Parashat Mishpatim
Exodus 21:1 - Exodus 24:18

Topics (click on any link)
Synopsis of the Torah portion
Spiritual insights into Parashat Mishpatim
Key verses
Creative Midrash for Parashat Mishpatim

Synopsis                    return to top
Chapter 21
The chapter opens with "These are the rules that you shall set before them" and goes on to list a large array of commandments from acquiring Hebrew slaves to laws concerning the theft of sheep or oxen. There is no narrative in this chapter. Among the more appropriate laws for this day and age are those related to wrongful acts against others, particularly murder, kidnapping, stealing or causing injury. Also included are penalties for striking parents, insulting parents, striking others, wounding others by assault and laws related to personal property, like animals, that cause injury to others.

Chapter 22
This is a continuation of the previous chapter with more laws related to man's relationship with man. We find several well-known commandments as well as several of a practical nature for modern times. Here is a sampling of the laws we find in this chapter. You shall not tolerate a sorceress (Ex. 22:17). You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt (Ex. 22:20). You shall not ill-treat any widow or orphan (Ex. 22:21). If you lend money to My people, to the poor who is in your power, do not act toward him as a creditor: exact no interest from him (Ex. 22:24). You shall be men holy to Me: you must not eat flesh torn by beasts in the field; you shall cast it to the dogs (Ex. 22:30).

Chapter 23
Here we find even more laws, but in this chapter there's an interesting twist. These laws appear to rectify the misdeeds implied in previously commanded statutes. These seem to be remedial in nature: you must not carry false rumors (Ex. 23:1). When you encounter your enemy's ox wandering, you must take it back to him (Ex. 23:4). Do not take bribes, for bribes blind the clear-sighted and upset the pleas of the just (Ex. 23:8).

You shall not oppress the stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt. (Ex. 23:9). Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but on the seventh you shall let it rest and lie fallow (Ex. 23:10). Six days you shall do your work but on the seventh you shall cease from labor (Ex. 23:12). Three times a year you shall hold a festival for Me. (Ex. 23:14).  Commandments for Passover, Shavuot, Succot are introduced. Here God alerts the Israelites to follow his teaching and in exchange, He will drive out all the enemies of the land and clear the way for the people to safely inhabit the land that they were promised.

Chapter 24
God instructed Moses that only he can come up to the Lord. Aaron and the seventy elders must bow low from afar and the people may not come up at all. Moses repeated all the commands of the Lord and the people answered with one voice., saying that what ever the Lord commanded we shall do. Moses then built an altar, offered burnt sacrifices and read the covenant aloud to the people. Moses sprinkled blood on the people to seal the covenant concerning all the commands. Then Moses, Aaron and the seventy elders ascended the mountain and saw the God of Israel.

God then called Moses up to Him to give him the stone tablets with the teachings inscribed. When Moses began his ascent the mountain was covered with a cloud, he remained therefor six days. On the seventh day, God called to Moses from the cloud. God appeared to the Israelites below as a consuming fire. Moses went inside the cloud and ascended the mountain; Moses remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Spiritual insights into Parashat Mishpatim                    return to top
Chapters 21 through 23 read like a code of law for any municipality anywhere.  As an example, Ex. 21:2 says, "When you acquire a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years; in the seventh year he shall go free" or Ex. 23:4 we find, "When you encounter your enemy's ox or ass wandering, you must take it back to him". Not very spiritual at first sight, but has you attempt to read beyond the surface, it becomes clearer that these laws may be a metaphor for universal laws that governs everything.

The conclusion of Chapter 23 brings up for the first time a rule will be repeated many times and in many ways-- "You shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will remove sickness from your midst. No women in your land shall miscarry or be barren. I will let you enjoy the full count of your days" Ex. 23:25-26.

Chapter 24 goes on to teach us further about holiness.  Previously no one but Moses was allowed upon the mountain. Now God says to Moses, "Come up to the Lord, with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and sevently elders from Israel, and bow low from afar. But only Moses shall come near the Lord. The others shall not come near; and the people shall not come up with him at all" (Ex.24: 1-2). Take note of the pecking order of holiness that is created here, and this differentiation will be carried forth in future Torah portions.

Key verses                    return to top
This page is not a commentary on the text, but a chance for you to express your own comments and feelings in order to gain deeper insight into your own life.

Exodus 21
These are the rules you shall set before them:
Food for thought:
1. Where was Moses' specific location at the time these rules were handed down?
2. What is the relationship between Moses' location and these particular laws?
3. What kind of rules are these? Are they rules related to justice, like the U.S. Constitution or are they rules related to ethical behavior or both?

Exodus 21:12
He who fatally strikes a man shall be put to death
Food for thought:
1. Today the death penalty is under scrutiny. Do you think it's fair to take a mans life after he kills someone? Are other punishments more appropriate?
2. What conditions of killing someone would not demand the death penalty, in the Torah and in American law?
3. Why should the death penalty be invoked for kidnapping, striking or insulting one's parents as commanded in the next few verses?

Exodus 21:23
But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and for hand, foot for foot.
Food for thought:
1. Do you think this remedy is justifiable in all damage cases?
2. Why must this remedy apply to damages here where clearly there are cases in this parashat that offer a more equitable settlement?
3. How would you define justice? What does justice mean to you?

Exodus 22:20
You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Food for thought:
1. Since we were strangers in the land of Egypt, what does that have to do with being considerate to strangers?
2. What does it mean to be a stranger?
3. How do you think the Israelites actually felt being strangers?

Exodus 22:28
You shall give Me the first-born among your sons. You shall do the same with your cattle and your flocks: seven days it shall remain with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.
Food for thought:
1. What is it about first-born that makes them special in God's eyes?
2. Who were the first-born we met previously in the Torah?
3. How do we give first-born sons to God today?

Exodus 22:30
You shall be men holy to Me: you must not eat flesh torn by beasts in the field; you shall cast it to the dogs.
Food for thought:
1. The Hebrew word for torn flesh is "terefa". What does that word mean to you?
2. Why would eating torn flesh prevent one from being holy?
3. What does the word for torn flesh have to do with being holy?

Exodus 23:10
Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but on the seventh you shall let it rest and lie fallow.
Food for thought:
1. This is the command for the Sabbath of years. Why does the land need to rest? Isn't it enough the man should rest?
2. How does man get food in the year that we let the land lie uncultivated?
3. Do you think there any ecological advantages in doing this?

Exodus 23:12
Six days you shall do your work but on the seventh you shall cease from labor.
Food for thought:
1. This is not the first time the law to observe the Sabbath was given. Why do you think the Torah needs to repeat it here?
2. What could Shabbat have to do with the legalities presented in this chapter?
3. What kind of a society do you think the Torah is aiming at by presenting all these laws?

Exodus 23:19
The choice first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. Do not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
Food for thought:
1. Which first fruits does the Torah mean the first fruits of the season or the first fruits of a particular plant?
2. Why does the Torah mingle first fruits and boiling a kid in the same verse? What's the connection?
3. How did the Rabbis of the Talmud deduce "Do not boil a kid in its mothers milk" to mean that we should not eat meat and milk at the same meal?

Exodus 24:8
Moses took the blood (of the sacrifice) and dashed it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord now makes with you concerning all these commands."
Food for thought:
1. Why do you think God presented us with commandments in the first place?
2. Do you believe that if people consulted their own hearts,rather than their minds, they would know how to behave with one another?
3. What is it about blood that it is the only substance that could seal the covenant?

Exodus 24:9-11
Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascended; and they saw the God of Israel: under His feet there was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity. Yet he did not raise His hand against the leaders of the Israelites; they beheld God and they ate and drank.
Food for thought:
1. How does this portrayal of seeing God appeal to you? Is it dramatic enough?
2. What do you think it would be like to see God as this group of elders did?
3. Do you think eating and drinking would be an activity anyone would want to engage in upon witnessing God directly?

Exodus 24:17
Now the presence of the Lord appeared in the sight of the Israelites as a consuming fire on the top of the mountain. Moses went inside the cloud and ascended the mountain; and Moses remained on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Food for thought:
1. Imagine yourself as an Israelite. What would it be like to behold the consuming fire of God on the mountain top?
2. What made Moses so privileged that only he could ascend the mountain?
3. Why weren't Aaron and the elders of Israel eligible to accompany Moses up the mountain?

Additional questions to ponder:
1. What is it about the story, a verse, a word that seems to resonate with some aspect of your life?
2. Is there something about the story that rings a bell?
3. Can you recall experiences in your life when you have experienced something similar to this story?
4. How would you describe the characters in the story? Who do you know who's like them?
5. Can you personally identify with any one of the characters in the story? Which one?
6. Can you find a similarity between yourself and all the characters in the story?
 

Suggestion:
Some of the questions here are of a personal nature which in some cases could be emotionally upsetting. If so, try relaxing your body as much as possible and takes long slow breaths of air. That usually helps to relieve anxiety.

Reflections:
The Rabbis of old would meditate on such questions, sometimes for weeks at a time, to help find deeper meaning in the verses. You may wish to contemplate just one or a few of these questions at a time, rather than tackling them all.
In what ways we any of your responses to the questions personally meaningful?
We would like to know if you find this method of Torah study particularly helpful to you. Click here to let us know 

Creative Midrash on Parashat Mishpatim                    return to top

Exodus 24:9-11
9Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascended; 10and they saw the God of Israel: under His feet there was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity. 11Yet He did not raise His hand against the leaders of the Israelites; they beheld God, and they ate and drank.
 

The Rabbis of old would create parables, stories and narrative connections around such selected verses. What do you see between the lines, the sentences and the letters. The following questions can provide a launch pad upon which to create your own meanings of the Torah.

Imagine yourself as one of the seventy elders of Israel ascended part way up Mount Sinai as Moses prepares to ascend the mountain to receive the tablets of the Law. While up there, you behold the God of Israel directly. What was it like to behold God? How did you feel at that moment? What did you do when you saw Him? How long were you privileged to behold the Lord? What did you see? What did He look like? How come we don't get more description other than what was under his feet? Why do you think the Torah uses the allusion of sapphire to illustrate purity? What do you think purity means and why do they make mention of it here? Were you afraid that God would raise His hand against you? First the Torah says, "they saw the God of Israel" later it says, "they beheld God" what's the difference between the two and why the duplication? What was the reason that you ate and drank upon beholding God?

Spend some time thinking about these questions. After you mentally process them for a day or two, it could be helpful to record your conclusions in a journal. It's not important to have correct answers; it's more important to wrestle with the narrative. In time this process can teach you to change many of your unproductive thoughts and beliefs for new ones that work more effectively.