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“Distance yourself from a false word.” (23:7)

Integrity is much more than a virtue, a good character trait – it defines a human being. Indeed, there is no other negative command/transgression in the Torah where there is a  special warning to distance oneself. Falsehood can swallow up a person, overwhelm him. We try to justify our lack of integrity, saying it is not really a falsehood; it is for the purpose of a mitzvah; nothing really bad will come out of it. While all this may be true, the end result is that the person has lied. A white lie today becomes a major falsehood tomorrow. Horav…

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“You shall not revile G-d, and you shall not curse a leader among your people.” (22:27)

Words are cheap, and emotions, at times, run high. We might accidentally say something that we will regret later on. What we do not understand is that words have an effect and they might cause irreparable damage to another person, as the following story illustrates: A certain rav in Yerushalayim, a Slonimer chasid, did not have children for twenty-four years after his marriage. Ultimately, following a miraculous incident he and his wife were blessed with a child. He related that as a young man he was a student at Yeshivas Slonim in Yerushalayim. The woman who came nightly to clean…

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“You shall not persecute any widow or orphan.” (22:21)

One tear. Who can estimate the value of a tear shed by a lonely man, weeping over his sorry lot in life? Who can imagine the power  and  influence  of  a  tear  shed  by  a  poor  widow, bemoaning her fate, grieving over her loss, which is magnified every time she senses that vacuum in her life, the loneliness and feeling of helplessness that have now become her partner? Indeed, we cannot begin to calculate the value, the power and the influence which the tears of the broken-hearted generate. Every tear pierces through the heavens and is gathered before the Heavenly…

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“When you will buy a Hebrew servant.” (21:2)

Parashas Mishpatim deals primarily with civil and tort law. It begins with the laws regarding the eved Ivri, Hebrew slave. The Sefer HaChinuch explains that as a preamble to the laws of social justice, the Torah details the laws concerning the eved Ivri. We are to derive from here that, in order to achieve the necessary level of sanctity, the citizens of our emerging nation must exemplify compassion and act with kindness towards our fellowman. This begins with the slave whom we are to treat with extreme kindness, according him the respect a descendant of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov deserves….

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