MISHPATIM, EXODUS 21:1–24:18

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 MISHPATIM,  EXODUS 21:1–24:18

The Parshah of Mishpatim contains 53 mitzvot—23 positive commandments and 30 prohibitions.

Among other things we learn that Hashem has legislated a series of laws for us Israelites:

 Laws of the indentured servant and slaves.

Penalties for murder, kidnapping, assault and theft.

An Eye for An Eye.

 Granting of loans.

Laws warning against mistreatment of foreigners.

Observance of the seasonal festivals.

 Prohibition against cooking meat with milk.

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                            Slave Market in Cairo, Egypt & Nubia. David Roberts, between 1845 and 1849.

Laws of slavery are the very first laws given to the newly freed Israelites following the Ten Commandments. They are found in the collection of laws in Exodus Chapters 21–23. Those who have just left slavery themselves are told by God what to do when acquiring a slave.  When Hashem freed us from our Egyptian masters, God acquired the right to be our master; that right precludes any human being from acquiring Israelites as slaves.  (Reuven Hammer "The Torah Revolution")

Our exodus from Egypt can be considered as a Slave Revolt. It should be no surprise then that the very first decrees given by God to the newly freed Israelites are rules relating to Hebrew slaves. They are found in Exodus 21:1-11.  The first six relate to the treatment and emancipation of a male Hebrew slave and the following to a female.  Additional verses that relate to setting free slaves that are injured are found at 21:26-27.

Slavery is a system in which principles of property law are applied to people. Slavery allows a slave master to own, buy and sell individuals. A slave is a form of property. In our Talmud class on tractate Bava Basra at 149b it was made clear that a Canaanite slave was considered property that can be passed on from generation to another.

Slaves are unable to withdraw unilaterally from such an arrangement and they work without pay. The evil of slavery is so obvious, it seems unnecessary to even to mention it. But do not forget that slavery and human trafficing still exists. Depending on your definition, 20- 40 million people are in some form of slavery today.

PLEASE NOTE: Although the Chumash mentions slavery as an established institution, a Jew has only one master, and that is God.

                       

When we were slaves in Egypt, Hashem freed us from servitude, from Egyptian bondage. Because we are a people of compassion and moral justice, slavery and having slaves is not part of our social fabric.

                           

This is borne out in the Haftorah portion which is from Jeremiah in part Chapter 34:8-22.

It is 586 BCE.  Nebuchadnezzar is breathing down our neck.  The Kingdom of Judah is about to fall.

We are given an opportunity by Hashem to avert the destruction of Jerusalem, if only we free our slaves. Slave holders take a sacred oath in the Temple to do this, but renege on their word…

Result: The Temple is destroyed; the Kingdom is lost; we go into Exile.

What a bunch of fools we were!

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In Parshat Mishpatim at 21:23 we are taught “עַ֚יִן תַּ֣חַת עַ֔יִן שֵׁ֖ן תַּ֣חַת”, "An eye for an eye".

This is a principle that is sometimes referred to as reciprocal justice or measure for measure ( מדה קנגד מדה) or in Latin, lex talionis, the law of retaliation or possibly equitable retribution. On its face this principle seems pretty straight forward: A person who has injured another person is to be penalized to a similar degree by the injured party.

I think the original intention of “An eye for an eye” may have been two-fold:

· To prevent excessive punishment at the hands of either an avenging private party or his Family or Clan or Tribe. It served to prevent feuds and vendettas.

· To ensure that the standard of care for a wealthy perpetrator, who may wish to buy his way out, be the same as for an improvised person.

At the time when we received the Torah at Mt. Sinai there was a Babylonian legal code present in Mesopotamia called the Code of Hammurabi. Included in this code was the principle of “An eye for an eye”. What the law would have been in Egypt I do not know. I do know that 500 years later at the time of the Judges, as shown in 1:5-7 and Chapters 20 and 21 the law of retaliation was still in force.

Looking at the Book of Numbers, Chapter 35: 31-32 except for the crime of intentional or unintentional murder it may have been possible for a monetary payment, כֹפֶר to be acceptable in place of bodily punishment. It is a stretch though.

Sometime later, it is hard to say when, the lex talionis was "humanized" by the Rabbis who interpreted "an eye for an eye" to mean reasonable monetary compensation. The Rabbis of the Talmud interpreted it that way. And it is so today.

Question: Is this dangerous ground?  Is the reinterpretation of lex talionis an example of the ability of Judaism to adapt to changing social and intellectual ideas?

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In Chapter 23, verse 20 Hashem says Moses:

הִנֵּ֨ה אָֽנֹכִ֜י שֹׁלֵ֤חַ מַלְאָךְ֙ לְפָנֶ֔יךָ לִשְׁמָרְךָ֖ בַּדָּ֑רֶךְ וְלַֽהֲבִ֣יאֲךָ֔ אֶל־הַמָּק֖וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֲכִנֹֽתִי

“Behold, I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.”

The question then is: Who or where is this Angel?

We have to wait until Chapter 5, verses 13-14 of the Book of Joshua to maybe come up with an answer:

“And it was when Joshua was in Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and saw, and, behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand; and Joshua went to him, and said to him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries?

And he said, No, but I am the captain of the host of the Lord; I have now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and prostrated himself, and said to him, What does my lord say to his servant?”

We repeat the verses from our Parsha as part of the Wayfarer's Prayer.

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At 24:12, Moses ascends Har Sinai and remains there for forty days and forty nights.

וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, עֲלֵה אֵלַי הָהָרָה--וֶהְיֵה-שָׁם; וְאֶתְּנָה לְךָ אֶת-לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶן, וְהַתּוֹרָה וְהַמִּצְוָה, אֲשֶׁר כָּתַבְתִּי, לְהוֹרֹתָם

“And the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to Me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets, the Law and the commandments, which I have written to instruct them."

In Chapter 32 when Moshe does descend, it will be suprise-suprise.