Mishpatim

In this parsha

Following the revelation at Sinai, the Torah lays out a broad body of civil and ethical law: the release of the Hebrew servant, penalties for personal injury and damages, laws of theft, borrowing, and guardianship, honest treatment of the poor, the widow, and the stranger, the Sabbatical year, and the three pilgrimage festivals. The people respond to the covenant with the words na'aseh v'nishma, 'we will do and we will hear.' The covenant is sealed with blood, and Moses ascends the mountain into the cloud to receive the tablets.

Themes

• Justice as revelation of inner Torah
• Bittul, nullifying the self to Hashem
• Na'aseh before nishma
• Mitzvos transform the doer
• Sweetening judgment with mercy
• Shabbos as root of all mitzvos

Must-read teachings

1. 1Mishpatim bind by ratzon Hashem, revealing inner TorahIn Rashi: "Just as the former ones [were given] from Sinai…" (Rashi, Shemos 21:1). The Sefas Emes opens with Rashi's comment on the "vav" of "ve'eileh," teaching that the mishpatim too were given at Sinai. But surely all the mitzvos were st…תרל"א
2. 2Reasons of mitzvos as the inner TorahIn the Midrash: "He tells His words... His statutes and His judgments to Yisrael" (Tehillim 147:19) — a parable... to his son he gives from out of his own mouth, etc. The Midrash compares Hashem giving His mishpatim to Yisrael to a father w…תרל"ה
3. 3The Torah's unity from SinaiIn the Midrash, in many places, it is taught: "And these (Ve'eleh)" — the vav adds onto the earlier ones (the Aseres HaDibros): just as the earlier ones were from Sinai, so too these (the mishpatim) are from Sinai. We have already written e…תרנ"ד
4. 4From servant's obedience to son's understandingIn the Midrash: "And these" (ve'eleh) adds to the previous ones — the Ten Commandments — as it is brought: "He tells His words to Yaakov" (Tehillim 147:19), these are the Ten Commandments; "His statutes and His judgments to Yisrael," this i…תרל"ו
5. 5Mitzvos transform the one who keeps themIn the Midrash: "He tells His words to Yaakov, His statutes and judgments to Yisrael," etc. — to the idolatrous nations He gave "raw [unformed] commandments," etc. The Midrash contrasts how Hashem gave His "words, statutes, and judgments" t…תר"נ
6. 6The pierced ear and constant readiness to serve HashemOn the verse, "I love my master … my wife … my children, I will not go out free …" and "he shall pierce … his ear" (Shemos 21:5-6), and Chazal said: "The ear that heard [at Sinai] 'For unto Me are Bnei Yisrael servants' [and yet this one ac…תרנ"ז
7. 7Torah revealed through hints that awaken longingIn the Midrash on "And these are the mishpatim (laws)": [the word "and"] adds to the earlier ones. "There He established for them a chok (statute) and a mishpat (law)" — see there. The conjunction "and" at the start of the parsha links thes…תרס"א
8. 8Making illumination endure into darkness"And these are the mishpatim (laws) that you shall place before them." The Sefas Emes opens with the verse introducing the civil laws, focusing on the word "lifneihem" (before them) and the connective "v'eileh" (and these). "Before them" — …תרס"ב