Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1-24:18) The Greater Good Or My Choice?

Mishpatim
This portion marks a major transition in our text. Last week, we reviewed the great Revelation of the Ten Commandments. Now, the Torah settles into a detailed description of laws being given to the Israelites. The portion will end with their affirmation of “na’aseh v’nishmah”. Some translate this as “we will do and obey” while other translations have it as “we will faithfully do”. No matter, this is the agreement between the Israelites and God to accept the Commandments and all that they entail. The challenge,, of course, is that this contract is still waiting to be fulfilled! There is great meaning in the recitation of these laws. On a real sense, we witness the attempt to bind together the tribes into a people. How can we create a society? We need rules, laws, a sense of the value of the whole that supersedes the individual. What is good for the greater community needs to take precedence over what each individual wishes to do for themselves. For the Israelites, this social order that is being created rests in the sacred covenant between them and their God. There is, thus, a sense of sacred purpose, a vision of the common good.
The portion contains important texts used by tradition as proof texts for many issues, from monetary compensation for lost property or injury (see 21:22f as Biblical text that opens the discussion on the issue of feticide not equaling homicide, a discussion carried on in Talmud). There are additional laws from slavery to capital punishment and more. This portion really begins a shift from narrative to legal texts. But again, a question that you may wish to raise this week in your synagogue Torah study is around the tension between the rights of the individual versus the needs of the community. While this portion is centuries old, we find ourselves in this country returning to this tension now.
Our generation of elders has benefitted greatly from the advances in public health. It has allowed us to live longer and live better. Vaccines have saved lives, and research has pushed back boundaries of medical science from which we have all benefited. Some of this now, seems to be up for debate and discussion on both the state and federal levels. In several recent conversations with doctors and researchers, there was a concern that an over-riding emphasis on the rights of the individual over that of the welfare of the community could costs life and lead to greater costs. There are many discussions in the tradition about allocation of scarce resources. The general mood of our tradition, in my opinion, is that the focus is on the greater good for the greater number. In other words, the needs and welfare of the community takes precedence of the individual.
This portion speaks to the need for society, to function, to have a firm foundation of laws and ordinances that support the entire community. Individual beliefs may vary, but the needs and welfare of the community should be the focus. Thus, the laws about caring for the poor, the stranger and those who lack basic needs find a home in this week’s portion. It is our obligation to create a society that supports everyone, providing basic needs regardless of social or economic status. As the debates continue about health care in our country, it may be well to remember the ethical and moral challenges that we study this week. It is a call to listen and do those acts and deeds that benefit all, and it is the responsibility of government to champion those goals.
Shabbat shalom.
Rabbi Richard F Address

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