WHO IS MORE IMPORTANT?

Shevat 27, 5783 / February 17-18, 2023
Parashat Mishpatim (Shabbat Shekalim)
Torah: Exodus 21:1 - 24:18
Maftir: Exodus 30:11-16 (Shabbat Shekalim)
Haftarah: Ashkenazim - 2 Kings 12:1-17; Sephardim - 2 Kings 11:17 - 12:17

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This coming Tuesday and Wednesday are Rosh Chodesh Adar. Mishenichnas Adar, marbin b’simchah! – With the beginning of Adar, joy is increased! (BT Ta'anit 29a)
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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.
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Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. 
On February 21, we'll be at BT Shabbat 55a, page 142 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 -  "...רב יהודה הוה יתיב קמיה דשמואל" - "R. Juda was sitting before Samuel...” 

Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at:

https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 

A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 

https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents 

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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 

Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should read at: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com 
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Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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WHO IS MORE IMPORTANT?

“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, he reads it as “those”, 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.

Rabbi Simcha Bunim, ca. 1824

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).

The commentary Avnei Azel makes a similar point. It raises the question, why do the mitzvot bein adam l'chavero immediately follow commandments concerning the altar (at the end of last week's parashah)?  The response: Just as the sacrifices were the worship of God in the Temple, observing the "civil" mitzvot (charity, lovingkindness, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, etc.) is also the worship of God.

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 the Great’s teaching to those of Simcha Bunim and Avnei Azel, 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 – and neither should we. 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!

Shabbat Shalom! Chodesh Tov!

Rabbi Richard Flom, Rabbi Emeritus

Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent."

BT Yevamot 87b

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