PARASHAT MISHPATIM

The parsha of Mishpatim contains a wide variety of laws designed to

govern the conduct of one man towards another and the penalties for

violating these ordinances.  It is here we realize that to know the

laws of Jewish life one must know and understand their interpretations

and applications. The first word of the parsha Ayleh (and these) specifies these are the statutes of Tort and Civil law. Rashi, the famous biblical commentator, states the word Ayleh teaches us that wherever the word appears it nullifies the previous portion; but when you add the letter Vav (vehAyleh), it reaffirms and adds to the previous portion.  What the Torah wants us to understand is, just as the Ten Commandments were given at Sinai, so these Tort and Civil laws were also given at Sinai.

All the 613 mitzvot a'se and lo t'ase were given by God to Moshe and

passed on to the Bnai Yisrael.  Therefore, the first word and sentence

of the parsha presents in capsule form its content, providing a link

between the Ten Commandments and the ordinances.

Mishpatim is the foundation of our social code. It contains the main points and directions for living, and touches on every phase of human life.  First, it discusses the rights of persons; such as the treatment of slaves, murder, kidnapping, and personal injuries; then offences against property; and finally moral offences, including seduction, polytheism, behavior toward the weak, and the

stranger, etc.

Laws concerning man's duty to God are interspersed among these statutes. In Judaism, living righteously with one's fellow man is as important to God as worshipping Him.