movies and books - of the tendency of organized crime (the politically incorrect term was mafia) to commit all kinds of crimes to amass great wealth and to be very righteously charitable with some of it. Apparently, their "sanctification" of some of their money was supposed to whitewash the rest of it.

It is patently obvious that Judaism teaches us a very different lesson. As far as money is concerned, some of it is holy, so to speak - take the MACHATZIT HASHEKEL of this week's Maftir as an example, and the rest of one's money is innately mundane, but the Torah commands us to make (some of) it holy. Many of the mitzva-topics of Mishpatim show us how. Lending a fellow in need, not taking interest, not demanding repayment when we see that the borrower cannot repay his debt, tzedaka, the variety of fines detailed in the sedra, the laws of damages, guardians, lost objects, honesty in business... and many other topics from Mishpatim and elsewhere in the Torah all teach us that we are not only to take some of our money and use it for a holy purpose, but we are to add sanctity to everything we own. Honesty, high ethical standards, strict adherence to halacha, and going the extra measure of Lifnim MiShurat HaDin all combine to make the mundane holy.

So too with food. Korbanot, T'ruma, Bikurim... are holy. The rest is mundane. But our way of life does not allow the mundane to stay that way. Kashrut, brachot, chessed, and more all help us elevate the mundane to the heights of kedusha.

Everything is included. Even shoe laces. Straps of T'filin are holy. Those of our shoes we make holy by the simple but eloquent minhag of the order in which we tie them. This is a Jew's life.