February 20, 2025

In my 7th grade Bible class, we’re currently studying the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), reading it primarily as a text concerned with creating a society based on principles of justice. These past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the 10 Commandments, comparing the Devarim version to the “original,” those that appear in Shemot (which we read last week in shul). 
 
One of the ways to parse the 10 Commandments is to divide them according to the categories of mitzvah that they reflect. Some of the commandments are representative of Mitzvot Bein Adam LaMakom, mitzvot that pertain to our relationship with God, i.e. ritual and religious mitzvot. And some of the commandments are Mitzvot Bein Adam L’Ḥaveiro, mitzvot that speak to our obligations to our fellow people. As we look at the commandments through this lens, I ask my students to consider which category of mitzvah they think is more important. 
 
This year, my students were split on the issue. What’s more, those who said ritual mitzvot were more important argued that our relationship with God sets us up to be spiritually centered, which will ultimately impact our interactions with others in addition to our religious outlook. Those who said that interpersonal mitzvot were more essential believed that placing priority on our obligations to others honors the godly spark in each person and reinforces our relationship with God. Their difficulty making a straightforward choice demonstrated how deeply entwined my students believe our connections to God and to each other to be. 
 
Their viewpoint is a meaningful frame to put around this week’s parashah as well. Parashat Mishpatim, coming on the heels of the 10 Commandments, constitutes much of the section of Torah known as Sefer HaBrit, the Book of the Covenant. In our reading this week we are inundated with scenarios and rulings that govern our interactions with other people, whether they are our neighbors, family members, or servants, and whether we relate to them as equals or exercise power over them. 
 
I find it noteworthy that the bulk of Sefer HaBrit deals with our human obligations rather than our religious ones. The core content of our covenant with God focuses on how we treat each other. We enter into holy relationship with God by cultivating an awareness of the holiness of other people. 
 
It hardly needs to be said that we are living through a tremendously tense moment in our country’s history. So many of us are worried for the future - for our own lives as well as for the destiny of our nation. It also goes without saying that we do not all respond to our concerns in the same way. We do not all identify the same problems and do not all seek out the same solutions. And our American political culture has sadly become comfortable with the notion that those who disagree with us are less worthy of our sympathy, of our respect. 
 
Looking to Torah can help us take the first step back on a better path. Parashat Mishpatim reminds us that our ultimate role in the world is to care for each other, to respect each other, to lift each other up when we are downtrodden, to be honest and upright in our relationships, to cherish the Godly humanity in each of us. 
 
Shabbat Shalom.