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
Maftir: Exodus 30:11-16
Haftarah: 2 Kings 12:1-17
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consider a donation. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!
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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 Temple B’nai
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
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
I wish you Shabbat Shalom
Uv’rakhah – A Shabbat of Peace and Blessing.
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier
Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com
Visit me on Facebook
Twitter: @DrahcirMolf
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face
of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT Yevamot 87b
My weekly divrei torah are
available through free subscription to the Cyber Torah e-mail
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