Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Shmot
- Mishpatim
The Torah emphasises that as the previous commandments were given at Mount Sinai, so the rules in this case were given at Sinai.
There are two features of many of the laws in Parashat Mishpatim.
A: They concern the simple, daily things like the laws of damages, guards or loans.
B: Everyone can see their logic and if they were not written in the Torah, the civil secular law would probably include them anyway
The Torah teaches us that commandments are directed not only towards heaven. The Torah is also manifest in practical life and in the simplest details. Proper behaviour between people is not only a civil law or a courtesy designed to enable normal life, it is a Mitzvah! God's will is that we have these laws and keep them not because of their logic or because practical life needs some law, but because they are Mitzvot.
Such an attitude to the "simple" laws uplifts our lives. Every act is not only an act necessary for life, an act which is not unique and has no meaning of itself, but is itself a Mitzvah. Performing these laws helps to lift us up to a Divine level, to the Torah and logic from Sinai! Understanding this meaning and its application in every action, every interaction between people, allows experiencing every day the giving of the Torah.
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