Weekly Parsha

Mazal Tov to: Alex Michoel Tavares

Pray for Refuah Sheimah: Stephen Waczkiewicz (Shimon ben Sarah), Yossefa (Josie) bat Sharon, Rafael ben Gladis and Esther Bracha bat Sarah.

Continue Praying for: Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) bat Zulay, Adina (Heidi) bat Sarah and Yosefa (Josie) bat Sharon.

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, 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, the Three Festivals (Pesach, Shavuot & 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.

"If a person steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he must pay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for the sheep" (Exodus 21:37).

Why is the fine for stealing a sheep less than the fine for stealing an ox? What lesson can we learn from this for our lives?

The reason the thief pays less for a sheep is because he has to carry it on his shoulders to run away faster when stealing it. Running with a sheep on one's shoulders in public is embarrassing and this embarrassment is a partial punishment in itself.

Even a coarse thief experiences a slight embarrassment which lightens the punishment, then all the more so if one suffers embarrassment or humiliation while doing a good deed, the action is elevated and the reward will be very great!

Our lesson: According to the pain and difficulty of performing a mitzvah is the reward. If others mock or denigrate your efforts to do a mitzvah, then focus not on the temporal pain but the greatness and the eternity of the reward! 

The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger ...

Shabbat Shalom

R. Ovadiah Tank

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Please email RabbiTank@ajc.education or WhatsApp +1 (917) 834-4770 for more information. 

Rabbi Tank is a professor at American Jewish College where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern usefulness and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and he is happy to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming for communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated in Chabad Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He has got a Degree in Biblical Archeology from Bar Ilan University and a Harvard Degree in Judaic Studies. He got his Bachelor's in Business Administration and he also earned a degree in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank works with active involvement in peace negotiations and humanitarian relief operations an he is a Member of the National White House Faith Leaders, an Executive Office of the President of the United States.

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