Questions
and Commentary on Parashat Mishpatim
1. The reading of Parashat Mishpatim often occurs on the
special Shabbat known as Shabbat Sheqalim
(as it does this year). What is Shabbat
Sheqalim? What special passages are read in addition to Parashat Mishpatim on this Shabbat? What spiritual lessons do we learn from these
special readings?
Rabbi Jonathan
Kaplan
Shabbat Sheqalim commemorates the annual Temple
tax which was "required of every one in Israel"
and announced on the first day of Adar in antiquity (m. Sheqalim 1:1).
It occurs on the new moon of Adar when it falls on a Shabbat or on the Shabbat
preceding the new moon of Adar when the new moon falls on a weekday. This year Shabbat
Sheqalim occurs on February 17/29 Shevat.
There are two special readings for Shabbat
Sheqalim. The first (Exodus 30:11-16) is from the beginning of Parashat
Ki Tissa and serves as the Maftir ("conclusion") for the Torah
reading. The second (2 Kings 12:1-17 in Ashkenazi tradition) serves as the Haftara
reading for this Shabbat.
The Maftir reading from Exodus 30 describes
the census which God commanded the Israelite people to take. The census was to
be taken to see who would be responsible for contributing a half-shekel as
expiation money. After its donation this money would be assigned "to the
service of the Tent of Meeting" (30:16). The Haftara reading from 2
Kings 12 describes the implementation of this tax during the reign of King
Joash for the repair of the Temple.
There are two striking aspects to the practice of
the half-shekel. First, people over the age of twenty are to be enrolled and to
pay this tax not as a duty of citizenship or a membership fee in a club.
Rather, the half-shekel is an expiatory offering designed to assuage the
obligation they incur by being enrolled in the records. The half-shekel
expresses their commitment to the worship of God. If they pay the half-shekel,
their account with God is satisfied. If not, they risk a plague, a divine
punishment. This point challenges us to remember that our financial commitments
to our local synagogues are not merely membership dues but obligations we incur
to God for insuring the ongoing service and worship of our communities.
Second, the obligation to participate in this
offering is the same for everyone regardless of their station in society. "The
rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than half a shekel when
giving the LORD's offering as expiation for your persons" (Exodus 30:15).
Certainly for the rich such a contribution is not significant, but it emphasizes
that they have no greater stake in the maintenance of divine worship than
anyone else. All are equal in God's community. Yeshua expands on this point and
emphasizes the spiritual merit associated with the poor participating in the
offering of the half-shekel. Commenting on the gift of a poor widow, he says,
"Truly I tell, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of
them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has
put in all she had to live on" (Luke 21:3).
2. Parashat Mishpatim includes laws which
cover a wide spectrum of issues in daily life. One of the most famous of these
is the commandment not to "boil a kid in its mother's milk" (Exodus 23:19)? What is the reason for this odd restriction?
What general principles can we learn from it regarding our approach to
eating?
Rabbi Jonathan
Kaplan
In Exodus 23:19, we encounter the odd, almost
proverbial (as Propp has suggested) commandment - lo'-tevashel gedi bachalev
'immo "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." This commandment
appears two other times in the Torah (Exodus 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21) which is pretty significant given that
the command to observe Shabbat is only given about twice that many times.
Rashi, following the commentary in Mekhilta' DeRabbi Ishamel, Maseket Kaspa,
suggests that this repetition is significant. It teaches us that the
commandment was given "once to prohibit eating it, once to prohibit deriving
any benefit from it and once to prohibit cooking it."
This may be true, but Rashi's interpretation does
not give us the reason behind this restriction. Rashbam (Rashi's grandson)
offers one option. He writes,
It is extremely gluttonous to eat the milk of the mother with
the children. . . The text is teaching you the civilized path.
For Rashbam the cooking and consumption of a kid in
its mother's milk is an expression of gluttony or over-indulgence which often
characterizes the behavior of the uncivilized.
Ibn Ezra takes a slightly different approach. He
argues that this proverbial commandment is given to restrict an unethical
approach to life and to eating. He suggests,
We do not need to ask the reason for its prohibition for it
is hidden [even] from the eyes of the discerning. Perhaps it was given because
it exhibits cruelty to cook the kid with the milk of the mother. The
commandments "Do not slaughter an animal from the herd or flock with its
offspring" (Leviticus 22:28) and "Do
not take the mother with the offspring" (Deuteronomy 22:6) are similar. Just as
it is clear that the verse from Leviticus means you cannot eat them, so too you
cannot eat the kid in its mother's milk even if it were not "boiled."
Following earlier sages Ibn Ezra goes on to
extrapolate further restrictions against eating milk and meat together because
of the impossibility of truly knowing whether you are cooking with the milk of
the mother of the animal. Whereas Rashbam merely sees the practice as
uncivilized and gluttonous, Ibn Ezra proposes an interpretation which regards
the eating of milk and meat together as a moral question, because it exhibits
cruelty.
Ibn Ezra's interpretation challenges us to reflect
on the moral dimension of eating. For eating is not merely for our sustenance
or our joy but also gives expression to greater moral values.
J.
Goodman
Mark 2:1-12 - The Compassionate Authority of
Yeshua
While teaching in Capernaum
one day, Yeshua encounters a paralytic man, incapable of entering through a
common door to hear him teach. Carried by four faithful friends, he enters the
room through the roof. Honored by this demonstration of faith, Yeshua says to
the man, "Your sins are forgiven." In opposition, leaders of the law who are
present call Yeshua a blasphemer, noting that he has acted in a way which
belongs to God alone. Yeshua responds by saying, "Which is easer, to tell a man
his sins are forgiven or to tell him to get up, take up his mat, and walk?"
There are two major considerations that I have drawn
from this narrative. First, there is the issue of authority. Yeshua pronounces
the man's forgiveness of his sins so that they might know that it is God's
power that forgives and heals. He acts on the authority of this power without
hesitation.
Second, we see Yeshua's compassion. He is careful to
notice how the paralytic's friends helped lower him into the room. He is deeply
moved by this and responds by forgiving the paralytic. It seems he takes great
pleasure as such a gesture that was initiated by these friends based on their
faith in Yeshua. Then we see Yeshua's response, which may be interpreted as
compassionate toward the leaders of the law. They question Yeshua's authority,
but instead of retaliating, Yeshua gives them the response they desire. He
pronounces the words, "Get up and walk" to the paralytic, as the religious
leaders expected him to, because he wants to show that he understands from
where those who oppose him are coming from. He is graciously compassionate,
where he had already stated that the paralytic was healed of his sins, and
consequently, healing his spiritual condition heals his physical one. Yeshua
could have stopped there, but because he knew his opposition needed to hear him
differently in order to believe him, he humbly joins them at their level and
gives them what they want.
Yeshua has complete authority. He has all power in
heaven, on earth, and under the earth. He knows this, and at the same time, he
knows us. Humanity is curious with questions and explanations and sometimes,
just plain lacks faith. How do you allow Yeshua to reveal his compassionate
authority in your life? How do you need God to answer your questions? Can you
think of a time when Yeshua responded to you on his terms, not yours? How were
you able to see his response?
Think about the four faithful friends who with all
their faith believed Yeshua had the power to heal their friend. Risking
rejection, they proceeded to lower the man before Yeshua to give him what they
know he needs. Who do you know that needs the compassionate authority of
Yeshua? Trust that God will respond however they need, and they will see how to
"get up, take up their mat, and walk."
Parashat Mishpatim
1. The reading of Parashat
Mishpatim often occurs on the special Shabbat known as Shabbat Sheqalim
(as it does this year). What is Shabbat Sheqalim? What special passages
are read in addition to Parashat Mishpatim on this Shabbat? What spiritual lessons do we learn from these
special readings?
2. Parashat Mishpatim includes laws which cover a wide spectrum of issues in daily life. One
of the most famous of these is the commandment not to "boil a kid in its
mother's milk" (Exodus 23:19)? What is the reason for this odd restriction? What general principles
can we learn from it regarding our approach to eating?
NEXT WEEK'S READINGS
- PARASHAT TERUMA
Exodus
25:1-27:19
1
Kings 5:26-6:13
Matthew
11:2-19
UPCOMING YACHAD NETWORK EVENTS
3rd Annual Young Leaders Shabbaton
Beverly
Hills, CA ● June 8-9, 2007
6th Annual Young Messianic Jewish
Scholars Conference
Beverly
Hills, CA ● June 8-9, 2007
Learning 
