{"id":42211,"date":"2018-07-09T18:50:45","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-73\/"},"modified":"2023-05-30T12:41:26","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T09:41:26","slug":"wall-73","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-73\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Exodus-23"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"73","date":"20251209","book":"Exodus","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"73","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"42497","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Exodus 23 - Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Exodus 23 - Judy Hammond","slug":"exodus-23-judy-hammond","old_id":"42497","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"73","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Exodus 23","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/exodus-chapter-23-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"73","date":"20251209","wall_id":"73"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"104867","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Finder Returners ","post_title":"Finder Returners","slug":"finder-returners","old_id":"104867","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"73","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Our responsibilities to lost possessions and their owners\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cWhen you encounter your enemy\u2019s ox or ass wandering, you must take it back\u201d (verse 4). The Koren Tanach notes that the laws of returning lost animals appear in various other cultures in the ancient Near East. For instance, the laws of Eshnunna from northern Mesopotamia stated that an official that seized a stray animal was required to return the animal or it was considered theft. In Hittite laws a stray domestic animal must be returned as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The unique part of the law in the Torah is that it specifically calls out the lost animal of \u201cyour enemy.\u201d\u00a0 If you are required to return the lost animal of your enemy, clearly you must return your friend\u2019s lost animal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why does the Torah have to mention ox and donkey? The donkey was the primary form of transportation in the Near East, while the ox was the primary form of work in the fields. Thus, the Torah explains that both types of animals must be returned to their owner. It is also possible that the difference in the animals points to different locations. Because the ox is a draft animal, the ox would be found close to someone\u2019s property. If the Torah had listed only the ox, we might have assumed that only an animal found near the person\u2019s property need be returned. The donkey as a mode of transportation could be found anywhere. Including the donkey, therefore, emphasizes that an animal found anywhere should be returned. Likewise, if the Torah had only listed the donkey, then we might have assumed that an animal must only be returned to an owner far from their property, who may be stranded if the animal is not returned.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Finally, the Gemara deduces from the use of \u201chappen upon\u201d in this verse and \u201cwhen you see\u201d in the next verse, that there is a minimal distance that one is obligated to actively return an animal. If the Torah only said \u201cif you see\u201d then one would be obligated to return an animal that is a mile away wandering around if one can see it that far. By also adding \u201cif you happen upon\u201d the Torah is setting a minimal distance. 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1.
\r\nIf the ox gores & kills, kill it by stoning.<\/p>\r\n

2.
\r\nRest on Sabbath so your ox, too, may rest.<\/p>\r\n

3.
\r\nEven the dangerous one deserves rest.
\r\nEven the ox has his day with God.<\/p>\r\n


\r\n___
\r\nExodus 21:28-32, 23:12<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":76326,"alt":"","title":"hos8-ox","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Rest","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Even the ox has his day with God","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":76326,"alt":"","title":"hos8-ox","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos8-ox-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"73","date":"20251209","wall_id":"73"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"378","name":"Shabbat","old_id":"778"}]},{"order":4,"id":"48539","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Shabbat With a Schmear: Mishpatim - 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Shabbat With a Schmear: Mishpatim - Getting Down To the Nitty Gritty<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/b13K8c0uF-g","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Shabbat With a Schmear","tile_main_caption":"Mishpatim - Getting Down To the Nitty Gritty","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Adam Mintz with Meredith Berkman (ShabbatMom)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/b13K8c0uF-g","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1029"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":5,"id":"48682","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Mishpatim: Revelation and Law ","post_title":"Mishpatim: Revelation And Law","slug":"mishpatim-revelation-and-law","old_id":"48682","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36663,"post_title":"Beth Kissileff","slug":"beth-kissileff","old_id":"36663","first_name":"Beth ","last_name":"Kissileff ","description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (2016 - https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/reading-genesis-9780567381521), and the forthcoming Reading Exodus, and the author of the novel Questioning Return - https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Questioning-Return-Novel-Beth-Kissileff\/dp\/1942134231. \r\nHer journalism appears in many publications; she has taught most recently at the University of Pittsburgh. Visit her online at www.bethkissileff.com. ","short_description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (Bloomsbury\/ T and T Clark, 2016) , a journalist and teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36664,"alt":"","title":"BethKissileff","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","width":3478,"height":3200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-300x276.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":276,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-768x707.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":707,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1024x942.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":942,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1413,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1884,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1200x1104.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1104,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-456x420.jpg","home_baner-width":456,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1029","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"How to be like God: compassionate, just, merciful","post_main_content_content":"

There are routine and peak experiences in both our private lives and in the lives of a people.\u00a0Last week's reading of Yitro dealt with the experience of standing at Sinai.\u00a0This week\u2019s reading, Mishpatim<\/em>, ends with a reaffirmation of the Israelites\u2019 acceptance of the laws God promulgated through the prophet Moses, concluding with a reading of the \u201cbook of the covenant\u201d (Exodus 24: 7) in the ears of the people and their assent to its observance by announcing \u201cwe will do and we will hear\u201d or in Hebrew \u201cna\u2019aseh v\u2019nishma<\/em>\u201d (Exodus 24:7). Moses, Aaron, Nadav and Abihu along with the seventy elders of Israel ascend Mount Sinai and have a vision; they \u201csaw the God of Israel and under his feet there was a likeness of a pavement of sapphire like the sky for purity\u201d (Exodus 24:10).\u00a0 Between these two revelations on mountaintops is a vast corpus of laws, mishpatim<\/em>, from the Hebrew root sh-p-t<\/em> which means \u201cto judge.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Why are these laws, full of minutiae, juxtaposed between these revelatory pinnacles?\u00a0The position of parshat Mishpatim<\/em> between chapters 19-20 and 24 of Exodus teaches us a powerful message about the significance of Jewish law.\u00a0It is the connective tissue between revelations, the sinew that makes the motion in linking one peak experience to the other both possible and meaningful.\u00a0Between the mountain summits, we are not without guidance on our daily hikes, as the law provides guidance to those concentrated moments of divine connection at revelation.<\/p>\r\n

When we remember \u201cnot to oppress a stranger for you know the soul of the stranger having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt\u201d (Exodus 23: 9) we know that working for the rights of immigrants will connect us to divine power.\u00a0If we make sure that our country has a justice system that does not \u201csubvert the rights of the poor\u201d (Exodus 23:6) we can understand the desires of God more completely.\u00a0 If we are mindful of the food we consume to be a \u201choly people\u201d (Exodus 22:30) so that we do not eat \u201cflesh torn by beasts in the field,\u201d (Exodus 22:30) we can access holiness.\u00a0If we make sure to return a neighbor\u2019s garment taken in pledge by nightfall so that he has something to protect them while they sleep, we are acting as imitators of God for we are told \u201cI am compassionate\u201d (Exodus 22:26).<\/p>\r\n

The laws exist to let us know what humans are able to, within our limits as mortals, about the character of God.\u00a0Both revelation and law tell us that if we are to understand God we must be compassionate to others whether that means compensating another for damage our ox has done (Exodus 21: 28-32) or not wronging or oppressing a stranger because of our historical memory of what it means that \u201cyou were strangers in the land of Egypt\u201d (Exodus 22: 20).<\/p>\r\n

Law and revelation are both means to the ultimate goal of being compassionate, just as God is. \u00a0<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":42529,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses.jpg","width":800,"height":536,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses-768x515.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":515,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":536,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":536,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses-627x420.jpg","home_baner-width":627,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Parashat Mishpatim 5779","tile_main_caption":"Revelation And Law","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How to be like God: compassionate, just, merciful","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42529,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses.jpg","width":800,"height":536,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses-768x515.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":515,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":536,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":536,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mount_Moses-627x420.jpg","home_baner-width":627,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1029"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"414","name":"Law","old_id":"814"},{"term_id":"541","name":"Revelation","old_id":"941"}]},{"order":6,"id":"42351","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Lost Property: Private and Public Responsibilities ","post_title":"Lost Property: Private And Public Responsibilities","slug":"lost-property-private-and-public-responsibilities","old_id":"42351","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41606,"post_title":"Yael Landman","slug":"yael-landman","old_id":"41606","first_name":"Yael ","last_name":"Landman ","description":"Dr. Yael Landman is Visiting Research Fellow in Judaic Studies at Brooklyn College and Acquisitions Editor at Gorgias Press. She holds a PhD in Hebrew Bible from Yeshiva University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and has completed fellowships through the Association for Jewish Studies, the Tikvah Center for Law and Jewish Civilization at NYU School of Law, and the Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization at Cardozo School of Law. Yael has taught at Yeshiva College and the Drisha Institute. ","short_description":"Dr. Yael Landman is Visiting Research Fellow in Judaic Studies at Brooklyn College and Acquisitions Editor at Gorgias Press.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41607,"alt":"","title":"Yael Landman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Yael-Landman-e1538905276552.jpg","width":3197,"height":4747,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Yael-Landman-e1538905276552-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Yael-Landman-e1538905276552-202x300.jpg","medium-width":202,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Yael-Landman-e1538905276552-690x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":690,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Yael-Landman-e1538905276552-690x1024.jpg","large-width":690,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Yael-Landman-e1538905276552.jpg","1536x1536-width":1034,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Yael-Landman-e1538905276552.jpg","2048x2048-width":1379,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Yael-Landman-e1538905276552-808x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":808,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Yael-Landman-e1538905276552-283x420.jpg","home_baner-width":283,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"73","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Tanakh in ancient Near Eastern context","post_main_content_content":"

Exodus 23:4 treats a case of lost property: \u201cWhen you encounter your enemy\u2019s ox or ass wandering, you must take it back to him.\u201d Deuteronomy 22:1-3 expands this law, generalizing the ox to any property (including non-animals); casting the property-owner as \u201cyour fellow\u201d rather than specifically an enemy; and adding that if the owner lives far away or the finder doesn\u2019t know them, the finder must hold on to the property in their own home until the owner comes for it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What steps could an ancient Israelite take upon finding a missing object and failing to identify the owner? Although the Bible offers little more information, we can look at texts from neighboring societies and from post-biblical literature for ideas \u2013 without concluding that all that was true elsewhere, or at other times, was true in Israel and Judah per se.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The ancient Babylonian Laws of Eshnunna (LE \u00a750) require governmental officials to bring lost property to the city of Eshnunna. If an official evades this responsibility and instead keeps the property for too long, he\u2019s charged with theft. The Hittite Laws (HL \u00a771) from ancient Hatti (present-day Turkey) require a finder of a lost animal to bring it to the king\u2019s gate or local elders. The finder may use the animal until the owner claims it, indicating that the purpose of bringing the animal to the authorities was to create an official record, not to deposit the property. (Like in Deuteronomy, the property could remain in the finder\u2019s home.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbinic literature also suggests the involvement of public institutions when property had been found. According to the rabbis, finders bore the responsibility of announcing what they had found, originally at the Temple during the Three Festivals, when Israelites would congregate in Jerusalem; in the synagogues and academies after the destruction of the Temple; and quietly among neighbors once it became dangerous to do otherwise (see tBM 2:17; mBM 2:6; bBM 28b). Officials at the institution (the Temple, synagogue, etc.) were not apparently involved, unlike in HL and LE, but the institution served as a setting for a public proclamation.<\/span> Some archaeologists believe that a stone podium found in Jerusalem was one such \u201cStone of Claims.\u201d<\/span><\/a> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Neither Exodus nor Deuteronomy alludes to the involvement of public institutions or officials, instead referring only to owner and finder. What happened in practice may forever remain lost.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Eshnunna statue, Abu Temple. Metropolitan Musem \/ commons 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He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"73","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A third way to read, beyond blind acceptance and knee-jerk rejection","post_main_content_content":"

The Torah never tried to sell anyone on the Zionist myth that the Jewish people were traveling to a \"land without a people\". From God's first conversation with Moses, the land of Israel is the place of many nations whose names end in \"-ite\". \u00a0What hasn't been discussed until chapter 23 is what is to be done with all those people when the Jews arrive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Torah's plan for what we can accurately call \"ethnic cleansing\" of the natives poses a tremendously difficult moral quandary. There are two reactions to this which are polar opposites of one another, but share something important. The first is to embrace the Torah and dismiss any revulsion at this \"authentic Torah-true\" policy as owing to the influence of non-Jewish values, precisely those values the Torah wants to distance us from by expelling or annihilating all non-Jews. The second is to embrace the morally intuitive revulsion and to dismiss the Torah as an archaic, barbaric text. What these reactions share is their understanding that there is only one way to honestly read the text, that the Torah demands Israel be \"pure\" of all non-Jews.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I believe in a third way, which seeks to appreciate the multiplicity of readings built into the text, even in a text as seemingly unequivocal as this one.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Firstly, the careful reader will notice that there is much repetition in the last half of chapter 23. Essentially, there are two parallel descriptions, which overlap and also contradict one another, in particular regarding the fate of the indigenous peoples of Canaan. While the first narrative has them destroyed by a heavenly angel, the second has them chased away by the mysterious '<\/span>tzir'a<\/span><\/i>', understood by commentators to be hornets, or disease, or perhaps even a metaphoric description of fear.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But not only is the method of expulsion unclear, so too are its parameters. Consider that earlier in the chapter, the Torah speaks twice of the <\/span>ger<\/span><\/i>, \u00a0which can't really be understood in context as 'convert', because we were not converts in the land of Egypt. Who is this <\/span>ger<\/span><\/i> whose soul we know, and whose soul-rest is the goal of our Shabbat, and what is he doing in the land purged of all non-Jews? Rabbinic understandings are beyond the scope of this essay, but suffice it to say that they go a long way both in resolving these contradictions and in softening the moral challenge.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"Behold my words are like fire, says God, and like a hammer which smashes the rock\". One can be more or less convinced by any particular reading. What can never be claimed when learning Torah is that you have the one and only authentic interpretation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Nicolas Poussin, The Victory of Joshua Over the Amalekites, 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A 2011 recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish education, Rabbi Held has been named multiple times to Newsweek\u2019s list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. He holds a doctorate in religion from Harvard; Rabbi Held's first book, Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence, was published by Indiana University Press in 2013; The Heart of Torah, a collection of essays on the Torah in two volumes, was published by JPS in 2017.","short_description":"Rabbi Shai Held is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar,","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37919,"alt":"","title":"shai held","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","width":150,"height":186,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":186,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":186,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":186,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":186,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":186}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"73","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Turning memory into empathy and moral responsibility","post_main_content_content":"

One of the Torah\u2019s central projects is to turn memory into empathy and moral responsibility. \u00a0Parashat Mishpatim contains perhaps the most well-known articulation of this charge: \u201cYou shall not oppress a stranger (ger), for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt\u201d (Exodus 23:9; cf. 22:20). By <\/span>ger<\/span><\/i>, the Torah means one who is an alien in the place where he lives\u2014that is, one who is not a member of the ruling tribe or family, who is not a citizen, and who is therefore vulnerable to social and economic exploitation. The Torah appeals to our memory: having tasted the suffering and degradation to which vulnerability can lead, we are bidden not to oppress the stranger. The Torah\u2019s call is not based on a rational argument, but on a demand for empathy: since you know what it feels like to be a stranger, you must never abuse or mistreat the stranger.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On one level, of course, the Torah is appealing to the collective memory of the Jewish people: the formative story around which we orient our collective life is about our harrowing oppression Egypt and our miraculous redemption by God. But I would argue that we should also individually personalize the Torah\u2019s demand that we remember. Each of us is obligated to remember times when we have been exploited or abused by those who had power over us. From these experiences, the Torah tells us, we are to learn compassion and kindness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Part of us responds to the experience of suffering by wanting to make sure that no one else has to endure what we did, but another part of us feels entitled and above reproach: if you had been through what I\u2019ve been through, we can hear ourselves saying, you would understand that I don\u2019t owe anybody anything. The Torah challenges us to nurture and cultivate the compassionate response and to make sure that the raging, combative one never becomes an animating principle of our lives.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We surely have moral obligations which are incumbent upon us because of the simple fact that we are human beings. In its recurrent appeals to memory, the Torah seeks to amplify and intensify those obligations, to remind us, even when it is difficult to hear, that the fate of the stranger is our responsibility. 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on The Bench: Little Big Things You Can't Ignore ","post_title":"Bible on The Bench: Little Big Things You Can't 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https:\/\/youtu.be\/ciQpZ5o-t28<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Bible on the Bench","tile_main_caption":"Chapter 23: Little Big Things You Can't Ignore","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Shira Hecht-Koller and guest commentator, Benny Lau (founder, 929-Israel)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ciQpZ5o-t28","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"73","date":"20251209","wall_id":"73"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":10,"id":"70437","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Mishpatim: The Guardian Angel, The Terror And The Plague ","post_title":"Mishpatim: The Guardian Angel, The Terror And The Plague","slug":"mishpatim-the-guardian-angel-the-terror-and-the-plague","old_id":"70437","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46171,"post_title":"Avner Moriah","slug":"avner-moriah","old_id":"46171","first_name":"Avner ","last_name":"Moriah ","description":"Avner Moriah is a prolific Israel artist who has addressed a wide range of Jewish and Israeli themes during the four decades of his artistic journey. Currently, Avner is completing a singular artistic and spiritual feat of illuminating the entire Chumash. The unique illuminated books contain hundreds of original drawings that offer a profound, provocative and humorous perspective. \r\nFor the entire weekly portion series, visit: https:\/\/avnermoriahprints.com\/collections\/parasha\r\nFor more of his work visit: https:\/\/avnermoriah.com\/\r\n","short_description":"Avner Moriah is a prolific Israel artist who is illuminating the entire Chumash.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":46173,"alt":"","title":"avner moriah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","width":1387,"height":1425,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-292x300.jpg","medium-width":292,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-768x789.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":789,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-997x1024.jpg","large-width":997,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","1536x1536-width":1387,"1536x1536-height":1425,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","2048x2048-width":1387,"2048x2048-height":1425,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-1168x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1168,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-409x420.jpg","home_baner-width":409,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1084","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"At least they're on our side\u2026","post_main_content_content":"

In his painting for Parashat Mishpatim<\/em>, Avner Moriah visualizes the epilogue to Moses recounting God\u2019s laws. The picture is divided into three registers, each showing a range of hills in the background, a procession of people and animals painted blue on the right, and warriors in brown on the left. In the top register the Israelites are being led by a winged angel, figured with a raised staff. In the two lower registers we see a monstrous hybrid with wings and a dragon-like tail and feet, one breathing fire and the other blowing smoke to ward off the enemy.<\/p>\r\n

What do these scenes imply and how are they related to the ordinances that Moses announced earlier to the Israelites? What do the different figures represent?<\/p>\r\n

Upon concluding his instructions, Moses delivers the most important message of all: the importance of obedience to God and following His laws. He tells the people that they will encounter many dangers on their journey to the Promised Land and that they will surely need God\u2019s help. He reminds them in the strongest terms that they are not to worship other deities or copy the practices of the other peoples they will meet. Moses assures the Israelites that if they obey God, He will send an angel to guard them: \u201cI am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have made ready\u201d (Exod. 23:20).<\/p>\r\n

The angel in the top register is a visualization of this promise. The Israelites are serene, as they know that the angel is protecting them from their enemies. The monstrous hybrids seen in the two lower registers illustrate the continuation of the promise: \u201cI will send forth My terror before you\u2026 I will make all your enemies turn their tail before you. And I will send the plague tsir'ah<\/em>\u00a0ahead of you, and it shall drive out before you the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite\u201d (Exod.23:27\u2013 28).<\/p>\r\n

The plague is thought to be a type of frightening pest that caused people to flee in panic. The artist uses a dragon-like figure to visualize the words \u201cterror\u201d in the middle register and \u201cplague\u201d in the bottom one. The two parallel creatures suggest a mysterious and terrifying weapon against the enemy.<\/p>\r\n

The monstrous hybrids of ox and dragon that he creates to visualize such a weapon seem to feature a few points of reference. They may refer back to \u201cthe goring ox\u201d in the parasha<\/em>: \u201cWhen an ox gores a man or a woman to death\u201d (Exod. 22:28) and to the several ordinances concerning oxen found there. It might also hint at the calamitous episode of the Golden Calf, wherein the Israelites defied God\u2019s commands. Finally, that one of the animals is figured breathing fire and the other blowing smoke alludes to the pillar of fire and cloud that protected the escaping Israelites from the Egyptians.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70443,"alt":"","title":"18 Mishpatim","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim.jpg","width":2033,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-244x300.jpg","medium-width":244,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-768x944.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":944,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-833x1024.jpg","large-width":833,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim.jpg","1536x1536-width":1249,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim.jpg","2048x2048-width":1665,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-976x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":976,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-342x420.jpg","home_baner-width":342,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Chapter Illustrated","tile_main_caption":"Mishpatim: The Guardian Angel, The Terror And The Plague","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"At least they're on our side\u2026","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70443,"alt":"","title":"18 Mishpatim","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim.jpg","width":2033,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-244x300.jpg","medium-width":244,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-768x944.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":944,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-833x1024.jpg","large-width":833,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim.jpg","1536x1536-width":1249,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim.jpg","2048x2048-width":1665,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-976x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":976,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/18-Mishpatim-342x420.jpg","home_baner-width":342,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1084"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":11,"id":"42357","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Your Enemy\u2019s Donkey - What\u2019s It To You? ","post_title":"Your Enemy\u2019s Donkey - What\u2019s It To You?","slug":"your-enemys-donkey-whats-it-to-you","old_id":"42357","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"73","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Hostility may divide you, but something deeper connects you","post_main_content_content":"

The Sermon on the Mount tells us to love our enemies. That is a supremely beautiful idea, but it is not easy. Moses offers a more liveable solution. Help your enemy. You don\u2019t have to love him but you do have to assist him. That is the basis of the simple command in Exodus:<\/p>\r\n

If you see your enemy\u2019s donkey sagging under its burden, you shall not pass by. You shall surely release it with him. (Exod. 23:5)<\/p>\r\n

Behind this law is a simple idea: your enemy is also a human being. He has a problem. Besides which, his donkey is suffering. Hostility may divide you, but something deeper connects you: the covenant of solidarity. Pain, distress, difficulty \u2013 these transcend the language of difference. A decent society will be one in which enemies do not allow their rancour or animosity to prevent them from coming to one another\u2019s aid when they need help. If someone is in trouble, act. Do not stop to ask whether they are friend or foe. Do as Moses did when he saw shepherds roughly handling the daughters of Jethro, or as Abraham did when he prayed for the people of the cities of the plain.<\/p>\r\n

From: Not in God\u2019s Name<\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104869,"alt":"","title":"-62824ed8ee447--62824ed8ee448ex23-hand help.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62824ed8ee447-62824ed8ee448ex23-hand-help.png.png","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62824ed8ee447-62824ed8ee448ex23-hand-help.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62824ed8ee447-62824ed8ee448ex23-hand-help.png-300x225.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62824ed8ee447-62824ed8ee448ex23-hand-help.png-768x576.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62824ed8ee447-62824ed8ee448ex23-hand-help.png-1024x768.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62824ed8ee447-62824ed8ee448ex23-hand-help.png.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62824ed8ee447-62824ed8ee448ex23-hand-help.png.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62824ed8ee447-62824ed8ee448ex23-hand-help.png-1200x900.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62824ed8ee447-62824ed8ee448ex23-hand-help.png-560x420.png","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Your Enemy\u2019s Donkey - 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But how is charging interest like a snake bite? Parshat Mishpatim explains what the Hebrew Bible (Torah) says about lending money or the act of giving a loan without interest. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42595,"alt":"","title":"jason mark","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/jason-mark-e1540275846614.jpg","width":1012,"height":1008,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/jason-mark-e1540275846614-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/jason-mark-e1540275846614-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/jason-mark-e1540275846614-768x765.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":765,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/jason-mark-1024x943.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":943,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/jason-mark-e1540275846614.jpg","1536x1536-width":1012,"1536x1536-height":1008,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/jason-mark-e1540275846614.jpg","2048x2048-width":1012,"2048x2048-height":1008,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/jason-mark-1200x1105.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1105,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/jason-mark-e1540275846614-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"73","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Making pilgrimage to seek \u201cGod\u2019s face\u201d can only be sincere when one has worked to establish communities that embody the God\u2019s vision","post_main_content_content":"

In Exodus 23, a portion dedicated to mapping out what religious life in the Land of Israel will look like, the vision of things to come offers a robust framework upon which society must be built. The imperative to establish a just court system, a regulated agricultural system, and a monotheistic system of worship, seems to strongly suggest that God will be intimately involved in the shaping of what this society will look like.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, in a surprising turn of events, God seems to back away from this project, saying: \u201cI am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have made ready\u201d (Exodus 23:20). God, whose direct acting in the world was evident within the redemption from Egypt suddenly appears to take a step back from the work on the ground.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God's sending forth of a intermediary to implement God\u2019s will in the world reflects an important reality of religious life. The Torah provides a blueprint of society that is Divine in nature, and yet within this, the force that actually will take up the project, that will build and serve the courts, communities, and centers of learning in the Land are the people themselves.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As God\u2019s intermediaries, the people are tasked with cultivating a religious language that can respond meaningfully to the daily grind here on Earth. In addition, they are also commanded to carve out time devoted exclusively to a direct encounter with God three times a year (Exodus 23:17). This call to pilgrimage, which seems to bear little material or sociological significance, stands as an essential pillar to living a balanced religious life. Leaving one\u2019s homes to seek \u201cGod\u2019s face\u201d can only be religiously sincere when one has worked to establish communities that embody the vision of God. So too, the effort to build up the real and the physical here on Earth can only truly actualize its potential when it is plugged into its Source, and is continuously driven in the awareness that it is God who dispatched them on this holy task.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104887,"alt":"","title":"-6282b3baa8410--6282b3baa8412ex23-pilgrimage camel 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The parsha opens with this long list of mitzvot on a variety of different topics ranging from how to deal with damaged property to holiday observance. We then see that Moshe tells all these new laws to Bnei Yisrael and they reply: \u201cAll the words that God has spoken, we will do.\u201d Stef Jadd Susnow offers a great take on Parshat Mishpatim for young families on Shabbat.\u00a0For your teens you can also download the Parsha Discussion from\u00a0Rabbi Alex Israel.<\/p>\r\n

And if you have older kids or teens, be sure to check out our\u00a0Parsha Discussion<\/a>\u00a0for a more mature conversation.<\/p>\r\n

To receive an Interactive Parsha Experience weekly email please subscribe with Pardes\u00a0today<\/a>!<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45256,"alt":"","title":"pardes cover image","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Interactive Family Study Materials","tile_main_caption":"Mishpatim \u2013 Building a Society","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Download the study guide","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":45256,"alt":"","title":"pardes cover image","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1029"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"}]},{"order":15,"id":"48561","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Mishpatim: Loving The Stranger ","post_title":"Mishpatim: Loving The Stranger","slug":"mishpatim-loving-the-stranger","old_id":"48561","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42813,"post_title":"Covenant & Conversation","slug":"covenant-conversation","old_id":"42813","first_name":"","last_name":"Covenant & Conversation","description":"Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Written as an accompaniment to Rabbi Sacks\u2019 weekly Covenant & Conversation essay, the Family Edition is aimed at connecting older children and teenagers with his ideas and thoughts on the parsha. Each element of the Family Edition is progressively more advanced; The Core Idea is appropriate for all ages and the final element, From The Thought of Rabbi Sacks, is the most advanced section. Each section includes Questions to Ponder, aimed at encouraging discussion between family members in a way most appropriate to them. We have also included a section called Around the Shabbat Table with a few further questions on the parsha to think about. The final section is an Educational Companion which includes suggested talking points in response to the questions found throughout the Family Edition.","short_description":"Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42814,"alt":"","title":"CCfamilylogo-693x457","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","width":693,"height":457,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-300x198.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":198,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","medium_large-width":693,"medium_large-height":457,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","large-width":693,"large-height":457,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","1536x1536-width":693,"1536x1536-height":457,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","2048x2048-width":693,"2048x2048-height":457,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","post_full_size-width":693,"post_full_size-height":457,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-637x420.jpg","home_baner-width":637,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1029","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

Following the revelation (where God reveals Himself and communicates religious truths) at Mount Sinai,\u00a0Mishpatim\u00a0<\/em>expands on the details of some of the\u00a0mitzvot<\/em>. These are mainly the civil law that was to govern the Israelites: laws relating to slaves and their release, personal injuries and property laws, laws of social responsibility, justice and compassion, and laws relating to Shabbat and the festivals. It ends with a confirmation of the covenant, and Moses ascending the mountain for forty days.<\/p>\r\n

Family study materials on Parashat Mishpatim from \"Covenant and Conversation\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":42816,"alt":"","title":"covenant and conversation - Sacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","width":723,"height":426,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-300x177.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","medium_large-width":723,"medium_large-height":426,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","large-width":723,"large-height":426,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","1536x1536-width":723,"1536x1536-height":426,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","2048x2048-width":723,"2048x2048-height":426,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","post_full_size-width":723,"post_full_size-height":426,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-713x420.jpg","home_baner-width":713,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Family Study Materials","tile_main_caption":"Loving The Stranger","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"for Parashat Mishpatim","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42816,"alt":"","title":"covenant and conversation - Sacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","width":723,"height":426,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-300x177.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","medium_large-width":723,"medium_large-height":426,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","large-width":723,"large-height":426,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","1536x1536-width":723,"1536x1536-height":426,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","2048x2048-width":723,"2048x2048-height":426,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks.jpg","post_full_size-width":723,"post_full_size-height":426,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/covenant-and-conversation-Sacks-713x420.jpg","home_baner-width":713,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1029"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"}]},{"order":16,"id":"42353","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Builders ","post_title":"Builders","slug":"builders","old_id":"42353","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"73","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The sages built a sukkah, of cloth woven from verses","post_main_content_content":"

\"\u2026 and the Feast of the Ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in the produce of your labors out from the field.\" (Exodus 23:16)<\/p>\r\n

Bezalel erected a tabernacle of dyed goatskins;
\r\nKing Solomon constructed a temple of cedar-wood;
\r\nAnd Jerusalem arose as a sacred city of polished white stone.<\/p>\r\n

But the sages built a sukkah<\/i>,
\r\nFour cubits high and four cubits wide,
\r\nOf cloth woven from verses.<\/p>\r\n

Their fingers and minds pulled needles,
\r\nSewing together a phrase from here,
\r\nAn expression from there;<\/p>\r\n

And behold their brocade, which makes the sukkah\u2019s <\/i>walls;
\r\nHow it shimmers
\r\nWith threads of black and golden letters.<\/p>\r\n

Their fabric \u2014 thin as paper,
\r\nYet sturdier than bricks,
\r\nAnd stronger than tempest-winds.<\/p>\r\n

Bezalel\u2019s tabernacle was plundered;
\r\nKing Solomon\u2019s temple \u2014 burnt;
\r\nAnd Jerusalem \u2014 twice razed.<\/p>\r\n

But the sukkah <\/i>of the sages still wanders with us,
\r\nAs we gaze through its roof\u2019s lattice
\r\nAt the stars.<\/p>\r\n

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Dilemmas of Jewish Power: Non-Jews in a Jewish State<\/span><\/a> by Rabbi David Wolkenfeld: What do Biblical and Rabbinic sources have to say about a situation in which Jews are the national majority? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Shmita! Designing a Year of Economic Justice, Radical Sharing, and Rest for the Land<\/span><\/a> by Rabbi Laura Bellows: Explore the various meanings of the Sabbatical year. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Exodus 23","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Click to get links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"73","date":"20251209","wall_id":"73"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":19,"id":"115671","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points To Ponder: Exodus 23","post_title":"Points To Ponder: Exodus 23","slug":"points-to-ponder-exodus-23","old_id":"115671","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"73","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Majority rules?<\/em> Or: how can we protect ourselves from negative social dynamics? See the warning in verse 2: \u201cYou shall neither side with the mighty (or: multitude<\/em>) to do wrong\u2014you shall not give perverse testimony in a dispute so as to pervert it in favor of the mighty.\u201d<\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Animal rights<\/em>. Note the place of animals in several of the laws of the chapter: one is obliged to help a donkey bending under its load. Animals have rights during the shmita year: \u201cwhat [the people] leave let the wild beasts eat\" (verse 11), and in the Shabbat laws, \u201cso that your ox and your ass may rest\u201d (verse 12).<\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Agricultural holidays<\/em>. The three pilgrimage holidays appear here mainly from their agricultural perspective. The holiday of matzot, Pesach, is mentioned as the time we went out of Egypt, but the others are \u201cthe harvest festival\u201d and \u201cthe festival of the ingathering,\u201d which are seasonal celebrations of the fruits of agriculture.<\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Who are we working for<\/em>? Verse 20: \u201cI am sending a messenger before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have made ready.\u201d Does this imply a change in leadership, or only a new way to say that God is with us? Either way, the text also mentions another source of assistance: \u201cI will send a plague [of hornets] ahead of you, and it shall drive out before you the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites\u201d (verse 28).<\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Reasonable patience<\/em>. The plan for conquering the land requires patience, but there is a logic to it: if all the residents of the land would disappear all at once, that would create other dangers: \u201cI will not drive them out before you in a single year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply to your hurt. 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