Sweetening strict justice with mercy

ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים לפניהם מוסיף על הראשונים מה אלו מסיני כו'.

"And these are the laws (mishpatim) which you shall set before them" (Shemos 21:1) — "[the word] 'and these' adds onto the earlier ones: just as those were from Sinai, [so too these are from Sinai]" (Rashi, Shemos 21:1).

The connective "and these" links the civil laws of Mishpatim to the Aseres Hadibros — both alike were given at Har Sinai.

כי התורה נעלמה מעיני כל חי וגם בעשרת הדברות כתיב וירד ה' על הר סיני כי הוא בחי' ירידה מה שנתלבש אור התורה באלה הדברות.

For the Torah is hidden from the eyes of all living, and even regarding the Aseres Hadibros it is written "and Hashem descended upon Har Sinai" (Shemos 19:20), for it is an aspect of descent that the light of the Torah was clothed in these Dibros.

The Torah in its essence is utterly beyond grasp; even the Ten Commandments represent a "descent," a contraction in which the infinite light of Torah was clothed in concrete words.

ואח"כ נתפשט עוד יותר לאלה המשפטים כו' לפניהם שהוא המשפט שבין אדם לחבירו כי הכל נברא בתורה וכמו כן צריכין להמשיך אור התורה בכל הדברים כמ"ש בזוה"ק ואתחנן בפסוק ודברת בם שיהי' הנהגת כל הדברים בם בדברי תורה ע"ש.

And afterward it spread out still further to "these mishpatim... before them," which are the laws governing matters between a person and his fellow; for everything was created through the Torah, and likewise one must draw the light of the Torah into all matters, as it is written in the Zohar Hakadosh (Va'eschanan) on the verse "and you shall speak of them (bam)" (Devarim 6:7) — that the conduct of all matters should be "in them," in words of Torah, see there.

The Torah's light descends further still into civil law, the realm of dealings between people. Since all of creation was made through Torah, our task is to channel that light into every area of life, conducting all affairs "in them" — through Torah.

וזה הרמז במד' כל מקום שנאמר אלה פסל הראשונים אלה תולדות שמים וארץ פסל תהו ובהו שלא נעשה מהם תולדות ע"ש.

And this is the hint in the Midrash: "Wherever 'these (eileh)' is said, it disqualifies what came before; 'these are the generations of heaven and earth' (Bereishis 2:4) disqualifies tohu va-vohu, from which no generations were made," see there.

The word "eileh" (these) signals a break with what preceded. In creation it set apart the ordered world from the primordial chaos of tohu va-vohu, which produced nothing.

פי' דכתיב בראשית ברא אלקים עלה במחשבה לבראות במדה"ד וראה שאין עולם מתקיים בדין.

The explanation: it is written "In the beginning Elokim created" (Bereishis 1:1) — it arose in [His] thought to create with the attribute of strict justice (middas hadin), and He saw that the world cannot endure under [pure] judgment.

The Name "Elokim" denotes din. Hashem first conceived of creating through strict justice, but foresaw that no world could survive such severity.

ולכן נשאר תהו ובהו שלא היו מתוקנים שהיו הסיגים שנמשכו מכח מדת הדין כידוע.

Therefore there remained tohu va-vohu, which were unrectified — these being the dross (sigim) drawn forth from the power of middas hadin, as is known.

The chaotic, unrectified residue of creation is the "dross" produced by unmitigated strict judgment.

ובתורה כ' ג"כ וידבר אלקים כו' אעפ"כ נתקן עתה המשפטים שהוא במדה"ד ע"י התורה שהוא מה שהקדים מדה"ר ושתפה למדה"ד לכן כתיב כאן ואלה מוסיף שנתקן גם בחי' תהו ובהו.

And regarding the Torah too it is written "And Elokim spoke..." (Shemos 20:1); nevertheless the mishpatim — which belong to middas hadin — are now rectified through the Torah, in that He gave precedence to the attribute of mercy (middas harachamim) and joined it to the attribute of judgment. Therefore it is written here "and these (ve-eileh)," which adds, [teaching] that even the aspect of tohu va-vohu is now rectified.

Though the Dibros too came "from Elokim" (din), the civil laws are now repaired because Hashem placed mercy first and partnered it with judgment. Thus "ve-eileh" — the additive "and" — signals that even the chaotic dross can now be set right.

והמשפטים הם בחי' מדה"ד.

And the mishpatim are the aspect of middas hadin.

Civil law, with its weighing and adjudicating, belongs to the attribute of strict justice.

ותשים לפניהם שבכח בנ"י להמתיק הדינים.

"You shall set before them" — for it is within the power of Bnei Yisrael to sweeten the judgments (le-hamtik ha-dinim).

Hashem entrusts the laws to Bnei Yisrael because they have the capacity to "sweeten" strict justice by infusing it with mercy.

ז"ש משפט וצדקה ביעקב אתה עשית שבני ישראל מחברין משפט וצדקה.

This is the meaning of "justice and righteousness in Yaakov You have done" (Tehillim 99:4) — that Bnei Yisrael join together mishpat (judgment) and tzedakah (righteousness/charity).

Bnei Yisrael's avodah is to fuse strict justice with compassionate righteousness, tempering din with rachamim.

ז"ש במד' מוסיף על מ"ש שם לו חק ומשפט.

This is what the Midrash means [that "ve-eileh"] adds onto what was said: "there He gave them a statute and an ordinance (chok u-mishpat)" (Shemos 15:25).

The Sefas Emes links our parshah to the earlier giving of "chok u-mishpat" at Marah, where the framework of law was first introduced.

דשם כתיב ויורהו ה' עץ להמתיק מר במר ע"ש.

For there it is written "and Hashem showed him a tree" (Shemos 15:25) — to sweeten the bitter with the bitter, see there.

At Marah Hashem healed the bitter waters with a bitter tree, a model of "sweetening the bitter with the bitter" — transforming din from within din.

וזהו פי' שם לו.

And this is the meaning of "He set for him (sam lo)."

The "setting" at Marah is the act of arranging and sweetening the law, the same idea as "you shall set before them."

וכמו כן אשר תשים לפניהם שצריכין לסדר המשפטים ולהמתיקם במדה"ר ודו"ק:

And likewise "which you shall set before them" — that one must arrange the mishpatim and sweeten them with the attribute of mercy; and understand this well.

The mandate to "set the laws before them" is precisely to order civil law and temper its strict justice with mercy — the ongoing avodah of Bnei Yisrael.

Summary: "And these are the mishpatim" ties civil law to Sinai. The Torah is utterly hidden in its essence; even the Aseres Hadibros are a "descent" in which its light was clothed in words, and the mishpatim are a further descent into dealings between people — for all was created through Torah and its light must be drawn into everything. Creation conceived in strict din left the unrectified dross of tohu va-vohu; but Hashem placed mercy first and joined it to judgment. So "ve-eileh" teaches that even that chaos can be repaired, and Bnei Yisrael's task is to "sweeten the dinim" — joining mishpat with tzedakah, justice with mercy.