Thursday, February 23, 2017

WHO COMES FIRST – HUMANS OR GOD?

29 Shevat 5777 / 24-25 February 2017
Parashat Mishpatim (Shabbat Shekalim; Machar Chodesh)
Torah: Exodus 21:1 - 24:18
Maftir: Exodus 30:11-16                     
Haftarah: 2 Kings 12:1-17

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Candle lighting: 5:27 pm

Friday – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday – Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew class – 10:00 am. Game Day at Temple B’nai Hayim – 10:00 am – 2:00 pm - contact B’nai Hayim for details – reservations required for lunch.
Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – noon.
Friday, 3 March – Shabbat Across America Service and Dinner – A guitar-led family and learners’ service at 6:00 pm, followed by Shabbat dinner at 7:00 pm. Reservations for dinner a must! Contact the Beth Meier office for details.
Saturday, 4 March – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday, 5 March – Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew class – 10:00 am. Israeli Wine Tasting and Tapas – 3:00 pm. Reservations required – contact the Beth Meier office for details.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Yaakov Rani Ben Margalit, Sarah bat Devorah, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky (Serach bat Miriam), Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Leonard Foint (Eliezer Moshe ben Esther), Jerry Forman, Beth Goldstein, Myra Goodman, Simon Hartman (Shimon ben Serach), Fouad Kay (Yehoshua ben Salima), Bonnie Kleiger, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek, Toni Linder, Roy Miller, Carol Rosen (Tsharna Aliza bat Leah), Deborah Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), and Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina).

Please let me know if there is anyone you would like to add to this list or if there is anyone who may be removed from this list.
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WHO COMES FIRST – HUMANS OR GOD?

“Now these are the laws which you shall set before them.” Exodus 21:1

“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 22:20

The rules set forth in this parashah are primarily two types: civil and criminal legislation and humanitarian matters. This follows last week’s receiving of Aseret Hadib’rot (the ten utterances, aka “Ten Commandments”). The Torah here continues to deal with matters arising between humans, such as: how to treat slaves, strangers, converts, widows and orphans; the requirement to pay damages for personal injuries; protecting others from dangerous livestock and conditions of property; and much more. Some brief laws regarding sacrifices and the observance of the holidays come later in the parashah.

The Chasidic Master Simcha Bunim of Pshischa wonders why the first verse says “before them”. He suggests that “them” is not the Israelites. Rather, it is to teach us that the commandments between fellow humans (mitzvot bein adam l’chavero) come before the commandments between humans and God (mitzvot bein adam la’Makom). Not just literally, as in the text, but in terms of importance as well. Heresy?  Hardly.

Simcha Bunim is on to something. What is the point of rigid ritual observance as a form of worshiping God, if one is going to mistreat fellow human beings, who are made in God’s very image? It's not only hypocritical; it's a chillul hashem (a desecration of God's name).

Regarding our second verse, Rabbi Eliezer the Great (BT Bava Metzia 59b), says that the Torah warns 36 times, and some say 46 times, that we should not mistreat the stranger. This person is often identified as “the stranger (or alien) within your gates”. Add Rabbi Eliezer’s teaching to that of Simcha Bunim, and we know that the Torah way of treating the strangers and aliens among us is perhaps the most important of all the mitzvot bein adam l’chavero. The Torah doesn’t demand their papers. It commands us to treat them the same way we would like to be treated – not the way we were treated in Egypt! It’s the law!

I wish you Shabbat Shalom Uv’rakhah – A Shabbat of Peace and Blessing.

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA
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Twitter: @DrahcirMolf
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT Yevamot 87b

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