Mishpatim D'var Torah

Mishpatim Summary:

God explained many rules and commandments to Moses, about things like how to treat slaves, that someone who murders another person must be killed, and what happens if an ox kills someone. He also commanded them to start celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the Feast of the Harvest (Shavuot), and the Feast of the Ingathering (Sukkot). God then called Moses to come up Mount Sinai to write down everything God had just said, so Moses went and stayed there for forty days and forty nights.

Commentary:

As mentioned above, this portion has a lot of rules about what to do in situations involving murder and killing. One thing it says is, “He who fatally strikes a man shall be put to death. If he did not do it by design, but it came about by an act of God, I will assign you a place to which he can flee” (Exodus 21:12-13). This is interesting because it makes a distinction that a person who kills another person is not always held responsible and punished for it. Torah commentator Abraham Ibn Ezra’s interpretation of this line says, “The meaning of our clause is that God caused and arranged things so that this person would die at this individual’s hand even though he had never intended to kill him. God caused this to happen to him so that he would be exiled from his place because of some other sin which he committed.” So, God apparently can control the world to make someone kill another person so that the killer can be punished for another bad thing they did. Once again, the theme of God making selfish decisions that we first saw a few weeks ago has appeared, for this seems like a lot of unnecessary casualties just to punish a person!

Yitro D'var Torah

Yitro Summary

Moses and his father-in-law, Jethro, were reunited. Jethro saw that Moses was taking on a large burden and responsibility as the leader of the Israelites, and he recommended that Moses delegate some of his work of settling disputes to other trustworthy people who could work with smaller groups from the population while bringing major disputes to Moses. Moses agreed to this plan, and he selected his new judges. Later, the Israelites went towards Mount Sinai, and God instructed Moses to come up the mountain while God appeared to the Israelites. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, and when Moses came back down, the people were scared of God but willing to obey Moses’ instructions from God.

Commentary:

God had an interesting test for the Israelites this week with the goal of strengthening the loyalty of the Israelites to Moses and to God. While God was giving the Ten Commandments to Moses, he created a big scene on Mount Sinai with thunder, lightning, horns, and fire. The people were scared, and they stood far away like Moses had told them to. When Moses came down, the people told him, “You speak to us, and we will obey; but let not God speak to us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:16). The people feared God, so they were more willing to listen to Moses just because they didn’t want to encounter God. Moses then answered, “Be not afraid; for God has come only in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may be ever with you, so that you do not go astray” (Exodus 20:17). So, God appeared to the Israelites in order to make them fear him and maintain their loyalty. God then gave Moses an additional message/explanation for the Israelites: “You yourselves saw that I spoke to you from the very heavens: With me, therefore, you shall not make any gods of silver, nor shall you make for yourselves any gods of gold” (Exodus 20:19-20). So, God made the Israelites fear him by appearing while also confirming his existence in order to enforce one of the goals from the Ten Commandments (no worshipping other gods or idols). This is one case where God actually came up with a clever leadership method to use on the Israelites- God wanted the Israelites to fear how much they loved him.

SA/TO Snap by Asher Blacker

  Right now, Texas is a battleground. The new Texas abortion law is extremely controversial. If you are wondering what the law is, it is a law that makes all abortions illegal in Texas. The law isn’t enforced by most laws, rather it is enforced by citizens who can sue someone for participating or aiding in an abortion. Even if someone drove their friend to get an abortion they could get sued for up to $10,000. This law is controversial since there are no exceptions even if the abortion is being sought due to incest or rape. Also, even the law allows abortion before six weeks of pregnancy, it is almost impossible for someone to get an abortion. Most women don't realize that they are pregnant at six weeks since there are not any signs at that point. The law will most likely stay in place but we should keep an eye on the case and see where it leads.

USY Shabbat!

There is no d’var Torah that will be posted on the blog this week; come to USY Shabbat to hear our thoughts on this week’s portion, Beshalach!

Bo D'var Torah

Bo Summary:

The eighth and ninth plagues of locusts and darkness occurred, and Pharaoh still refused (or God refused to let Pharaoh) let the Israelites go. God decided that the tenth plague would be the death of the first born child of all the Egyptians, and he marked that month as the first month of the year (Nisan) and the day as a day when a lamb should be sacrificed in a special way (the “Passover sacrifice”) with some of the blood put on the doorposts of the Israelites’ houses so that God would pass over their houses while killing the first born children. He said that this day would become a holiday, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Israelites would eat unleavened bread for seven days. After the first born were killed, Pharaoh finally allowed the Israelites to be free.

Commentary:

One interesting thing about the plagues is that after many of the plagues, when the Torah says that Pharaoh still refused to let the Israelites go, it says that is because God “stiffened” Pharaoh’s heart. At the beginning of this portion, God explains the reasoning behind this decision: “I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his courtiers, in order that I may display these my signs among them, and that you may recount in the hearing of your child and of your child’s child how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I displayed My signs among them—in order that you may know that I am the Lord” (Exodus 10:1-2). So, although God could control Pharaoh and make him let the Israelites go, God decides to make Pharaoh say no so that the Egyptians can suffer from plagues and be embarrassed just so that they realize that God is real. Just like how we saw many biblical leaders make poor, selfish decisions throughout Genesis, God starts to take up that role throughout Exodus (as we’ll see more throughout later portions), and this is a prime example of it- God made a whole country suffer just so they recognized him as “The Lord.”