Parashat Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1 - 30:16)

by Rabbi Aaron Goldstein, Liberal Judaism Outreach Director and
Rabbi, Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue

Summary
Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1 - 24:18) opens with the Israelites at the foot of Mt Sinai having recieved God's revelation of God's nature and the Ten Commandments. Now, God addresses Moses with a series of laws often known as the 'Covenant Code.' This includes laws on worhsip, serfdom and injuries, property and moral behaviour and finally cultic ordinances that affirm the Covenant. The parasha concludes with Moses ascending the mountain to receive the tablets of stone that will be produced over the period of forty days and nights.

Commentary

Mishpatim, usually translated as rules or ordinances, contains the fourth greatest number of mitzvot (commandments) contained in any one parasha of the Torah, and the largest number given in the Book of Exodus, 53 in all.

At this point, I guess many Jews switch off. The exciting stories are over, we leave the world of narrative behind and we enter a realm of literature that, judging by the league tables of best read fiction/non-fiction in the Sunday papers, most of us do not read! We call these styles aggadah (from the root 'to tell' or 'narrate') and halachah (from the root 'to go').

So many of the halachot that read seem so out of date that only those with a legal (or devoutly religious) brain would choose to dwell on them overly. However, these sections contain the foundation of our understanding as to how we, particularly, as Jews should act.  Mishaptim with its combination of ritual laws (those governing our relationship between us and God) and civil, moral laws (those governing our relationship with our fellow human beings, our planet and all contained within it) hints that our specific Jewish identity and relationship to God is intended to inform our humanity - we would describe it as trying to attain being a 'holy People.'  Both are important to our identity and action as a Jew, just as both aggadah and halachah are vital to our understanding of the breadth of our sacred tradition.

There has been so much attention focussed on issues such as climate change, that one can become overwhelmed with how one might act as an individual. This week, Liberal Judaism has provided such a lead, a way to go (forward), not halachah in the traditional sense, but an urging in the prophetic tradition of our People. For this urging is one not just to listen andhear, but also to act, to commit ourselves to playing a full role in the passing on to our children of a better world. Please look at it in full by clicking here. If you would like to read further about a Liberal Jewish approach to understanding the sections of Torah that contain mainly halachot, then please read on by clicking here.

Rabbi Aaron Goldstein

Liberal Judaism Outreach Director
Rabbi, Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue