Parsha Mishpatim - January 25, 2014

Parsha: Mishpatim 

Shevat 24/ January 25 

By: Rabbi Akiva Naiman 

Mitzvot Should be like Cholent

 Shabbat Shalom!

Parshat Mishpatim starts off with a very interesting verse: “And these are the laws that you shall place before them”

Rashi on this pasuk brings a very interesting medrash to explain it (Mechilta and Eruvin 54b). What does this mean that the laws should be “placed before them”? It should be just like a meal is set out for a meal – ready for eating. I.e. when you are serving cholent for Shabbat lunch, you don’t put out raw potatoes, meat, and barley! You have it all ready and prepared before-hand so they can dive right in and enjoy a tasty lunch!

So too with the mitzvot Hashem tell Moshe Rabeinu – don’t just teach it to them by rote till they have it memorized, giving them the ‘bare ingredients’. Rather Mitzvot should have taste, reason! (Ta’am in Hebrew means both ‘taste’ and ‘reason’.) Hashem is explaining to Moshe (and to us) the way to teach over the Torah to the next generation is yes, by explaining the motions and nuances of the laws – but teaching as well the REASON behind the mitzvoth, to make it an enjoyable experience as well.

When I lived in Jerusalem I used to go to a weekly Parsha class from Rabbi Avraham Feuer (author of the Artscoll Tehillim, and the Artscroll Igeret HaRamban). Unfortunately, I cannot remember the sefer we learnt, but it was a Rabbi from Europe who was murdered in the Holocaust. He has an interesting take which is as follows: You shall place these laws before them ready to go – meaning placed in the right order. I’ll explain with an example: We have a positive commandment of oneg Shabbat – taking delight in Shabbat (Isaiah 58:13). Oneg in Hebrew is spelled . However, if you place the letters in a different order, it becomes the words , something that is repulsive. Mitvot, without them being taught well, with the WAY to do them as well as their MEANING (ta’am), with them being placed in front of us in their beautiful entirety – can indeed become repulsive, something that I do not want and see no purpose bringing into my life.

We see this as well in the prayer “yismichu” that we all say in the musaf amidah : “They shall rejoice in your Kingship. [Who shall rejoice? Those who] observe the Shabbat and call it Oneg”. Because as we have explained – Shabbat (as one example of the all the mitzvoth), with all of its’laws can either become something repulsive and something I don’t want in my life – or if explained to us right can be something that is beautiful and enriching. That is why Hashem implores of Moshe at the outset of teaching the 613 mitzvot – do this right, or it won’t work at all.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Akiva Naiman