Parashat Mishpatim
February 7, 2024
Geri Bloch, Former High School English Teacher
Friends and some relatives wondered if I would keep my maiden name after I married. Frankly, I was tired of spelling out Schaechter: “S-C-H-A-E-C-H-T-E-R. No, it’s A-E-C-H.” I thought: “Bloch is a piece of cake.” However, I did not realize that I would begin spelling once again: “That’s Bloch, B-L-O-C-H.” Changing my name from Schaechter to Bloch meant that I went from “being” a ritual slaughterer to “being” a stranger or foreigner. The Slavic word vlach, meaning foreigner, entered the “dictionary” when Jews left central European nations and made their way to Poland. Leaving Poland to return to areas inhabited by Germans, Vlach became Bloch. Another source revealed that Bloch was a “corruption of an Old High German name, Wallach, which referred to the Italian and French strangers who ‘wandered’ into Germany.” I can only imagine how strangers were treated in ancient “Germania.”
וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּשִׂ֖ים לִפְנֵיהֶֽם׃
“These are the rules that you shall set before them . . . .”
What is interesting, here, is that the Torah begins with a discussion concerning the acquisition of a Hebrew slave:
כִּ֤י תִקְנֶה֙ עֶ֣בֶד עִבְרִ֔י שֵׁ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים יַעֲבֹ֑ד וּבַ֨שְּׁבִעִ֔ת יֵצֵ֥א לַֽחׇפְשִׁ֖י חִנָּֽם׃
“When you acquire a Hebrew slave, that person shall serve six years—and shall go free in the seventh year, without payment.”
Over the years, I have thought deeply about the reasons why Parashat Mishpatim would start with the rules for Hebrew slaves, and I have realized that those traveling with Moshe had been enslaved in Egypt, often brutalized by their overseers. Like a child exposed to violence, these Israelites knew little about compassion for those who were their property. God had to establish just parameters for those on the bottom rung of the social ladder. One might say that a Hebrew slave was still “one of ‘us,’ a member of the ‘tribe,’” but one that was down on his or her luck. Perhaps God must start the rules with a Hebrew slave to diminish any type of vitriol within the “tribe.” The parashah goes on to discuss a host of iniquities involving slaves and others, and the punishments for numerous transgressions. These crimes range from thievery to livestock issues to sorcery to idolatry, but then there seems to be a change to those men and women of lower status, starting with “the stranger”:
וְגֵ֥ר לֹא־תוֹנֶ֖ה וְלֹ֣א תִלְחָצֶ֑נּוּ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
“You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
כׇּל־אַלְמָנָ֥ה וְיָת֖וֹם לֹ֥א תְעַנּֽוּן׃
“You [communal leaders] shall not ill-treat any widow or orphan.”
אִם־עַנֵּ֥ה תְעַנֶּ֖ה אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י אִם־צָעֹ֤ק יִצְעַק֙ אֵלַ֔י שָׁמֹ֥עַ אֶשְׁמַ֖ע צַעֲקָתֽוֹ׃
וְחָרָ֣ה אַפִּ֔י וְהָרַגְתִּ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם בֶּחָ֑רֶב וְהָי֤וּ נְשֵׁיכֶם֙ אַלְמָנ֔וֹת וּבְנֵיכֶ֖ם יְתֹמִֽים׃
“If you do mistreat them, I will heed their outcry as soon as they cry out to Me, and My anger
shall blaze forth and I will put you to the sword, and your own wives shall become widows and
your children orphans.”
הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָֽה־יְהֹוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃
“You have been told, O mortal, what is good,
And what GOD requires of you:
Only to do justice
And to love goodness,
And to walk modestly with your God;”
Micah’s words still hold true. Whatever our name and from whence we have arrived, we know that once we were strangers in the land of Egypt; therefore, it behooves all of us to make certain that we help to create a just world with that “religious vision” of which Rabbi Sacks z”l speaks.
At the end of Parashat Yitro, God speaks through Moshe, handing down the Aseret HaDibrot (The Ten Commandments) which includes some general rules for keeping the Sabbath: “ . . . . you shall not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. . . .” This parashah demonstrates Yitro’s brilliance: He teaches Moshe to delegate authority and to create a judiciary. God desires to create a holy nation from the twelve tribes, but to do that God must create a just society based on law, and according to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l, the law “must be driven by a religious vision.” Even the strangers within the settlements must observe Shabbat; therefore, the Torah must delineate the rules, and
Parashat Mishpatim begins with the following statement:
Parashat Mishpatim begins with the following statement:
וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּשִׂ֖ים לִפְנֵיהֶֽם׃
“These are the rules that you shall set before them . . . .”
What is interesting, here, is that the Torah begins with a discussion concerning the acquisition of a Hebrew slave:
כִּ֤י תִקְנֶה֙ עֶ֣בֶד עִבְרִ֔י שֵׁ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים יַעֲבֹ֑ד וּבַ֨שְּׁבִעִ֔ת יֵצֵ֥א לַֽחׇפְשִׁ֖י חִנָּֽם׃
“When you acquire a Hebrew slave, that person shall serve six years—and shall go free in the seventh year, without payment.”
Over the years, I have thought deeply about the reasons why Parashat Mishpatim would start with the rules for Hebrew slaves, and I have realized that those traveling with Moshe had been enslaved in Egypt, often brutalized by their overseers. Like a child exposed to violence, these Israelites knew little about compassion for those who were their property. God had to establish just parameters for those on the bottom rung of the social ladder. One might say that a Hebrew slave was still “one of ‘us,’ a member of the ‘tribe,’” but one that was down on his or her luck. Perhaps God must start the rules with a Hebrew slave to diminish any type of vitriol within the “tribe.” The parashah goes on to discuss a host of iniquities involving slaves and others, and the punishments for numerous transgressions. These crimes range from thievery to livestock issues to sorcery to idolatry, but then there seems to be a change to those men and women of lower status, starting with “the stranger”:
וְגֵ֥ר לֹא־תוֹנֶ֖ה וְלֹ֣א תִלְחָצֶ֑נּוּ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
“You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
כׇּל־אַלְמָנָ֥ה וְיָת֖וֹם לֹ֥א תְעַנּֽוּן׃
“You [communal leaders] shall not ill-treat any widow or orphan.”
אִם־עַנֵּ֥ה תְעַנֶּ֖ה אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י אִם־צָעֹ֤ק יִצְעַק֙ אֵלַ֔י שָׁמֹ֥עַ אֶשְׁמַ֖ע צַעֲקָתֽוֹ׃
וְחָרָ֣ה אַפִּ֔י וְהָרַגְתִּ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם בֶּחָ֑רֶב וְהָי֤וּ נְשֵׁיכֶם֙ אַלְמָנ֔וֹת וּבְנֵיכֶ֖ם יְתֹמִֽים׃
“If you do mistreat them, I will heed their outcry as soon as they cry out to Me, and My anger
shall blaze forth and I will put you to the sword, and your own wives shall become widows and
your children orphans.”
The discussion concerning our treatment of the stranger is further enhanced in Deuteronomy as Rabbi Shai Held reminds us about not only taking care of the stranger, but also loving the stranger: “Along the way it [Deuteronomy] offers a remarkably moving lesson in theology: ‘For the Lord your God is God supreme and Lord supreme, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who shows no favor and takes no bribe, but upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, providing him with food and clothing. You too must love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt’” (Deut. 10:17-19). Rabbi Held looks at the words supreme, mighty, and awesome and questions: “Of what does God’s greatness, mightiness, and awesomeness consist?” He contends that “God’s grandeur is rooted in God’s fairness (‘who shows no favor and takes no bribe’) and in God’s championing the oppressed and the downtrodden.”
After receiving the Aseret HaDibrot, the Israelites needed the “Ten Statements” to be “filled in.” Parashat Mishpatim concerns those who do not seem to have champions: the slave, the stranger, the poor, the widow, and the orphan. How relevant is this parashah for today’s world, as governments struggle with migrants seeking asylum, seeking safety, seeking work, seeking food and shelter! Judaism has led the way. From B’reisheit, where God has created humans b’tselem elohim, in the image of God, to the philosophers who have discussed imitatio dei, the imitation of God, we have learned that in Judaism, this would be the performance of mitzvot. In his succinct way, Micah (740 BCE – 670 BCE), a minor prophet, has encapsulated the social justice aspect of Judaism:
After receiving the Aseret HaDibrot, the Israelites needed the “Ten Statements” to be “filled in.” Parashat Mishpatim concerns those who do not seem to have champions: the slave, the stranger, the poor, the widow, and the orphan. How relevant is this parashah for today’s world, as governments struggle with migrants seeking asylum, seeking safety, seeking work, seeking food and shelter! Judaism has led the way. From B’reisheit, where God has created humans b’tselem elohim, in the image of God, to the philosophers who have discussed imitatio dei, the imitation of God, we have learned that in Judaism, this would be the performance of mitzvot. In his succinct way, Micah (740 BCE – 670 BCE), a minor prophet, has encapsulated the social justice aspect of Judaism:
הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָֽה־יְהֹוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃
“You have been told, O mortal, what is good,
And what GOD requires of you:
Only to do justice
And to love goodness,
And to walk modestly with your God;”
Micah’s words still hold true. Whatever our name and from whence we have arrived, we know that once we were strangers in the land of Egypt; therefore, it behooves all of us to make certain that we help to create a just world with that “religious vision” of which Rabbi Sacks z”l speaks.
Shabbat Shalom.