The Covenant of Justice
STUDENT
SUMMARIES OF SICHOT OF THE ROSHEI YESHIVA
PARASHAT
MISHPATIM
SICHA OF HARAV
The Covenant of
Justice
Summarized by Matan
Glidai
Translated by
The location of parashat
Mishpatim seems curious, for two reasons. Firstly, parashat Yitro
seems to flow naturally into parashat Teruma, and it is unclear why
parashat Mishpatim intrudes in the middle. Parashat Yitro concludes with the
laws pertaining to the altar: You shall make Me an earthen altar
and if you
make Me an altar of stones
you shall not ascend My altar with steps. Hence,
the logical continuation would seem to be found in parashat Teruma, which
deals with the construction of the altar and of the
Mishkan.
Secondly, the Gemara (Keritut
9a) teaches that Am Yisrael enters into a covenant with God through
circumcision, immersion, and the sprinkling of blood. The sprinkling of the
blood takes place within the framework of the covenant of the basins,
described further on in our parasha (chapter 24). Hence, this event is an
integral part of the ceremony marking the forging of the covenant between God
and Am Yisrael at
In the Mekhilta (Yitro,
Massekhta de-Chodesh, parasha 3) the Tannaim are divided as to
whether the covenant of the basins took place prior to the giving of the Torah
or afterwards, and Rashi and Ramban correspondingly hold contrary views. If we
adopt the view maintaining that the events appear in the Torah in their
chronological order, such that the covenant of the basins came after the giving
of the Torah, our question becomes particularly perplexing, since it concerns
not only the order of the events as presented in the Torah, but also their
actual order in reality: for what reason did God choose to convey the
mishpatim judgments or social laws specifically in the middle of
the revelation at Sinai, before the covenant with Am Yisrael was even
completed?
In order to answer these questions we
must consider the importance of the mishpatim. Seemingly, monetary laws
are a universal realm that pertains to every human society in the world, and not
a matter that is particular to Am Yisrael.
Indeed, dinim represent one
of the seven Noahide laws. The Rishonim debate what this obligation
involves. Rambam (Hilkhot Melakhim 9:14) understands this as a
requirement for all nations to establish local courts for judging people with
regard to the other six laws. To his view, then, this is not an independent
command, but rather a means for enforcing the other six
laws.
However, Ramban disagrees with the
Rambam, and writes (in his commentary on Bereishit
34:13):
To my view, the dinim
incumbent upon the gentiles, as one of their seven commandments, require more
than just the appointment of judges in each and every place. [God] commands them
concerning the laws of theft, deception, oppression, and paying wages, and the
laws pertaining to guardians, coercion and temptation, and the categories of
damages, and injury to others, and the laws of lending and borrowing, and the
laws of buying and selling, and the suchlike, like the laws which Israel is
commanded to observe
.
Ramban maintains that the commandment
of dinim corresponds more or less to the mishpatim required of
Am Yisrael. His explanation highlights the status of the
mishpatim as a realm pertaining not only to Am Yisrael.
However, there remains a significant
difference between the mishpatim of Am Yisrael and the laws of
the other nations. This difference is reflected in various ways on the halakhic
level: as Rambam notes (ibid.), in contrast to the laws governing a Jewish
court, a gentile who has committed some transgression may be given the death
penalty even by a single judge, on the basis of testimony by a single witness,
and without prior warning concerning his actions. However, the difference is
primarily one of principle. When Am Yisrael reached Mara after leaving
There would seem to be a fundamental
difference between the value of mishpatim among the nations of the
world and their status among Am Yisrael. King David formulated this
difference in extreme terms:
He utters His words to Yaakov,
His statutes and His judgments to
God gave
In light of the above we can
understand why parashat Mishpatim is located in the midst of the
description of the revelation at Sinai. The mishpatim are a
precondition for receiving the Torah. Am Yisrael obligates itself to
maintain an ongoing connection with God through the observance of the
mishpatim. This undertaking is an inseparable part of the Sinai
experience and of the covenant forged there between Am Yisrael and God.
For Am Yisrael, the mishpatim are not merely a formal matter, or
a technical device for maintaining social order. They are the rules that dictate
the moral attitude of one person towards another and towards society at large,
and they inculcate fundamental behavioral values.
The midrash addresses this message
specifically to leaders:
But he who takes gifts overthrows
[the land] (Mishlei 29:4) This refers to a sages who knows laws and
midrash and aggada, but when an orphan and an orphan come to him to judge their
dispute, he says to them: I am busy with my studying, and I am not available.
Concerning him God says, I regard you as though you had destroyed the world.
(Shemot Rabba 30:13)
Involvement in mishpatim
the practical social laws is of such vital significance that one who avoids
this realm is considered as having destroyed the world. A spiritual leader must
not only be a great scholar; he must also be aware of the problems facing the
people, he must engage in charity and kindness, and ensure the application of
morality and justice.
At times the religious public in
This perception is mistaken. The
values of morality, justice, and charity are certainly relevant to all the
nations of the world, but they still have special and unique significance for
Am Yisrael, insofar as they express the unique relationship between the
nation and God throughout the generations. Therefore, the protection, promotion
and inculcation of these values should not be neglected and left to other groups
to carry out.
(This sicha was delivered at seuda
shelishit, Shabbat parashat Mishpatim 5753
[1993].)