Shemoth 21:1 – 24:18
Parashat Mishpatim from Exodus 21 through 24 , is ,together with Parashat Yithro ,one of the most unique and powerful portions of the Torah. The two are inseparable.
On one hand there is the grandiosity and epic character of Parashat Yithro, the sound of the trumpets, lightnings and thunders of Mount Sinai, the powerful voice of The Lord putting fear in the hearts of the Israelites , the climax of the Ten Commandments , the biggest show of signs and revelation ever by God, to Israel and the whole world, a moment that paralyzed everything in creation and to this day informs even other religions apart from Judaism. On the other hand ,immediately after , the breaking down of a series of statues and directives that deal with the daily mundane life, social interactions , business, damages, torts, people taking cases to courts , compensation and litigation of common , regular, material dealings of everyday life. What is this!!
Immediately comes to mind the Mishna, the Oral law, the Mental law. Parashat Mishpatim sound very much like Tractates Baba Kama, Sanhedrin and others ,specifically from the fourth Order of the Mishna, Nezikim, Damages, which deals mainly with the whole code of the Mosaic civil and criminal laws, for which reason the Order receives particular attention from students and scholars, probably more than does any one of the other Orders.
Right on the first chapter of Baba Kama , the first line listing the four main categories of damages , cites as its source Exodus 21:28 and 22:4, from Parashat Mishpatim.
Immediately comes to mind the principle that two portions of the Torah that are next to each other have a special connection . In other words , the daily business and social interactions of people are as holy and important as the big revelation of Sinai’s Ten Commandments . One emphasizes belief, belonging, destiny, definition of Israel as God’s chosen nation forever, the other brings us down from the clouds to the earth , to our next door neighbor and our dealings with him or with her… What is the connection?
For those who deny that there is an Oral Torah , the elephant is in the room. The Mishna is right there on this Parasha. We live on this earth. Everything, absolutely has a codification in God’s law. the mundane and the sacred at one time. There’s no split, no separation.
Even geometrically speaking , in tractate Sanhedrin , is the middle page of the whole Mishna, the center of the whole Oral Torah, and right on the second line of the first chapter it refers to Exodus 22:4 , Twofold compensation for certain damages. The Center Tractate acts as the apex between two symmetrical parts. It is the heart of the whole thing.
Our Torah is both epic and mundane, sacred and lay, heavenly and earthly. It is holistic, universal.
More revealing still is the fact the in both Yithro and Mishpatim appear the most sublime statement ever made by the nation : “All that the Lord has said we wiil DO” Exod 19:8, and again in Parashat Mishpatim, “We will do and we will Listen” Exod 24:7, statements that sealed Israel’s destiny as chosen and defines the nature of the Torah , not just as a learning and philosophy but as DOING. A way of life.
Moshe Ben Abraham