Drash – Mishpatim

Rabbi Adi Cohen

Temple Shalom, Gold Coast

Parashat Mishpatim. Daily acts of justice and lovingkindness.

Being Jewish is about loving Torah just as much as it means treating all people like they matter. This is the message of Parashat Mishpatim brings, merging social vision into the reality of society.

After the grandeur of the Ten Commandments, we step into the world of detail: “And these are the laws that you shall set before them.” (Exodus 21:1)

The portion includes over 50 Mitzvot relating to fairness in commerce, responsibility for property, ethical treatment of workers, proper judgment in court, and protection for the most vulnerable. It includes one of the most repeated commands in the Torah: “You shall not oppress the stranger, for you know the soul of the stranger.” (Exodus 22:20, 23:9) The Talmud (Bava Metzia 59b) teaches that this mitzvah appears 36 times in the Torah. More than Shabbat. More than kashrut. How we treat those who are most at risk defines who we are as a people.

Mishpatim moves us from inspiration to application.

From revelation to responsibility.

From waving social flags to daily acts of lovingkindness.

For many people the doorway into Judaism is the space where theology and ethical purpose become Jewish identity. Torah (ethics), Avodah (worship) and Gmilut Chasadim (acts of lovingkindness) are inseparable. That is our belonging and that is our becoming.

I read the laws of Mishpatim as the natural outgrowth of Sinai. A covenant between God and Israel and between people and each other. In Australia of the last three years, where Jewish communities often struggle to be fully seen, where Israel is delegitimised in some circles, and where Jewish safety is not guaranteed, we must also be people of justice for ourselves, to constantly affirm our ethics and our identity for no one but ourselves.

Mishpatim is a Parasha of spiritual adulthood. It is when the Israelites shift from awe to action. May our belonging be shaped by lovingkindness, and our becoming be rooted in justice.

Shabbat Shalom.