Parsha
​Snapshot
Mishpatim
The Jews have experienced Revelation at Sinai and received the Ten Commandments
Mishpatim means “Laws;” this Parsha lists a variety of laws, many pertaining to other people’s property. A sampling of topics includes:
  • Limitations on the term of an indentured servant; a husband’s obligation to provide for his wife; the distinction between murder and accidental killing.
 
  • Personal injury and property damage, which take four basic forms:
A human being who injures another human being is liable for as many as five separate payments: permanent loss of ability to work, temporary loss of ability to work while recuperating, medical expenses, physical pain and embarrassment. [The oft-misinterpreted “eye for an eye,” found in this Parsha, means payment of the eye’s monetary value.]
An ox or any other animal can cause damage by “walking” or “eating” – normal activities – or “goring” – willful destruction. In the latter case, a distinction is drawn between a first-time offender and a habitual “goring ox,” which has done so three times. [Hence the concept that “three times establishes a trend,” a principle with bearing on many areas of Jewish law.]
A pit or other obstacle in the public domain.
Fire or other inanimate object that travels by forces of nature.
  • Liability of a watchman:
An unpaid watchman is liable only for negligence.
A paid watchman is liable even for loss or theft.
A borrower is liable for any mishap that occurs.
  • The prohibition against harassing widows, orphans and converts; the obligation to offer a free loan to those in need, and the prohibition against charging interest; the obligation to return lost objects, and the prohibition against ignoring them; the commandment to assist a traveler whose beast of burden  has collapsed– even if he happens to be your enemy.
 
  • A summary of the Jewish holidays.
 
  • The prohibition against combining meat and milk.
The Parsha concludes with a flashback to the events preceding the Revelation at Sinai. The Jewish People declared, “All that God has spoken we shall do and we shall hear – ” indicating their readiness to do what God would command, even before they had a chance to hear what He expected of them. God was greatly pleased by this expression of faith and trust in Him.
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