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JANUARY 27, 2022 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
From the Fire Parshas Mishpatim
Producing Polished People By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf
PHOTO BY M.D. YARMISH
A
ll of the commentaries ask why, immediately following the Jewish people’s exalted experience of receiving the Torah at Sinai, Hashem suddenly descends into the detailed civil laws of Parshas Mishpatim. We drop, without warning, from lightning, thunder, and Divine revelation to slaves and compensation for thievery. It seems like quite a letdown. The Midrash explains that Hashem created the world and gave the Torah because “the Holy One desired to have a dwelling place in the lower world” (Tanchuma, Nasso, 16). Next week’s parsha, Terumah, is all about the building of the Mishkan, the sanctuary in which Hashem dwells. The Midrash (Shmos Rabah 33) expands that the purpose is the Mishkan is: “Do me this favor: wherever you go, make Me a small dwelling-place so that I may live [adur – which is related to the word Adar] with you.” That is the ultimate goal of the giving of the Torah. So why did Parshas Terumah not follow immediately after the giving of the Torah? Why is Parshas Mishpatim first? The Gemara (Makkos 23b-24a) teaches us that there are certain principles which form the gateway through which we can access the entirety of Yiddishkeit. The most well-known is “Chavakuk [HaNavi] placed them [the fundamentals of Yiddishkeit] on one idea: ‘A tzaddik lives with his emunah’” (Chavakuk 2:4). But the Gemara also says that “Micha came and placed them on three ideas: ‘He has told you, O man, what is good and what does G-d seek
from you? Only to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your G-d’” (Michah 6:8). This is a puzzling statement. It seems so pareve, so noncommittal, so generic. In fact, when I went yeshiva as a child, there was a Reform Temple around the corner, and this was the pasuk they inscribed on the building. It is perfect for them. They would never post the pasuk, “And you shall observe Shabbos to keep it holy.” They love the pasuk in Michah because it makes no specific demands. Yet how can we, who understand that Michah meant to teach that the three things he listed were the key to successfully actualizing all aspects of Yiddishkeit in our lives, understand why Michah listed “doing justice,” observing the laws in Parshas Mishpatim, as more than mere details? In what way are
they the key to all of Yiddishkeit? Rav Shmuel Berezovsky, shlita, the present Slonimer Rebbe, teaches an idea in the sefer Darchei Noam (5775), which gives us the key to answer this question. He quotes a Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni 942) explaining the pasuk (Devarim 32:2), “My teaching will drip like rain, my words will fall like dew, like storm winds on vegetation, and like delicate raindrops on grass.” The Midrash explains the nature of these delicate raindrops as follows: “Just as these delicate raindrops descend, refine, and polish the grasses, so, too, the words of Torah refine and polish.” The Torah has the power to change a person. How? The purpose of the fine raindrops, according to this Midrash, is to put the last finishing touch on the grass – to give it a certain spar-
kle. That perfect finish adds a level of grace and charm that makes the vegetation in Hashem’s world so beautiful to look at. The Darchei Noam explains that the Torah is meant to do the same thing to us. It is meant to refine and polish those who study it. That is why the detailed laws of Parshas Mishpatim precede the building of the Mishkan in Parshas Terumah. While the purpose of the Torah is indeed to facilitate the creation of a dwelling-place for Hashem in this physical world through the Mishkan, the fact is that even the Mishkan is only a means to an end. The pasuk says at the beginning of Parshas Terumah that “they shall make a Mishkan for Me and I will dwell among them” (Shmos 25:8). As the Alshich and the Shlah HaKadosh explain, “It does not say ‘in it.’ But instead, ‘in them’ – within each and every person.” The final goal in the building of the Mishkan is not only that the Divine Presence rest in it, but rather, it is a means to allow Hashem’s Presence to dwell within each and every Jew. Accordingly, we must first refine and polish ourselves so that we will be fitting vessels for Hashem’s light. We must make ourselves the kind of refined people with whom Hashem wants to spend more time. That is why the fine, detailed raindrops of the halachos of Parshas Mishpatim must precede Parshas Terumah. The essential theme of all of the laws in Mishpatim is: do not harm, damage, or hurt others. This sensitivity comes from incorporating the Torah into our lives. It must polish
