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Torah Portion -
Mishpatim
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Written by Rafi Jager
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A Story is told:
The old man, his white, wispy beard laying softly on his brown tunic, slowly rose to his feet. Given the seriousness of the occasion, the man’s wrinkled forehead and strained voice surprised no one.
“We are here to judge the case of Shimon ben David,” the man began. “Two witnesses testified before this court that the accused was involved in an altercation with Reuven ben Moshe, and that Shimon broke Reuven’s right arm and blinded his left eye.”
“Contrary to the idea expressed by some members of our media,” the man continued, “who say that the possuk ‘an eye for an eye’ should be followed literally, Beis Din do not enforce draconian punishments. Instead we will apply this possuk
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Torah Portion -
Mishpatim
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Written by yehuda
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"and in the seventh year he (Jewish bondsman) shall go free" (21:2)
The verses are dealing with the "Jewish bondsmen" whom the Jewish court sells as a "slave", and the purchase price would be used to repay a theft that he committed. A Jewish "slave" is to work for six years.As soon as the seventh year begins, he must be freed. However, if "Yovel" (the 50th year)occurs during those 6 years, the "slave' is automatically released.( This is just a very small introduction into the laws of the "Jewish bondsman" which is beyond the scope of this Parsha sheet.)
The Talmud Yerushalmi (Rosh Hashanah 3:5) teaches that the Jewish people were taught this law while still enslaved in Egypt based on the verses in Jeremiah 34:13-14. A question can be asked as follows: Why was the law pertaining to the "Jewish bondsman" taught to the Jewish people specifically while they were still enslaved?
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Torah Portion -
Mishpatim
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Written by d fine
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The Sefer Chareidim reveals a new level of depth to Bnei Yisrael’s na’aseh ve’nishma commitment to accept the Torah. He writes that a real hearing is when one acts on what one has heard - that way the information received becomes expressed by you as opposed to just being ‘a nice idea.’ Na’aseh ve’nishma was a promise not just to hear what the Torah has to say, but to do and practice everything contained therein; it was a ‘doing’ (na’aseh) connected to ‘hearing’ (nishma).
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Torah Portion -
Mishpatim
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Written by Rafi Jager
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In this week's portion we are taught the laws regarding lending money: "If (im) you shall lend money to any of My people. . .do not act towards him as a creditor; do not lay interest upon him" (Exodus 22:24). Rashi, the great medieval commentator, states that although the verse uses the Hebrew word "im - if" which would usually imply a voluntary act - and therefore no obligation to lend money to a poor person in the first place - it is in fact one of three places in the Torah where that word instead means "when", suggesting an actual command to lend money. The question still remains, however, that if Hashem intended to teach the obligation of lending
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Torah Portion -
Mishpatim
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Written by Rafi Jager
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As human beings we are constantly showered with goodness from a variety of sources. Hashem gives us good health, loving family and friends, and countless other benefits which we often take for granted. Parents care for children in many ways that youngsters cannot even imagine. Our friends provide us with valuable support to help us navigate the stormy waters of social relationships. A spouse infuses a reality and richness into one's life that cannot be duplicated anywhere else.
Indeed, we owe a lot of thanks to the many individuals who assist us and enrich our
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Torah Portion -
Mishpatim
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Written by Daniel Sandground
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Parashas Mishpatim – The Table is Set
In last week’s sedra we read the receiving of the Ten Commandments and what naturally flows on from this are laws, which we are given in abundance in this week’s parasha, Mishpatim. The interesting thing when analysing these laws are that they are rather random in the sense that you wouldn’t expect them to be the first laws given over to us after such a monumental event as the given of the Ten Commandments. The sedra starts with the laws of slaves, murder, manslaughter, damages and even talks about responsibility for digging pits and animals amongst many other topics. What we learn from what we might view as mundane laws
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Torah Portion -
Mishpatim
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Written by d fine
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Though it happened before Mattan Torah (Rashi 24:1), it is actually in this week's sedra that we are told about Bnei Yisrael's famous 'na'aseh ve'nishma' commitment to accept the Torah no matter what. However, we have a problem (Houston). As the gemarra (Shabbos 88a) and Rashi (Shemos 19:17) both point out, when Bnei Yisrael were about to receive the Torah, HaShem turned Har Sinai upside down on top of them and threatened 'if you do not recieve the Torah, you will be buried here (under this mountain).' But why did HaShem have to force us to accept the Torah
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Torah Portion -
Mishpatim
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Written by Administrator
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