ON THE PARSHA
          Parshas Mishpatim

          by Dovid Lipman, Jerusalem


The World Of The Supernatural

     (24:16) "And Hashem's glory rested on Har Sinai..." According
to some opinions in the gemara (Yoma 3b-4b), there were several
reasons that Hashem wanted Moshe to wait six days until he went up
to get the luchos. First, he sanctified himself by separation from
the community. Secondly, this was the beginning of the forty days,
during which he did not eat or drink, so after six days there was
no trace of eating within him, and he resembled an angel. Finally,
it gave him time to think about the severity of his mission to
receive the Torah, so he would approach it with trembling and awe.

A Time To Laugh

     (23:26) "There will be no..." A humble congregant came before
Rabbi Shmoe, with a concerned look and a question. "Rabbi, are we
for or against abortion?" "My boy," answered the Rabbi, "it says
clearly in Mishpatim, 'There will be no miscarrying or infertile
women in your land,' which is the well-known source for the Issur
of abortion and birth control. However, the language 'in your land'
shows that the mitzva only applies in Israel, so in America there
is obviously no problem with either one."

Worthy Of Note

     (23:5) "...the donkey of your enemy..." The Chofetz Chaim 
warned married men to help their wives deal with any difficulty
they had in life. He had an unusual source in the Torah to shed
light on this mitzva. "The Torah tells us to help an enemy whose
donkey is collapsing under its load. How much more, then do we
have to help even an enemy if he himself is collapsing under his
load! And imagine how much we must help a friend with his load!
And if that is with a friend, how much more for a wife!"

From the Gemara

     (21:13) Makkos 7b - Although the unintentional killer goes
to the city of refuge, he must be "not planned at all", so even
if he planned to throw a rock two amos, but it went four amos
and killed someone, he does not go to the city of refuge.
     (22:6) Bava Kamma 69b - The double payment for secretive
theft (g'neiva) requires that it be stolen "from the man's
house" - not from another thief, who himself had stolen it.
     (24:10) Yoma 15b - The language 'the purity part of the
altar' can be explained as referring to the top, from which the
ashes are cleared off, just as "the purity of the heavens" is
a reference to the sky being clear.

Rare And Unusual Words

     (22:22) "Ki Im". The common translation of the pasuk is,
"because ['ki'] if ['im'] he calls out to Me...", but the
Ramban says it means the idiomatic 'ki im', which means 'only'.
"You plan to oppress the poor, for you think no one defends
him. In truth, he is much better protected than people with
connections - he has only to call to Me, and I avenge him."

Mitzvah Digest (All but 15 are being overflowed to next 4 weeks.)
          [The four categories of property damage are indicated.]

42) A man must deal with a Jewish servant according to halacha, to
    exhibit the traits of kindness and mercy to those in our care.
43) A man who has a Jewish female servant should marry her, to
    enable her to be happy and content, or his son should.
44) A man who does not marry his Jewish female servant should
    count her work to an account to free her early.
45) A man may not sell a Jewish female servant to someone else.
46) A man must provide his wife with food, clothing, and normal
    marital relations, even if he has more than one wife.
47) An appropriate person must kill murderers and certain others
    by strangling, to teach the severity of the sin.
48) One may not strike one's parents, even if they strike first.
49) An appropriate person must deal with one who wounds another,
    according to the halacha.
50) An appropriate person must kill one who murders his servant,
    and certain others, by decapitation.
"SHOR":
51) An appropriate person must deal with one whose property does
    damage to anothers in an unusual way, according to the halacha.
52) One may not eat the meat of an animal which is judged to be
    stoned because it killed a human being.
"BOR":
53) An appropriate person must deal with one whose property does
    damage to anothers by being an obstacle, acc. to the halacha.
54) An appropriate person must deal with one who steals secretly,
    according to the halacha, and he may be killed when entering.
"SHEN V'REGEL":
55) An appropriate person must deal with one whose property does
    damage to anothers in a normal way, according to the halacha.
"AISH":
56) An appropriate person must deal with one whose property does
    damage to anothers by its nature to travel, acc. to the halacha.