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From the Rabbi:
If you've been following the Parsha every week, you can't help but notice that this week's Parsha feels like and entirely different genre of literature than what we've been reading previously. Thus far we've had non-stop action. Exciting, dramatic narratives of family discord, political intrigue, miracles, redemption... We've enjoyed superb development of characters who are easily relatable. Our Sacred Ancestors with whom we can readily identify. With them we've explored themes of connection to the Earth, jealousy between siblings, spiritual succession and who will 'carry the mantle', the appropriate use of violence, sexual ethics, and other core issues which are as relevant to our human experience today as they were to those characters thousands of years ago.
Then we arrive at Mishpatim and it's a whole different ball game. It's no longer narrative, but a law book full of cases and how we as newly empowered judges need to adjudicate disputes which arise in our society. It's not dramatic narrative, it's detail oriented, technical and legalistic. And it's not even stuff we deal with today! Indentured servitude, slave marriages, cities of refuge for manslaughterers, capital punishments dealt out for purely religious infractions like burning witches. Cows goring each other, stolen sheep, unloading donkeys. Yes, there are some cases which are obviously relevant in our day, like Kashrut, Shabbat and not loaning at interest, but overall it takes far greater effort to make parshiyot with all their impractical laws feel relevant to our lives.
Consequently it's very easy to fall off the Parsha train this week, and it'll only get harder from here. After dealing with legal minutia this week we'll get into the details of the architectural plans for the Mishkan, a structure we've never seen, and at present are even prohibited from building! Then, if that weren't obscure enough to make us tune out, we'll soon hit the book of Leviticus and spend two months on animal sacrifices, ancient skin diseases and ritual impurities, none of which are have any practical application today.
Why then do we put so much emphasis on study of Torah, even (or especially) the parts which don't directly apply to our lives today?
First of all, there is the practical science of deducing halachic application from the cases presented in the Torah to modern situations. For example, learning from inter-animal collisions to automobile accidents. Moreover, the study of Torah is how we calibrate our moral compass. Learning to care about what God cares about. Learning to pay attention to the details of our interactions with each other, keeping vigilant in our spiritual self care as individuals, families, communities and as a People. The notion that God is manifest in the details of our social, financial, and domestic lives is a core Jewish value, even when we lack the national infrastructure or rabbinic courts to address all these areas of halacha. Or the will to implement these judgements. Would you really feel like God showed up because a teenager who cursed his parents was executed? Most of us are probably glad not to have to implement Biblical Justice today.
At the end of the Parsha we read the famous response of Am Yisrael to hearing this list of detailed laws, (24:7) "נעשה ונשמע - We will do and we will listen". Classically this is interpreted as emphasizing the priority of doing over listening; our commitment to action even if we don't fully understand. However, it equally means that we will continue to apply ourselves to study and understanding God's intentions - 'we will listen' even when 'we will do' isn't on the table. And we show Hashem our commitment to our covenantal bond by listening even without doing. It's less about getting it done and more about relationship and connection. Listening and getting to know the One who is telling us His vision for a perfected world.
May The Torah be sweet in our mouths as we study, and may we be committed to study even when it isn't.
Shabbat Shalom,
Shlomo
Purim is coming!! March 13 &14. Being a Friday, expect a Purim experience that will flow into Shabbat. Stay tuned for megillah reading times, KOT Mishloach-Manot and Purim Seudah information.
Classes This Week
- Shabbat 5:00 PM before Mincha
- Sunday at 7:00 PM - KOT Beit Midrash
- Tuesday at 12:30 PM - Parsha Conversations at Cheryl's office
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