Mishpatim’s mitvot and the center of Jewish life

Mishpatim is one of the more prolific parshiot in terms of mitzvot. Close to 10 percent of the mitzvot of the Torah are in Mishpatim.

What sometimes gets lost in translation is the mitzvot’s focus. Since we view shul as essential to our daily and weekly existence, we somehow get the impression that shul ritual is where most of our day-to-day mitzvot are observed. In that sense, owing to how we conduct synagogue ritual in the Orthodox community, sometimes the feeling is that our community is more male than female-centered in terms of religious obligation.

This would certainly be a valid argument if Judaism were all about the wearing of a tallis and tefillin, and the reading of the Torah and leading the prayers in a minyan.

But here is the secret: Judaism is not centered or focused on the shul. The shul is a means to fulfill a small number of mitzvot in a more special atmosphere, in the presence of a minyan.

It helps elevate davening, but one can pray almost anywhere. It gives those who go daily a mini-structure to the day, but having set times for tefillah can give anyone structure. It gives us a forum to fulfill our mitzvah of reading from the Torah, but full-blown Torah study is available to everyone with a Chumash.

Beyond that, shul is not where the center of Judaism and Jewish practice lies.

It lies in the home. It lies in the world. It lies in how people deal with one another. It is in the settling of disputes that inevitably rise.

When two people get married, we don’t bless them that they have a great shul life. We say, “You should build a bayis ne’eman b’Yisrael.” A house of faith, of trustworthiness, where G-d is placed on a pedestal, and how people behave and act defines our values.

That’s the difference between middot (model behavior) and mitzvot (fulfilling commandments) as well.

Some mitzvot contain in them good middot. Consider the following mitzvot: Sharing with the needy, standing for the elderly, loving your neighbor, loving the stranger. Mitzvot in general are meant to help us develop our middot, to have awareness of our surroundings, our goals in life, our relationship with G-d, and how that relationship is supposed to inform our development as a good person.

And Parshat Mishpatim is a great example for this. How many of the mitzvot in Mishpatim deal with shul? Maybe one. “Three times a year all your remembrances shall appear before the Master, Hashem.” This refers to going up to Jerusalem during the holidays, when there is a Temple. But there is no Temple today.

What follows are mitzvot many of us can relate to on a regular basis.

•Not to strike or curse our parents.

•Not to hit anyone in a manner that may lead to their death. The responsibility to compensate people for injuring them. If your property causes someone else damage, you must pay for it.

•Don’t oppress the stranger, or widow or orphan — these are, in some cases, the most vulnerable people in our society. They need to be treated warmly, welcomed as a part of things.

•Not to tell stories about people — lashon hara, slander, true or false — aimed at bringing people down.

•Distancing from falsehood — midvar sheker tirchak. The pasuk doesn’t say not to speak falsehoods, which we are told elsewhere in the parsha, but to distance from falsehood. Sometimes people say things, do things, believe things, talk about things that are untrue. Maybe they live a lie, maybe they create an image. You have two choices: investigate to find truth, or recognize that without that investigation, you don’t know what the truth is.

•Respect for the ger — the person who joins the Jewish people.

The parsha also mentions resting on Shabbos, observing the holidays, and not mentioning other gods by name.

There are many more mitzvot in the Torah that relate to our relationship with others and with G-d. This list includes the rules surrounding whom we may and may not marry, the rules to not eat non-kosher food, not to murder, not to be a false prophet, not to worship idols.

Our lives are meant to be guided by a thoughtfulness and mindfulness, recognizing and understanding that there’s so much to learn. Too many distractions take us away from fulfilling our mission to learn.

May we be blessed to find incredible ways to fill the precious time we have, as we grow in knowledge and in our connection to G-d.