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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?

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MEASURING 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?