From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 2:12 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Mishpotim, 5768
How Does It Feel?
By Rabbi Joshua (helplessly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
This week's parsha begins with the statement, " And these are the
judgments that you shall place before them" (Shemos 21:1). Rashi, citing
the Mechilta, notes that the first word, 've-eleh,' begins with a connective
'vav' ; meaning 'and.' When the word 'eleh' appears without the vav, says
the Mechilta, it serves to disconnect what follows from what preceded, while
the word 've-eleh,' with the vav, serves to connect them. Here, Rashi
continues, the message of the connection is that just as the laws that
preceded this parsha were given at Mt. Sinai, so, too, the mitzvos in
this parsha were given at Mt. Sinai. Rabbi Yisroel Isserlin, author of the
important halachic work , Responsa Terumas HaDeshen, explains, in his work on
Rashi, that since the mitzvos in the immediately preceding parsha were mitzvos
between man and God, and the mitzvos in this week's parsha are mostly, although
not exclusively, between man and man, one may have thought that only the former
were given at Mt. Sinai, by God, and not the latter, since the latter seem to be
logical and could have been conceived of and authored by Moshe himself.
Therefore, the word 've'eleh' comes to teach us that they were all given at Mt.
Sinai by God. Based on this explanation, we can, perhaps, say that the
intermingling of these two categories of mitzvos in our parsha serves to
illustrate this point, that both categories come from the same source. I
believe, however, that each instance of this phenomenon of intermingling must
be studied, with an eye for finding a more particular message in each case than
the two categories follow one after the other. I would like to discuss one
example of this intermingling in our parsha, as, perhaps, an example of how to
explain the particular message being taught by such juxtapositions elsewhere.
The Torah tells us, "one who brings offering to the elohim shall be
destroyed - only to the Lord alone" (Shemos 22:19). This verse, according
to Ramban, prohibits all kinds of worship of other gods. The next several
verses (21-26) prohibit the oppression of various categories of people, from
widows and orphans to debtors, and we are told that when these people cry out
to God because of being oppressed, God will heed their call. These verses are
then followed by a verse which prohibits the cursing of God and of the nasi.
Ramban explains that the nasi in this verse refers to people in leadership
positions, including the king and the head of the Sanhedrin. We thus have
a series of verses prohibiting the oppression of certain people both preceded
and followed by verses which speak of sins against God, with the last verse
applying both to God and to certain classes of leaders. I believe that there is
a connection between the first and last verses, which deal with offences
against God, and the intervening verses, which deal with offences against man,
and that the message thereby delivered can also explain the inclusion of both
God and man in the final verse.
The first verse in the series concerning oppressing certain categories
of people reads, "You shall not taunt or oppress a stranger, for you were
strangers in Egypt." While the simple meaning of the reference to our
enslavement in Egypt is that, having been slaves, we know what it means to be
oppressed, and, therefore should have empathy with these kinds of people and
not oppress them, Ramban offers a different explanation. He writes that people
tend to take advantage of strangers, widows, orphans, and the like, because
they feel that no one cares about them since they are helpless and thus open to
exploitation. The Torah therefore tells us that we should remember that we were
slaves in Egypt, open to oppression and thinking that at our situation was
hopeless, and yet God came to our rescue. In a similar way, these unfortunate
people have God on their side, and as soon as they cry out to him out of their
suffering, he will help them. In this context, we can understand the connection
of these middle verses to those that precede them. The first verse prohibits
worshiping other gods in any way. These so-called gods have been proven to be
ineffective and unable to provide help when it is needed. When a person
worships them he ignores the truth that only God has the ultimate ability to
help people. The final verse prohibits cursing God. The word 'lekallel,' to
curse, explains Ramban, comes from the word 'kal,' to take lightly. One who
curses God takes Him lightly, and does not recognize His ability to determine a
person's fortune in this world. Thus, a person who either worships other
gods or curses God is a person who may very likely take advantage of the groups
of people mentioned in the verses between the bookends of those prohibitions.
What remains for us to explain is why, in the last verse we mentioned,
the Torah prohibits cursing the nasi in same verse in which it prohibits
cursing God. I would like to suggest that the idea being expressed here
is that the primary task of the nasi, who can be the king or the head of the
Sanhedrin, is to perform acts of kindness for others, and take care of their
needs. The Rambam, in his Laws of Kings, refers to the king as the heart of the
Jewish people, and, in his commentary to the Mishnah in Sanhedrin, writes that
a very old man should not serve on the Sanhedrin because he can no longer feel
the suffering of others due to his own infirm condition. The message being
conveyed in this final verse, then, when seen in juxtaposition with those that
precede it, is that just as God acts as the champion of the widow, the orphan,
and other people who are in seemingly helpless situations, so too must those
who come under the category of the nasi.
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