(1) Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them.
RABBI JONATHAN SACKS:
On the opening phrase of Mishpatim – “And these are the laws you are to set before them” – Rashi comments: “And these are the laws” – Wherever uses the word “these” it signals a discontinuity with what has been stated previously. Wherever it uses the term “and these” it signals a continuity. Just as the former commands were given at Sinai, so these were given at Sinai. Why then are the civil laws placed in juxtaposition to the laws concerning the altar ? To tell you to place the Sanhedrin near to the Temple. “Which you shall set before them” – God said to Moses: You should not think, I will teach them a section or law two or three times until they know the words verbatim but I will not take the trouble to make them understand the reason and its significance. Therefore the Torah states “which you shall set before them” like a fully laid table with everything ready for eating. (Rashi on Shemot 23:1)
(Some) remarkable propositions are being set out here, which have shaped the contours of Judaism ever since.
The first is that just as the general principles of Judaism (aseret hadibrot means not “ten commandments” but “ten utterances” or overarching principles) are Divine, so are the details. In the 1960s the Danish architect Arne Jacobson designed a new college campus in Oxford. Not content with designing the building, he went on to design the cutlery and crockery to be used in the dining hall, and supervised the planting of every shrub in the college garden. When asked why, he replied in the words of another architect, Mies van der Rohe: “God is in the details”.
What is Rabbi Sacks' understanding of God's role in the evolution of Jewish Law?
Does Sack's interpretation of "God is in the details" differ from the Reform Jewish understanding of God's relationship to Jewish Law?
The second principle, no less fundamental, is that civil law is not secular law. We do not believe in the idea “render to Caesar what is Caeser’s and to G-d what belongs to G-d”. We believe in the separation of powers but not in the secularisation of law or the spiritualisation of faith. The Sanhedrin or Supreme Court must be placed near the Temple to teach that law itself must be driven by a religious vision. The greatest of these visions, stated in this week’s sedra, is: “Do not oppress a stranger, because you yourself know how it feels like to be a stranger: you were strangers in Egypt.” (Shemot 23:9)
(9) And a stranger shall you not oppress; for you know the soul of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
This injunction that occurs 36 times in the Torah. Compare to Exodus 22:20
(20) And a stranger shall you not wrong, neither shall you oppress him; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
What are the differences between the two formulations of this commandment?
What do these verses identify as the motivation for protecting the stranger? What do you think it means to “know the soul of the stranger”?
How does this text resonate with you?
The verses above are often used to support Jewish involvement in efforts to support and protect the most vulnerable and marginalized members of society and the world. One such example is as follows:
Rabbi Joachim Prinz, Speech at the 1963 March on Washington for civil rights . . . From our Jewish historic experience of three and a half thousand years we say: Our ancient history began with slavery and the yearning for freedom. During the Middle Ages my people lived for a thousand years in the ghettos of Europe. Our modern history begins with a proclamation of emancipation. It is for these reasons that it is not merely sympathy and compassion for the black people of America that motivates us. It is, above all and beyond all such sympathies and emotions, a sense of complete identification and solidarity born of our own painful historic experience. (Prinz, Rabbi Joachim. Speech at the 1963 March on Washington) |
How does Prinz characterize the Jewish historic experience?
How does his application of Exodus 22:20 and 23:9 speak to you today?
Steven Bayme, “American Jewry Confronts the Twenty-First Century” The Jewish story in America has been an unprecedented success story. The outer lives of Jews as Americans elicit the envy of virtually every other ethnic and religious grouping. Jewish security rests on firm bases, and Jewish social and economic upward mobility remain high. By the criteria of educational and income achievements, Jews have done extremely well. - Steven Bayme, “American Jewry Confronts the Twenty-First Century,” American Jewry’s Comfort Level: Present and Future, eds. Manfred Gerstenfeld and Steven Bayme (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 2010) |
47 years after Prinz, how does Bayme characterize the Jewish experience in America? Which of these texts resonates more with your experience of being Jewish?
To what extent do you think it is possible to “know the soul” of people who are oppressed if your experience is grounded in privilege?
Is empathy or a personal experience of oppression a necessary component of social justice activism? How might the experience of success affect Jews’ motivation to “not oppress the stranger” today?
Conclusion
For many Jews, “we were strangers in Egypt” is the rallying cry that motivates the sense of responsibility to stand in solidarity with those in America and around the world who continue to experience oppression today. But many in the American Jewish community have attained great power and privilege, taking us further from knowing the heart of the stranger than we were half a century ago.
Given this shift, what aspect of your Jewish identity motivates your commitment to pursue justice for those who are vulnerable and marginalized today?
(In other words, motivates you if you don't relate to the experience of being oppressed?)
May we draw on both the opportunities that have come with prosperity and the lessons of our history to motivate and inspire us to engage in the pursuit of justice for all.
This source sheet drew on the following online resources:
http://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation-mishpatim-in-the-details/
http://ajws.org/what_we_do/education/publications/dvar_tzedek/5772/mishpatim.html