Dear Friends;
I hope that you will enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;
” Parsha in a Nutshell “
The Jewish People receive a series of civil laws concerning social justice. Topics include: Proper treatment of Jewish slaves/servants; a husband’s obligations to his wife; penalties for hitting people and for cursing parents; rules governing the conduct of judges and leaders; financial responsibilities for damaging people or their property; payments for theft; for not returning an object that one accepted responsibility to safeguard; the right to self-defense of a person being robbed.
Other topics include: Prohibitions against seduction; witchcraft, relationship with animals and sacrifices to idols. The Torah warns us to treat the convert, widow and orphan with dignity, and to avoid lying. Lending money to get interest is forbidden and the rights over collateral are limited. Payment of obligations to the Temple should not be delayed, and the Jewish People must be holy, even concerning food. The Torah teaches the proper conduct for judges in court proceedings. The commandments of Shabbat and the Sabbatical year are outlined. Three times a year — Pesach, Shavuot and Succot — we are to come to the Temple. The Torah concludes this listing of laws with a law of kashrut — not to mix milk and meat.
The people of Israel promise to do and listen to everything that G-d says. Moshe ascends the mountain to remain there for 40 days in order to receive the two Tablets of the Covenant.
” Dvar Torah “
The main topic of discussion in this week’s Parsha is the “Jewish Civil laws”, the laws between man and his fellow. Parashat Mishpatim immediately follows Parashat Yitro, where the highlight of the Parsha was the Ten Commandments, when the Benei Israel reached their highest level of spirituality, and they had their closest encounter with the Almighty! The sequence of these two Parashiot bothers the Chachamim and raises the following questions. Why did the Benei Israel have to learn the civil laws immediately after they reached their spiritual peek? Why does the Torah connect spirituality with earthly matters? Shouldn’t the sequence after the Ten Commandments be about building the “Mishkan”, the Temple for G-d, where the people can continue with their spiritual bliss, rather than to teach the nation about the civil laws?
The Chachamim give the following explanation: Unlike the western society where they separate between “Church and State”, in Judaism, our “Religion” is our “State”!! To be holy, is part of our everyday lives. The Torah is telling us that you cannot reach holiness without acting just and compassionate towards your fellow human beings. Spirituality or holiness shouldnot be limited to Temples or places of worship only, but rather, the ultimate closeness to G-d can only be achieved when you would bring holiness to your courtrooms, boardrooms and even to your bedrooms! Unlike the gentile nations, where they measure their level of holiness by looking at the relationship between man and G-d, Judaism looks at the relationship between man and man to find holiness.
That’s why in this week’s Parsha the Torah lists more than 50 civil laws in order to teach us that in order to stay holy, we need to treat our fellow Jews with compassion. But since the time does not allow, we shall discuss one of the laws, only.
In this week’s Parsha, the Torah says: ” im kesef talveh et Ami ………” which the “ArtScroll Edition” Torah translates it into English as follows: “When you lend money to my people, to the poor person who is within you, do not act towards him as a creditor; do not lay interest upon him”! Well, anyone who has little knowledge of Hebrew language, should know that the word “im” means “if”! So, why does one of the most famous English translation Torah, mistranslates the word “im” as “when”?! After a little study, I found out that Rashi, the most famous Torah commentator, did comment on this matter. He says, here and two other places in the Torah the word “im” should be translated as “when”. The Torah uses the word im, just to show that we have freedom of choice to do all the mitzvot of the Torah, but in reality, Hashem really wants us to do them. In this case he says, lending money to the poor should not be optional — it should be an obligation. Giving charity shouldn’t raise a doubt in your mind, as “if” you should do it or not, but rather, it should only be a matter of time, “when”!
There is no word for charity in Hebrew. Look up the word for charity in the English/Hebrew dictionary and you’ll find the word “tzedaka”.Tzedaka doesn’t mean charity. It means ‘righteousness’. We don’t give charity because we feel compassion toward the needy; we give charity because it is the “right” thing to do. The Chachamim say that a person who gives charity doesn’t deserve a pat on the back – but the one who doesn’t give ‘charity’ deserves a slap on the wrist! They go as far as to say, if the needy doesn’t come to knock on your door, you should go and knock on his shed!
The Chachamim also say that when you give Tzedaka, Hashem will pay you back a lot more. But how do they know that?! Our sages say that the answer can be found in this week’s pasuk.The verse says, “when you lend money to my people..”– “my people” refers to the nation of G-d, whose livelihood is his responsibility and not ours. But Hashem is giving us the opportunity to go in partnership with him in this case. And you can be sure that Hashem always protects his partners. Not only, he pays you back for your investment, but he will also give you a lot more for the act of kindness that you did. Besides, Hashem always treats us the same way we treat others. So when we open our hands to the needy, He will open His hands to us in the time of need!
Yes my friends, Parashat Mishpatim– the Jewish civil laws, is all about our obligations towards a fellow Jew. It talks about, obligations of a master to a slave; obligations of a child to its parents; of a pupil to his teacher; of a community to the poor; of the individual to the community. Our obligations towards an orphan, towards the sick, towards the convert; and the obligations of man to G-d. Hashem wants us to feel obligated to seek justice, and to feel obligated to help out the needy and the weak. He does not want us to see these Jewish civil laws as a set of rules and regulations, but rather, he wants us to see them as common sense.
And this is how we differ from other nations: To treat others with fairness and compassion might be an option to them, but to us, is an obligation! What reads as “if” to the rest to the world; to the people of G-d is “when”!!!
Shabbat Shalom & Regards;
Martin