The Fine Print

January 24-25, 2014 / 25 Shevat 5774

Shabbat Mishpatim - Shekalim

Torah – Exodus 21:1–24:18 & 30:11-16 / Haftarah –II Kings 12:1-17

“The Fine Print”

Dear Friends,

Last week, the broad principles and this week, the fine print. Last week, our ancestors received the Ten Commandments.  This week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim or “Laws,” contains a long list of rules and instructions regarding the creation of a just society. 

Twice in the portion, we find a commandment telling us to care for the stranger or the outsider in our midst.  “You shall love the stranger” and “You shall not oppress the outsider.”  In fact this commandment appears thirty-six times in the Torah, more than any other commandment!  The reason given is that each one of us knows what it was like to be a stranger in the Land of Egypt, powerless, oppressed, poor, and hungry.  Now, with the Children of Israel finally free, we are commanded to help all those in need.

This becomes the basis for our Jewish commitment to Social Action, first, because it is just and righteous, and second, because we have experienced deprivation and are now in a position to help others.  Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught: “To be a Jew is not simply to be, but to stand for.”  Rabbi Leo Baeck wrote: “We are Jews for the sake of humanity.”  Professor Isadore Twersky observed: “One cannot claim to be a God-intoxicated Jew without a passion for social justice.”

There is always so much that we can do as individuals and as a Jewish community to help those in need. Thus, this week’s Torah portion is a call to action - to be more aware to the suffering and need around us, to help, to give of ourselves, and to make a difference.

We must always be there to assist the outsider and stranger in our midst.  We know what it is like.  God calls us.  Our tradition of ethics, morality, and justice demands nothing less.

Shabbat shalom.

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow