GOING UP
In this week’s Parsha the Torah instructs us “You shall be men with a holy calling, therefore do not eat non-kosher meat”. The construction of the noun “men” is in the possessive form, indicating that the adjective “holy” is not modifying the noun. Otherwise, it would have stated “You shall be holy men”. Instead, the Torah is saying that we should be a people who strive to be holy, even if we have not yet achieved that state. What is holiness?
Continue reading Mishpatim 5782THERE ARE COINS AND THERE ARE COINS
In this week’s Parsha, Mishpatim, the Torah states “Do not hurt the feelings of the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” The ‘stranger’ referred to in this verse is the convert. The person who was born to Italian parents who chose to become Jewish.
Why does the Torah not give a sharper reason “for you must be kind to strangers”. The implication is that one might feel justified for not being sensitive to the feelings of the stranger. What justification could there be?
HANGING ON THE ‘VAV’
The first letter of our Parsha, Mishpatim, is the letter ‘vav’ which translates as ‘and’. Rashi teaches us that this ‘vav’ indicates that everything that follows is connected to the previous Parsha. This teaches us that just as in last week’s Parsha the Ten Commandments were said at Mount Sinai so too, this Parsha, which deals with the laws governing civil issues of money, was also given at Sinai.
This is very strange! We know that all the mitzvos were given at Sinai, why should these laws be any different?
ADOPT A MITZVAH
Every society has its norms and its mores. There are manners of behavior that are expected and there are some that are mandated. In America it is expected that you return a smile back to the one who smiles at you. You are obligated to pay your bills on time and can anticipate a fine for paying late. These define a society.
Continue reading Mishpatim 5779MEASURING UP
In this week’s Parsha, Mishpatim, the Torah presents a large compendium of laws and mitzvos. The Parsha begins with the letter “vav” indicating that this compendium is a continuation of the previous Parsha in which we became HaShem’s chosen people and received the Torah from Him. What is the unique connection between these laws and our becoming His chosen people?
Continue reading Mishpatim 5778THE VEIL OF NATURE
This week’s Parsha, Mishpatim, is packed with many laws and their many details. Our Parsha begins with laws dealing with ownership, responsibility, liability, tort, civil issues and so on.
Every society requires such laws and create them to satisfy their needs. One might suggest that the Torah gives us these laws to satisfy our societal needs. HaShem, in His kindness saved us the trouble of having our Rabbis create these laws and gave them to us already done. If this was the case there would be no need to emphasize the source of these laws. The only issue of import would be what these laws are. If society will be able to run smoothly it is irrelevant who wrote them. However, our Sages teach us otherwise.
MIND THE GAP
Our Sages teach us that the reason HaShem chose Mount Sinai to be the location where He gave the Torah to His people was because it was smaller than the other more significant mountains. The Sages go on to teach us that Torah is given to those who are humble. Throughout our holy books there is tremendous emphasis placed on the importance of humility. There are many other fine qualities that we should adopt, why is humility placed ahead of those other qualities?
It must be clarified that humility should in no way be confused with poor self-worth or low self-esteem. The latter is detrimental to the health of a person and certainly of the Jew. HaShem is not interested in having a nation of people who do not believe in themselves. Quite to the contrary; He wants a nation whose people are driven to be-come great and to make a difference in the world. This can only be accomplished by people who believe in themselves. So then what is humility?
WATER GOES UP BEFORE IT COMES DOWN
Upon our arrival to Mount Sinai the Torah says “And Moshe ascended to HaShem and HaShem called out to him from the mountain” The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh asks why did Moshe ascend the mountain if HaShem had not yet called him? In answering this question the Ohr Hachaim teaches us a great lesson in how we need to serve HaShem.
Continue reading Yisro 5781OPEN TO ALL
The population of the world can be divided into religious groups and into ethnic groups. The religious groups would include all the religions of the world. The ethnic groups would include all the nations of the world. Where do the members of the Jewish people get categorized, under the religious groups or under the ethnic groups?
If we are a religion it would seem imperative that one cannot be considered a member of the Jewish people unless they ascribe the cause of the world to HaShem. If they deny the existence of a creator they would not be a Jew. We know, however, that in every period of history the world recognizes a Jewish atheist as a Jew. We, as well, consider a Jewish atheist a member of the Jewish people and their children do not require any conversion to be accepted into our people. Hence, we cannot be defined as a religion, at least exclusively.
REEL PROJECTION
In this week’s Parsha, Yisro, HaShem gives us His Torah. Let us take a moment to appreciate this gift and what it means to us. The Midrash teaches us that before creating the world, HaShem first created the Torah and then ‘He gazed in the Torah and created the world.’ The use of the word gaze seems to be more than simply looking at the Torah. What was the function of His gazing at the Torah and how does that create the world? Rabbi Akiva Tatz draws a parallel from old fashioned movies to explain this Midrash.
Continue reading Yisro 5779