Parashat Mishpatim – 5782
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites
“Derech eretz (decency, kind behavior) precedes Torah.” This is a famous saying of Jewish sages. It is used in different contexts in Judaism, sometimes to encourage proper behavior as a condition of religious life. By examining the parashot we are currently reading, we can attain a profound and comprehensive grasp of this saying.
Last week, we read Parashat Yitro with its description of the Revelation at Mount Sinai and the ten commandments given by G-d. The ten commandments are ten fundamental directives and principles in the Torah. But the way of life, the laws and individual regulations in the Torah are unmeasurably longer. Immediately after receiving the Torah, Moses began to expand on it and get into the details of G-d’s commandments.
The order in which the Torah chooses to present things is fascinating and even a bit strange. First, in the last verses of Parashat Yitro, the Torah lays out some principles relating to building a temple and altar. Immediately afterwards, at the beginning of Parashat Mishpatim, the Torah suddenly presents an entire system of directives termed “mishpatim,” the laws of justice that must guide society and which should be enforced through courts. These laws of justice get into the smallest of details in the interactions between