Torah Study with the Rabbi for Mishpatim
Shabbat Shalom,
I hope this finds you enjoying the summer-like weather. What a February this has turned out to be!
As I sit and study the Torah portion this morning, I am reminded of the fact that in addition to being the source of our values, the Torah also contains many laws and commandments that we are expected to follow. This week’s portion, Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1 – 24:18) follows last week’s portion, Yitro, where we received the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Mishpatim means “laws.” It contains lists of laws that govern civil, property and moral behavior. You can find laws governing your relationship with your neighbor’s ox and laws that might be more relevant to you, such as Exodus 22:20, which states: “You shall not wrong nor oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” and then again, in Exodus 23:9, which states, “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.”
There are laws we can still keep in this weeks list of laws, and laws that may no longer be relevant, as we may not be encountering a sorceress in Burke any time soon. But, the principle that still governs all of these laws comes at the end of the Torah portion, affectionately known as “Na’aseh v’Nishmah.” The Israelites do not speak at all during the portion until the end:
Ex 23: 7] Then he [Moses] took the record of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. And they said, “All that the Eternal has spoken, we shall do and we shall hear.” Na’aseh (we shall do),v’nishmah (and we shall hear – should be familiar as it is the same root word as Shema ~ Hear). Our first response to Torah as a Jewish people was TO DO. Dialogue and discussion would come later. We were created to be a people of ACTION.
I explained to someone in my office yesterday when asked about a Jewish world-to-come that entrance is not gained by what you believe for Jews, it is solely based upon how any living being (Jew or not) lives his/her life. Just as ACTION is our first response to Torah, so ACTIONS will be God’s last response to us.
As members of our Temple Board met with the members of Christ Church’s Church Council on Monday night, we were ambassadors of our Torah and our tradition. We spoke of our congregation being values-driven and we were proud to claim the Jewish Bible as our gift to all the world and the text of common ground for our two faiths. In the coming months, we will not be strangers to our neighbors next door. We shall do Mitzvot together from helping a local shelter to feeding the hungry. We also plan to study together and find common ground and common purpose. As one of their members put it so well: “We need to focus on what we have in common, and there is a lot.”
In order to fulfill our highest goals and values, we will need our members to join with our ancestors in saying, “Na’aseh v’nishmah” – We will put actions first, and we will hear the call to action from whence it comes: our Torah, our God, and our community. Together we can repair our world, one collaborative action at a time. I look forward to joining you in DOING JEWISH, from Shabbat to Shabbat, and every day in between.
Fondly,
Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.