Mishpatim 5786: What's the Point?

GOOD MORNING! This week I was in synagogue when someone disrupted the prayer service because, in his view, he had a public service announcement to make. He went on to speak for a couple of minutes, which resulted in prematurely ending the service. When questioned afterwards about why he did what he did, he gave some version of “the ends justify the means.”

Unfortunately, this sort of self-righteous attitude is not as uncommon as it should be in the religious community. Time and time again, I have seen individuals double park on a major thoroughfare completely blocking one lane because they “just had to run into the store for one minute to pick up their challahs before Shabbat.” The fact that they inconvenienced scores of people never figures into the equation

Of course, self-righteousness is hardly restricted to Orthodox Jews. I was once at a meeting of rabbis and community leaders hosted by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, of blessed memory. During introductions one of the temple presidents discussed the amazing growth they had seen in the last several months. They had gone from barely a minyan (a quorum needed for public prayers) on Friday nights to almost one hundred and fifty attendees.

Rabbi Steinsaltz asked him, “To what do you attribute this massive turnaround?” He answered that the new rabbi had brought a band and instruments to provide musical accompaniment to the Friday night service. Rabbi Steinsaltz responded, “That’s nice, but do you realize that all you really accomplished is that you brought many more people to far less of a synagogue service?”

The classic book Animal Farm, written by George Orwell as a thinly veiled metaphor of the failed Russian Revolution of 1917, underscores what happens when good intentions go awry because of the “human” condition that, ultimately, personal interests will supersede values. Everyone is susceptible, which is why it is imperative to have a moral code that is immutable – hence the Almighty gave us just such a moral compass via the Torah.

Growing up and raising a family in South Florida it is almost obligatory to make a yearly (or in case of absolute child neglect, a biannual) pilgrimage to Orlando to visit the world’s only people trap operated by a mouse. Many years ago, after a few trips experiencing the “magical fun” (of two hour waits for rides that are less than five minutes long, battling the Florida heat and humidity, and being subjected to hundreds of crying and complaining kids) I decided I needed to innovate a plan to conquer the challenges of Disney.

So innovate I did. I created a battle plan utilizing all of Disney’s incentives (Fast Passes, early park entry and late park hours for guests staying at their hotels, etc.) and managed to map out every single ride in the four Disney parks that I felt my kids would like. More incredibly, I managed to squeeze them ALL into one day – albeit a very intense day.

Of course, neither my wife nor my teenage daughters were up for this kind of nonsense. So, I took my three boys, then ranging in ages from 8-13, and we ran through all the parks, following my precise “battle plan,” which commenced at 7:30 am and finished at 2 am (at which point we were completely exhausted). By the end of that very hectic day we had hit all four parks and missed only two of the rides that I had targeted because my one hard and fast rule stipulated that I was unwilling to wait more than 10 minutes for a ride. For many years I looked back at this “achievement” with some pride; in my mind I had actually beaten Disney and avoided almost everything about it that I loathed.

But as I got older, I began to wonder if I had missed the point of Disney. Was a Disney experience really meant to be a challenge to be conquered instead of a family vacation? My wife, being a lot smarter than me, intuitively understood that what I was trying to do was going to be stressful and pressured, perhaps even stupidly so. She smartly steered clear of this endeavor and enjoyed her time with our daughters.

My annoyance and resentment led me to create a plan that actually may have defeated the point of going to Disney in the first place. In truth, much of what we do in life is filled with efforts that kind of miss the point of what you were trying to accomplish. It reminds me of the time I was in the hospital and had finally fallen into a restful sleep only to be awakened by a nurse who had been instructed to give me two pills to help me sleep.

People often seem to “miss the point” of religious observance as well. It is very easy to get so caught up in the minutiae of checking every box (like my Disney ride battle plan or following doctor’s orders) that we miss out on the experience. I have noticed many devoutly religious men come to synagogue late and speed read through all the prayers to make sure they say everything, seemingly forgetting that the purpose of prayer isn’t to say every word in the prayer book, it’s about having a conversation with the Almighty. So too one could speed read at home, but one goes to synagogue for the community aspect, which is lost when arriving late and not participating in communal services.

In this week’s Torah portion “Mishpatim – laws,” we have a remarkable exchange between the Almighty and Moses that highlights this exact point. The Torah reading opens with:

“And these are the laws which you shall set before them” (21:1).

The great biblical commentator known as Rashi notes that the Almighty told Moses, “Do not think that it is enough to teach them (all the laws) chapter and verse, two or three times until it is organized in their (minds) and that you do not have to bother to explain them and make them understand what those laws mean. Rather, you must teach them the reasons for the laws as well. This is why the verse says, ‘you shall set before them’ – it must be placed before them like a set table from which one is ready to eat.”

The Almighty seems to be concerned that Moses would feel that the most important thing to teach the Jewish people is what they have to do and how to do it. In other words, if Moses becomes concerned that he only has a limited amount of time to teach people, who also have a limited capacity to learn, he may decide not to spend the extra time explaining the reasons behind the mitzvot (commandments). Instead, he might focus on ensuring the people know every detail of how to fulfill the mitzvot and not on the underlying purpose of them.

Therefore, the Almighty informs him that it isn’t enough just do the mitzvot, the people must understand the reasons as well. Why is this true and what does the analogy of “a set table from which one could readily eat” mean?

The Torah is presenting one of the most important underlying principles of Judaism. There are two purposes in eating: nutrition and pleasure. When God tells Moses to organize it for them as a set table, He is referring to the presentation of the mitzvot.

Food presentation speaks not to the nutritional aspect but rather to the pleasurable aspect of eating. People will pay substantially more at a high-end restaurant where the presentation and ambiance add to the pleasure of the experience. Though Moses is focused on the commandments as a way to fortify the people, God is telling him that it isn’t enough to just fulfill them; the Jewish people are also meant to enjoy them.

Therefore, the Almighty informs Moses that the laws are to be presented in such a way that the nation should find pleasure in them and have a desire to do them. The ultimate lesson is that the Torah must be transformative. It isn’t enough to give charity; one must become a charitable person. A charitable person feels good and derives pleasure from helping others. It isn’t enough to keep Shabbat; one must connect to the spirit of Shabbat and take pleasure in everything it has to offer.

One can only accomplish this by understanding the reasons behind the mitzvot. When one begins to understand that everything God asks of us is really for our own good, one comes to the realization that all these laws were given to us in order to provide us with the best possible life. In this way we begin to anticipate the experience of every one of God’s commandments; only then can we begin to scratch the surface of all the good God has created for us in this world.

Mishpatim, Exodus 21:1 - 24:18

One of the most mitzvah-filled Torah portions, containing 23 positive commandments and 30 negative commandments. Included are laws regarding: the Hebrew manservant and maidservant, manslaughter, murder, injuring a parent, kidnapping, cursing a parent, personal injury, penalty for killing a slave, personal damages, injury to slaves, categories of damages and compensatory restitution, culpability for personal property damage, seduction, occult practices, idolatry, and oppression of widows, children, and orphans.

The portion continues with the laws of: lending money, not cursing judges or leaders, tithes, first-born sons, justice, returning strayed animals, assisting the unloading of an animal fallen under its load, Sabbatical year, Shabbat, and the Three Festivals (Pesach, Shavuot, and Succot).

Mishpatim concludes with the promise from the Almighty to lead us into the land of Israel, safeguard our journey, ensure the demise of our enemies, and guarantee our safety in the land – if we uphold the Torah and do the mitzvot. Moses makes preparations for himself and for the people and then ascends Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments.