Mishpatim – Peninim on the Torah

כי תראה חמור שנאך רבץ תחת משאו וחדלת מעזב לו – עזב תעזב עמו

If you see the donkey of someone you hate crouching under its burden, would you refrain from helping him? You shall help repeatedly with him. (23:5)

“Someone you hate.” Jews are not supposed to hate. V’ahavta l’reiacha kamocha; “Love your fellow as yourself” is a cornerstone of our faith. Obviously, this is not the common hatred based on envy and other social flaws. This must be a hate that falls under the rubric of permissibility, such as a fellow Jew who persistently commits sinful behavior – despite being warned and admonished repeatedly to desist from his spiritually egregious activities. Until that time that he listens and repents, he may be the focus of our disdain and even loathing. Such a person harms not only himself, but…

Home -> 5786 -> Mishpatim

ורפא ירפא

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5786

He shall provide for healing. (21:18)

Horav Aharon Leib Shteinman, zl, asks why the closing b’rachah, Bircas Refa’einu, the blessing for healing, is Rofeh cholei Amo Yisrael; Hashem heals the Jewish people. Does He not heal everyone? If Hashem does not “agree” to the patient being healed, he will not be healed. He explains, based upon a story that occurred when the Gaon, zl, m’Vilna, refused to turn to doctors for assistance in healing. He was a firm believer (following Ramban, commentary to Vayikra 20:11) that one who fears and places his trust only in Hashem will be healed by the Divine Himself. Nonetheless, during his…

Home -> 5786 -> Mishpatim

ורצע אדניו את אזנו במרצע ועבדו לעלם

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5786

And the master shall bore through his ear with the awl, and he shall serve him forever. (21:6)

Chazal (Kiddushin 22b) explain why the ear is the organ of the body that is pierced: “It is the ear that heard on Har Sinai that Bnei Yisrael should be servants (only) to Me, and this man went and acquired a (new) master for himself.” The obvious question is: if the purpose of the piercing is to reprimand the eved, bondsman, for continuing his servitude, why was it not pierced when he originally sold himself to pay for his ill-begotten debts? Why wait until the end of his tenure? Furthermore, why is the master the one who bores the ear?…

Home -> 5785 -> Mishpatim

לא תהיה אחרי רבים לרעת ולא תענה על רב לנטת אחרי רבים להטת

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5785

Do not be a follower of the majority for evil; and do not respond to a grievance by yielding to the majority to pervert the law. (23:2)

Rashi explains that, when one sees wicked people perverting justice, he should not say to himself, “They are the majority. What will I gain by disagreeing with them?” On the contrary, one must do what is right – regardless of how many people do what is wrong – and regardless of the eventual repercussions. The question is obvious: What would possess a person to do something wrong, just because everybody else is doing it? We do not follow reshaim, wicked people. The fact that everybody is acting inappropriately does not make it right. Horav Meir Soloveitchik, zl, explains that a…

Home -> 5785 -> Mishpatim

וגר לא תונה ולא תלחצנו כי גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5785

You shall not taunt or oppress a stranger, for a you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (22:20)

Sensitivity to the helpless and abandoned is a given, a concept that we should all understand. Unfortunately, a tendency exists among insecure people, who contend with a negative image of themselves, to take advantage of those who are weak. Nonetheless, for the most part, the average person does not walk around with poor self-esteem. Why does the Torah underscore that we should not take advantage of the stranger, because we, too, were once strangers? The simple understanding is that we should know how it feels to be excluded, to be different. When we have personally experienced behavior which is uncomfortable…

Home -> 5785 -> Mishpatim

חמשה בקר ישלם תחת השור וארבע צאן תחת השה

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5785

He shall pay five cattle in place of the ox, and four sheep in place of the sheep. (21:37)

If one steals cattle or sheep and either sells or slaughters it, he pays not only the principle, but an added fine. If he steals, but neither sells nor slaughters the animal, he is fined keifel, double-principle plus one. The fines apply only to one who is a thief (an individual who conceals his act of theft). A gazlan, robber (an individual who steals brazenly without fear of people), pays no fine. Chazal (Bava Kamma 79B) record a dialogue that ensued between Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai and his students. They asked why such a variance exists in the reimbursement of…

Home -> 5785 -> Mishpatim

וכי יכה איש את עבדו או את אמתו בשבט ומת תחת ידו נקם ינקם

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5785

If a man shall strike his slave or his maidservant with the rod, and he shall die under his hand, He shall surely be avenged. (21:20)

The Torah addresses a very sad situation in which a Jewish master strikes his non-Jewish slave with such force that he kills him. The master is liable for the death penalty; Nakeim yinakeim, “He shall surely be avenged.” It is sad for a number of reasons. First, a Jew is to be executed for a violent act of murder. Second, is the fact that we can have among us a person of such low character that he can kill another human being – for whatever reason. This pasuk obviously does not apply to the normal ben Torah, observant Jew, whose…

Home -> 5785 -> Mishpatim

ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5785

And they should take for Me a portion, from every man whose heart motivates him (25:2)

How are we to understand the profound nature of v’yikchu Li– take for Me? Chazal (Sotah 13b) describe Moshe Rabbeinu’s “funeral” and the eulogy which Hashem rendered for him: Mi yakum li im mireim, mi yisyatzev li im poalei aven; “Who will rise up for Me against evildoers? Who will stand up for Me against those who commit iniquity?” (Tehillim 94:16) Now that Moshe was no longer on this earth, who would serve in his capacity? What about Yehoshua, Moshe’s trusted disciple, and the seventy Elders? Why could they not be counted on to step into Moshe’s role? Why could…

Home -> 5784 -> Mishpatim

אם ענה תענה אתו כי אם צעק יצעק אלי שמע אשמע צעקתו

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5784

If you [dare to] cause him pain! For if he shall cry out to Me, I shall surely hear his outcry. (22:22)

Horav Shimshon Pincus, zl, derives an important principle concerning tefillah and its efficacy. When a person is confronted with adversity of any kind, he runs from person to person, doctor to doctor, brachah to brachah. In addition, “he also” prays to Hashem. Regardless of the circumstances – financial, health, family – the observant Jew makes a point to cover all the bases – even praying to Hashem. After all, one must make hishtadlus, endeavor. When a poor person goes from house to house begging for alms and, included among the many houses that he visits is the wealthiest man in…

Home -> 5784 -> Mishpatim

אם ענה תענה אתו כי אם צעק יצעק אלי שמע אשמע צעקתו

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5784

If you [dare to] cause him pain! For if he shall cry out to Me, I shall surely hear his outcry. (22:22)

Causing pain to someone who is already suffering the pangs of loneliness is ethically and morally indefensible. It is such a heinous act that one is stymied to justify such behavior. As human beings, we possess the capacity for empathy and compassion. When we ignore the feelings of others and deliberately cause them pain, it contradicts the basic foundation of our humanity. In other words, such an aggriever is not a mentch, decent human being. Hashem says that He will listen to the cries of the afflicted. Clearly causing pain is reprehensible under all circumstances. It is especially cruel when…

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Back to Home -> Mishpatim ->

כי תראה חמור שנאך רבץ תחת משאו וחדלת מעזב לו – עזב תעזב עמו

If you see the donkey of someone you hate crouching under its burden, would you refrain from helping him? You shall help repeatedly with him. (23:5)

ורפא ירפא

He shall provide for healing. (21:18)

ורצע אדניו את אזנו במרצע ועבדו לעלם

And the master shall bore through his ear with the awl, and he shall serve him forever. (21:6)

לא תהיה אחרי רבים לרעת ולא תענה על רב לנטת אחרי רבים להטת

Do not be a follower of the majority for evil; and do not respond to a grievance by yielding to the majority to pervert the law. (23:2)

וגר לא תונה ולא תלחצנו כי גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים

You shall not taunt or oppress a stranger, for a you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (22:20)

חמשה בקר ישלם תחת השור וארבע צאן תחת השה

He shall pay five cattle in place of the ox, and four sheep in place of the sheep. (21:37)

וכי יכה איש את עבדו או את אמתו בשבט ומת תחת ידו נקם ינקם

If a man shall strike his slave or his maidservant with the rod, and he shall die under his hand, He shall surely be avenged. (21:20)

ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו

And they should take for Me a portion, from every man whose heart motivates him (25:2)

אם ענה תענה אתו כי אם צעק יצעק אלי שמע אשמע צעקתו

If you [dare to] cause him pain! For if he shall cry out to Me, I shall surely hear his outcry. (22:22)

אם ענה תענה אתו כי אם צעק יצעק אלי שמע אשמע צעקתו

If you [dare to] cause him pain! For if he shall cry out to Me, I shall surely hear his outcry. (22:22)

YEARS

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

You have Successfully Subscribed!