Parashas Mishpatim

It is frequently noted that the first parashah the Torah presents following mattan Torah deals with a host of laws related to interpersonal relations and commerce.

In fact, the very beginning of the parashah deals with the laws of a Jewish “slave” – a man who had stolen money and had no money to repay it, so Beis Din sold him to raise money to pay off the the debt.

This “slave” may not be given especially menial or degrading tasks to do. And he is entitled to the same comforts as his master’s family.

Indeed, the gemarah comments that one who purchases such a “slave” has essentially purchased a master for himself, because if there is only one pillow – or one steak – it goes to the slave, since the master cannot have more or better than that which the slave has.

But the Torah teaches us more: While he owns this slave, the master must provide for the needs of the slave’s wife and children.

Part of what happened at Sinai is that we undertook arvus, guarantorship for one another. We each have a responsibility for the spiritual well-being of everyone else.

But how can we meet that responsibility?

There’s a great magnet from Partners in Torah that reads: “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

To meet our obligations, be must first know and understand how far we must go to take care of one another. That breeds love and camaraderie. It is only then that we can hope to influence and inspire them.

May we truly achieve love of our fellow, and meet our obligations to Hashem and to others.

Gut Shabbos.

Parashas Yisro

As the Jews encamped around Sinai in preparation for receiving the Torah, Moshe was instructed הַגְבֵּל אֶת־הָהָר, cordon off the mountain, וְקִדַּשְׁתּוֹ and sanctify it.

 

What was the significance of sanctifying Mount Sinai?

 

The Torah is Hashem's Word. Indeed, until the Revelation at Sinai, the Torah was the provenance of the angels on High.

 

How could mortals possibly connect to the Divine?

 

Before the Torah was presented to us, Hashem sent a message: A mountain is mere earth and rock. Yet those mundane elements can become sanctified when they are set aside for God.

 

 When we recite a brachah upon performing a mitzvah, we say: אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, Who sanctified us with His commandments. When we learn Torah and do mitzvos our essence changes. we become holy people.

 

One lesson of Har Sinai is that if a simple, inanimate mountain can become holy, certainly we can, no matter how lowly we think of ourselves.

 

May we all be granted that holiness, so that we may fulfill our purpose on earth.

 

Gut Shabbos.

Parashas Beshalach

After the Jews miraculously crossed the Sea on dry land, they sang Az Yashir, the song of gratitude and praise to Hashem.

It is a song so profound, it was instituted as part of our daily Shacharis, and it will be sung at the time of techiyas hameisim, the Resurrection of the Dead (see Rashi 15:1).

When Moshe first approached Pharaoh to allow the Jews to leave Egypt to serve Hashem, Pharaoh responded by harshening his subjugation of the nation. When Moshe cried out to Hashem, Hashem responded by noting that our forefathers had been given many assurances, but although they never actually experienced the “Name Ado-nai,” – they never saw the fulfillment of those promises – they had never complained.

In Az Yashir, it is the Name Ado-nai is the one used almost universally. Az Yashir celebrated the fact that the Jews perceived how all the pieces fit together.

We are taught (Mechilta Shemos 15:2) that when the Jews crossed the Sea, even a maidservant saw G-d more immanently than the Prophet Yechezkel, whose prophecy describes in detail the Heavenly retinue. The Kotzker Rebbe famously commented that somehow, despite this experience, the people did not all become righteous prophets. The maidservant became a maidservant.

Interestingly, when the Jews demanded food in the wilderness, Hashem responded, הִנְנִי מַמְטִיר לָכֶם לֶחֶם מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם וְיָצָא הָעָם וְלָקְטוּ דְּבַר יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ לְמַעַן אֲנַסֶּנּוּ הֲיֵלֵךְ בְּתוֹרָתִי אִם לֹא, Behold I will rain upon you bread from the Heavens, and the nation shall go out and collect the portion of each day on that day so that I might test them to see if they follow in my commandments or not.

G-d could have provided the Jews nourishment and satiation without the manna. The purpose of the manna was not to provide food, it was to see if the Jews had learned their lesson, it was to test whether the experience of the Miracles at the Sea had left a lasting impact.

As Ramban notes, Hashem performs the open, obvious miracles, to show us that he controls all events.

In our own lives, we must thank Hashem for his goodness and kindness not only when we experience open acts of Providence; it behooves us to seek out and acknowledge Hashem at every juncture. We repeat Az Yashir every day to remind us that.

As Chaye and I give gratitude to Hashem for blessing us with the simchah of the upcoming marriage of another child, we thank Him for the infinite other kindnesses that He does for us every day, and be beseech him to continue to grant us and all Klal Yisroel simchos, berachos, refuos and yeshuos.

May the day soon come when all of us merit to sing Az Yashir after techi’yas hameisim, when we will actually again perceive how every event and all of history fits into place in the Divine Master Plan.

Gut Shabbos