Parshat Mishpatim
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Mishpatim is one of the more prolific parshas in terms of numbers of mitzvot it contains: close to 10% of the mitzvot of the Torah are in Mishpatim.
What sometimes gets lost in translation is where the mitzvot of the Torah focus. Owing to how we view shul as so essential to our daily and weekly existence, we somehow get the impression that shul ritual is where most of our day to day mitzvot are observed. In that sense, on account of how we conduct synagogue ritual in the Orthodox community, sometimes the feeling is that our community is more male-centered in terms of religious obligation than female-centered. This would certainly be a valid argument if Judaism were all and only about the wearing of a tallit and tefillin and the reading of the Torah and leading the prayers in a minyan.
But here is the little secret. Judaism is not heavily centered or focused on the shul and on shul ritual. Shul is a means for fulfilling a small number of mitzvot in a more special atmosphere, in the presence of a minyan.
It helps elevate davening, but one can pray, and have elevated "tefillah" almost anywhere. It gives those who go daily a mini-structure to the day, but having set times for “tefillah” can give anyone structure anywhere. It gives us a forum for fulfilling our mitzvah of reading from the Torah, but full-blown Torah study is available to everyone, with a vowelized (and translated) Chumash anywhere. Beyond that, shul is not where the center of Judaism and Jewish practice lies.
That center lies in the home. It lies in the world. It lies in how people deal with one another. It is in the settling of disputes which inevitably rise. When two people get married, we don’t bless them that they should have a great shul life. We say “You should build a Bayit Neeman B’Yisrael.” A house of faith, of trustworthiness, where God is placed on a pedestal, and how people behave and act defines our values.
That’s the difference between middot (model behavior) and mitzvot (fulfilling commandments) as well. Some mitzvot contain in them good middot. Consider the following mitzvot: Sharing with the indigent and needy, standing for the elderly, loving your neighbor, loving the stranger. Mitzvot in general are meant to help us develop our middot skills, to have awareness of our surroundings, our goals in life, our relationship with God, and how that relationship is supposed to inform our development as a good person.
And Parshat Mishpatim is a great example for this. How many of the mitzvot in Mishpatim deal with shul?
Maybe one. “Three times a year all your remembrances shall appear before the Master, Hashem.” This refers to going up to Jerusalem during the holidays when there is a Temple. But there is no Temple today.
What follows are mitzvot many of us can relate to on a more regular basis than whether we find ourselves in synagogue on a regular basis.
Not to strike or curse our parents.
Not to hit anyone in a manner that may lead to their death. The responsibility of having to pay people for injuring them. If your property causes someone else damage, you have responsibility to pay for it.
Don’t oppress stranger, or widow or orphan – these are, in some cases, the most vulnerable people in our society. They need to be treated nicely, warmly, welcome, a part of things.
Not to tell stories about people – Lashon Hora, slander, true or false – aimed at bringing people down.
Distancing from falsehood – Midvar Sheker Tirchak. The pasuk doesn’t say not to speak falsehoods – which we are actually told elsewhere in the parsha - but to distance from falsehood. Sometimes people say things, do things, believe things, talk about things that are untrue. Maybe they live a lie, maybe they create an image which is untrue. You have two choices – investigate to find truth, or recognize that without that investigation, you don’t know what the truth is.
Respect for the Ger – the person who joins the Jewish people.
The parsha also mentions resting on Shabbat, observing the holidays, and not mentioning other gods by name.
There are many more mitzvot in the Torah that relate to our relationship with others and with God. This list includes the rules surrounding whom we may and may not marry, the rules to not eat unkosher food, not to murder, not to be a false prophet, not to worship idols.
Our lives are meant to be guided by a thoughtfulness and mindfulness, recognizing and understanding that there’s so much to learn.
Too many distractions take us away from fulfilling our mission to learn. May we be blessed to find incredible ways to fill the precious time we have, as we grow in knowledge and in our connection to God.
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