פרשת משפטים
This week’s Parsha opens with the verse “ואלה המשפטים…” “And these are the laws…” Rashi comments on this verse: The “ו” in ואלה is coming to teach us that just as the original laws were from Sinai, similarly the laws which come out in this week’s Parsha are from Sinai. However, this Rashi is difficult. Why does Rashi feel the need to express this concept now in the beginning of Parshas Mishpatim? Was the entire Torah not given at Har Sinai?
In order to understand this concept, we must first define what משפטים are. Mishpatim are the rules which govern how Jews are commanded to construct their societal system. As we know, many of these rules seem understandable to the intellect, and indeed most societies around us have come to many of the same rules on their own such as theft and murder. But we mustn’t fool ourselves into thinking that we or any of the nations around us have grasped the true divinity of these laws. Even these seemingly “understandable” social laws which the Torah has commanded us possess a depth far beyond our ability to comprehend. This is why Rashi equates these laws with the laws at Sinai. In order to show that just as the laws at Sinai are clearly divine, and were given directly by God, so to these laws which seem to make sense on a socio-societal level are only “moral” because they are God’s will.
Another tertiary proof that the Torah’s laws are divine is that in each and every society throughout the world, the laws of that society are dynamic, constantly changing and being amended to fit the needs of that culture at that time or at the mere whim of the lawmakers at the time to suit their fancies. Whereas the Torah’s societal laws are immutable, never changing even slightly because they were designed by God Himself to be true for all times in every conceivable situation.
Let us illustrate some examples where a slight measure of the Torah’s hidden wisdom shines through and we can catch a glimpse of how many equations are going on simultaneously in one of God’s judgments. The “Mishpatim” open up with the laws of a Jewish indentured servant. This is a man who stole from somebody and could not repay what he stole. In most societies this common thief would be tried and either put in prison or worse. In prison, it is very likely that he would meet up with other criminals and learn their ways. The result would be that as opposed to becoming rehabilitated, he would become even more educated in crime and learn how to perform even uglier acts than the ones he has performed to-date. Furthermore, what will become of his wife and children while he is in prison? The judge who sentenced him and the lawmakers who developed this judicial system clearly do not take them into account. What will they eat while their “bread winner” is locked away? Chances are excellent that they themselves will be forced to crime as well just to sustain themselves. Yet with all the years of all the judicial systems combined, not one of them has developed any improvements or suggestions for these very real problems. In most societies, the prisons are overcrowded and crime is rampant.
What does God prescribe to remedy this situation? The holy Torah says, let this criminal sell himself as an indentured servant to one of the distinguished families in the community. Perhaps their positive example will succeed in “rubbing off” on him and helping him to rehabilitate himself. Similarly, the Torah commands the new ‘master’ to provide for his servant’s wife and children in a non-denigrating way so that they will not have to resort to crime. Additionally, the Torah commands this “master” to treat his servant with the greatest respect, recognizing that this method will have the most success in helping this former criminal. The Yerushalmi even adds that if he has only one pillow, he must relinquish it to his servant so that this “criminal” doesn’t have to suffer any discomfort. Clearly the Torah has a different and more refined view on “rehabilitation” then the modern methods of justice.
The famous Mashgiach, R’ Yaakov Naiman poses another interesting difficulty with the indentured servant. He asks, why do the Torah’s judicial laws begin with the indentured servant, an obscure situation of a felon, and not with the more standard upbeat laws such as loans or our חסד obligations? R’ Yaakov explains that when one has a child who is a thief, all of their efforts and conversations are geared toward helping that child. Even if this father has many other children, all of them with their individual needs, he ignores them in order to deal with the most serious issue. Since God is our father, R’ Yaakov continues, He must deal with His wayward child who is a thief before he can deal with any of the other myriads of laws which apply to His “normal” children. From these moving words of R’ Yaakov, we can see the incredible mercy and kindness which God tempers His laws with.
Let us attempt to cite one more example in this week’s Parsha where we can glimpse yet another inkling into God’s incredible wisdom. The Torah tells us that if one steals and slaughters a sheep, and he is caught, then he must pay the owner four times the value of the sheep, whereas in the same situation of a cow, he incurs a fine of five times the value of the cow. Chazal explain this discrepancy as follows: A sheep which one is required to carry on his shoulders, thereby embarrassing himself, the Torah did not require him to pay as much because he already suffered some of the punishment, whereas a cow who walks on his own, and the thief did not have to suffer this slight level of humiliation, he must pay the owner the full five times the value of the cow. Yet again we see how the Torah takes every detail into account before it doles out a punishment, even to a thief!
From these few examples, we can get an idea of how deep the Torah truly is and how each intricacy was tailor made by God to fit the needs of each and every human being. The Mishna at the end of בבא בתרא says that if one wants to become wise, he should study the judicial monetary laws of the Torah because they require great expertise and they are like a flowing spring. The Tiferes Yisroel explains this Mishnah by saying that there are so many monetary laws and all of them seem similar, yet none of them are exactly alike. One slight detail can change the outcome of the entire case. One must employ great wisdom to identify the correct corresponding case in the Gemorah which will determine the proper verdict. Similarly, the Sefas Emes adds that judges are called “Elohim” because they truly require a level of divine inspiration to reach a correct verdict. Additionally, monetary laws are not similar to laws of איסור והיתר . Regarding laws of Issur, one can always be stringent if one chooses and refrain from the item in question. This is not the case with God’s monetary laws because being stringent on one litigant means causing the other one to lose out. This is what the Mishna means when it suggests learning the divine monetary laws to become wise and pious because these laws require a special heavenly aid and because there is no “easy way out” by simply being “Machmir”.
There are two points that I think we can cull from all that we have said. Firstly, we see clearly that even one who toils in the more “mundane” aspects of Torah such as domestic squabbles and monetary issues is undeniably involved with the very holy task of fulfilling God’s word in every detail. And secondly, the Mishna in Avos says that if one doesn’t have Torah one cant have proper manners. The Rabenu Yona explains this cryptic Mishna, that although we think we know what proper social behavior is, only God can really prescribe what good manners are and only with great toil in Torah study, and by keeping the Torah’s dictums will we be successful in inculcating “good manners” into our being.
May God help us to learn and fulfill the Torah properly thereby becoming good people!