Defining a Moral and Just Society
Jan 22, 2014 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Mishpatim
Sometimes an article in the newspaper reminds you of something in the Torah and makes you think in new ways about verses you have read many times before.
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Law and Justice
Feb 13, 2015 By Martin Oppenheimer | Commentary | Mishpatim
As an attorney, I am fascinated by the code of civil and criminal law contained in Mishpatim. In Egypt, law was made by the Pharoah, who could unilaterally decide the fate of his subjects. All lives and property were forfeit at his whim鈥攁s his subjects learned during the course of the plagues, and when the Egyptian army was decimated at the Red Sea. Conversely, Mosaic law focuses on equality and social justice. The poor, the downtrodden, the stranger鈥攅ven the man whose destitution forced him to sell himself into slavery鈥攚ere required to be treated with dignity under the law.
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I Can鈥檛 Stand My Neighbor, but His Ox Needs a Hand
Feb 13, 2015 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Mishpatim
A rabbi and an astronomer have the middle and window seats on a long-haul flight while the fellow on the aisle is a champion sleeper. As neither of our sophisticated travelers is taking a stroll anytime soon, the astronomer begins to talk: 鈥淭ell me, rabbi. What, essentially, is Judaism for?鈥� The rabbi thinks a bit, casting about for a reasonable response. He offers a few broad strokes and believes he鈥檚 done about as well as might be expected. The traveler responds, 鈥淎ll these rules and teachings and traditions, rabbi! Can鈥檛 it all be boiled down to 鈥楤e Nice?鈥欌�� The rabbi nods and says, 鈥淎ll these galaxies and black holes and neutrinos and supernovas . . . professor, can鈥檛 it all be boiled down to 鈥楾winkle, twinkle little star?鈥欌��
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Standing with Moses on the Mountaintop
Feb 18, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Mishpatim | Shabbat Shekalim
Readers of Mishpatim cannot fail to be struck by the contrast between the main body of the parashah and its conclusion. The former consists for the most part of rather dry case law, covering such things as goring oxen, robbery by day and by night, and release from indentured servitude. The end of the parashah could not be more different in subject and tone.
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