Video Study for Parsha Mishpatim : Mitzvot & More Mitzvot

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Shalom JTF friends,

Usually about this time of the week I start studying the weekly Torah portion. Most Jews will begin the weeks portion on Sunday, reading and studying each Aliyah (which on Shabbat there are 7 Aliyahs to the Torah in the reading) each day. I usually receive some good Dvar Torahs in my email box, but don't really start studying until Wednesday or Thursday. Anyway, this week we read the portion named 'Mishpatim' or 'Laws'. The portion is named this because it is one of the first Mitzvot packed portions, if my memory serves me there are about 53 mitzvot in the portion of Mishpatim. I find this portion interesting because it happens to be my Birthday portion (the portion which was read on the week I was born).

There is much discussion of the first commandment enumerated in Mishpatim concerning the treatment of the 'Eved Ivri' or the 'Hebrew Slave'. The Eved Ivri must be treated humanely and cannot be abused. He is to be set free after six years of service. There are various cases concerning when the slave is injured and he must be set free. I have heard it said that a 'Hebrew Slave' was actually treated better than the slave owner because there is an idea that if there is only one pillow in the house that the Hebrew slave must get it and not the owner.

The portion goes on to explain various laws concerning property responsibility (paying if your animals gore your neighbors animals or your neighbors property) and of establishing boundries. I believe the command to not mix milk and meat occurs in our portion. This portion also contains the command regarding Tefillah (prayer)...

And Mishpatim also contains the famous response of Israel when given the commandments, we all said 'We will do, and we will hear' which suggests that we accepted the commandments fully, without needing to know why or how exactly but putting our faith in Hashem. Only after accepting them would we inquire about them to understand better why Hashem asks these things of us.


From Chabads 'Parasha in a Nutshell' :

Following the revelation at Sinai, G‑d legislates a series of laws for the people of Israel. These include the laws of the indentured servant; the penalties for murder, kidnapping, assault and theft; civil laws pertaining to redress of damages, the granting of loans and the responsibilities of the “Four Guardians”; and the rules governing the conduct of justice by courts of law.

Also included are laws warning against mistreatment of foreigners; the observance of the seasonal festivals, and the agricultural gifts that are to be brought to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem; the prohibition against cooking meat with milk; and the mitzvah of prayer. Altogether, the Parshah of Mishpatim contains 53 mitzvot—23 imperative commandments and 30 prohibitions.

G‑d promises to bring the people of Israel to the Holy Land, and warns them against assuming the pagan ways of its current inhabitants.

The people of Israel proclaim, “We will do and we will hear all that G‑d commands us.” Leaving Aaron and Hur in charge in the Israelite camp, Moses ascends Mount Sinai and remains there for forty days and forty nights to receive the Torah from G‑d.

Let us start the videos with Rabbi Shafier:

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Rabbi Svirsky discusses this mitzvah laden portion:

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Here is a very short one from Rabbi Weisblum...

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The always mystical Rabbi Chaim Richman with his Torah in Ten presentation of Mishpatim...

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Here is the animated G-dcast Torah portion...

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Let us hear from Rabbi Machlis in Israel...

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Here is Rabbi Odze...

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Rabbi Nagin from Otniel on the relation of these laws and the Ten Commandments..

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From OhrGanuz, the always interesting Rabbi Pinchas Winston...

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One more then it's off to sleep for me... Here is the latest posting from Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem.

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Here is expressed the idea concerning the treatment of the Eved Ivri, the Hebrew slave, and the Talmud discussion regarding who gets the 'only pillow'...

http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5761/mishpatim.html
The Torah is telling us how one must treat another human being. Which human being does the Torah choose to illustrate this point? The thief! The mere word conjures up the image of a despicable character. This person, who in other societies is thrown into jail to rot away, is not to be so treated in a Jewish society. He, too, is a human being whose respect we must maintain. Our Sages tell us that when one acquires an indentured servant, it is like he has acquired a master for himself (based on the restrictions and obligations imposed on the owner).

The Talmud [Kiddushin 20a] says that if a person only has one pillow, he must give the pillow to his servant rather than take it for himself. If the Torah goes so far in the treatment of a thief to preserve his dignity and self-image, then how must we treat someone who is not a thief but rather is our peer, our equal, our next door neighbor?

The tone for the very infrastructure of the laws governing our inter-societal behavior is set with the laws of the indentured servant. If we can learn to appreciate that even the thief was created in the Image of G-d, then we can quickly understand why we must not cheat or insult or cause pain to or take advantage of anyone in society.

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http://www.aish.com/tp/b/lp/48943051.html

The Jewish Servant: A Jew stole money and cannot repay it. Instead of a debtor's prison where there is no option to repay, the court may sell him as an indentured servant and the money is used to pay his debt. He works for 6 years and then goes free.

If he desires to remain beyond the 6 years, the court pierces his ear against a doorpost, implying that he didn't listen at Sinai when God proclaimed that we are His servants and no longer slaves to any human. (The doorpost symbolizes the blood of the Passover offering put on the doorpost.) When he was first sold, he had no choice - but now he can have freedom and yet chooses to be a slave! He now remains a servant "forever," which means until the Jubilee year (see Leviticus 25:41).

This servitude, however, is not like anything we're familiar with. In Judaism, the master must treat his servant as an equal or better. If the master eats steak, so does the servant. If the master has a soft mattress and pillow, so does the servant. But - if there is only one steak (or one pillow, etc.) available, then the servant gets it!!

Furthermore, the master must take pains not to embarrass the servant in any way, and must also support the servant's wife and children. These rules are so much in favor of the servant that the Talmud declares: "Whoever acquires a servant, is as if he has acquired a master!"

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Here is Rabbi Trugman of BeThereIsrael talking about Mishpatim for about an hour...

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And another from the always interesting Rabbi Richman.

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From Los Angeles, Rabbi Yehuda Moses and TorahAnyTime.

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A Vlog from Rabbi Yitzak Ginsburg, the great Chassidic Rabbi...

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The 'other' Rabbi Ginsburg...

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Can't forget the great Rabbi Finkelstein...

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Rabbi Wilhelm , the Halacha Rabbi...