Parshat Mishpatim

And should men brawl and collide with a pregnant woman,

And her fetus come out but there be no other mishap,

He shall surely be punished according to

What the woman's husband imposes upon him,

As the judges determine

(Shemot 21:22)

 

Should men brawl - This refers to Hebrews who are brawling, hitting one the other, as in 'Why do you hit your fellow'.

(Ibn Ezra, ibid. ibid)

 

Should men brawl - With their hands, and this is action more violent than riv - quarrel - as in 'two Hebrew men brawling'... and the term has been applied to a severe confrontation even though it not be with the hands.

 (Shadal, ibid. ibid).

 

But there be no other mishap - to the woman; He shall surely be punished - He shall compensate for the value of the fetus. But we are not to interpret "But there be no other mishap" as applying to the fetus, nor "He shall surely be punished" for what he has done to the woman, for a different verse reads: "And if there be a mishap, you shall give a life for a life", and "life for a life" is not applicable to a fetus because it has yet to come out to the world. And because perhaps it will be a stillborn, or even if it has completed its full term of pregnancy it is not be called "nefesh" ["soul", a living being] as long as it has not come out into the world. It is called "his mother's fetus" but not "a human soul".

(Gur Aryeh, ibid.)

 

 

"You shall not wrong a stranger":

Abraham, ruth and expedited conversion

Yair Furstenberg

                                                                         To my son, Shai, as he becomes a Bar Mitzvah

The injunction "You shall not wrong a stranger nor shall you oppress him" (Shemot 22:20) was interpreted by the Mishnah as referring to 'wronging with words': "Just as there is overreaching in buying and selling, so is there wrong done by words, [thus:] One must not ask another, 'What is the price of this article?' if he has no intention of buying. If a man was a repentant [sinner] one must not say to him, 'Remember your former deeds.' If he was a son of converts one must not taunt him, 'Remember the deeds of your ancestors,' because it is written,' thou shall neither wrong a stranger, nor oppress him'. (Bava Metsia 4, 10). [Translator's note: In the Biblical text, the word for 'stranger' is ger. Talmudic sources, however, interpret ger as 'convert' and this is the interpretation followed in this article] The Mishna prohibits a hurtful attitude towards persons of a lower background that weighs heavily upon their shoulders, but there is a discernable gap between the two examples discussed in the Mishna. It is forbidden to remind the penitent of his past, but there is no parallel prohibition in the case of the proselyte. At first glance it seems that the wording of the Mishna implies that his descendants alone are protected against a degrading attitude. The fact that the Mishna focuses in particular on the children of the converts, and that it emphasizes that they are worthy of being Israel in every respect and that their ancestry is not be considered or even recalled in their presence, reflects the tension between the Tanaim with respect to the chain of lineage of said descendents. This Mishna joins the discussion and wishes to make the conclusive ruling. Disagreeing with those who opine that the descendents of the ger, or of a couple of gerim, are considered themselves to be gerim" (and therefore are also subjects of the verse "You shall not wrong the ger"), R. Yosi rules that even if both parents are gerim, the child is Jewish in every respect. Therefore "Even if a male convert is married to a female convert, their daughter may marry a priest" (Mishna Kiddushin 4, 7). In contradiction to the opinion which forbids descendents of gerim from reciting in their prayers "our God and God of our fathers" - for their fathers did indeed have other gods - and in contrast to the prohibition against descendents of gerim reciting the bikkurim [First Fruits0 declaration - because they cannot say "which God swore to our fathers to give to us - R. Yosi (and so the Mishna in Bava Metsia) maintains that the lineage of the descendents of gerim is to be ignored, and they pray as does all Israel. And this indeed makes sense, because the prohibition against wronging the children of gerim is not an obligation of each individual, it is also the obligation of the religious institutions themselves, the synagogue and the sanctuary.

Yet more. True, there was a not-insignificant measure of innovation and daring in the Tanaaim's tendency to ignore the lineage of proselytes descendents who were born into Israel. In the background of the period were isolationist tendencies among Jews of the Second Commonwealth which totally forbade the children of gerim from joining the temple worshippers until the fourth generation.

What about the gerim themselves? Was their wronging unavoidable? In the Yerushalmi we find a clear voice standing in opposition to the Mishna, determining that "the ger himself brings [bikkurim] and recites {the proclamation]. What is the reason? 'For I have made you father of many nations'. In the past you were a father of a man. From now one you are father to all the nations". This derasha from the Yerushalmi is most audacious; Abraham's paternity of all nations is realized the moment they convert, and therefore they carry his name. According to this approach (which competed with the position that all believers per se are considered children of Abraham), they too have the right to recite 'which God swore to our fathers - Abraham - to give to us - the gerim.' The law is decided accordingly (Yerushalmi, Bikkurim 1:4 [64a]).

The Yerushalmi's position, in which conversion constitutes the realization of tying all the nations to Abraham, has far-reaching ramifications. First, as regards the very prohibition against wronging. Both Tosaphot and the Mechilta forbid wronging the ger himself, something not mentioned in the Mishna. To buttress this they employ various strategies: In the Tosephta (Bava Metsia,3:25) we read "If one sees a ger who comes to learn Torah he should not say to him, 'Look who's coming to learn Torah - one who ate prey and carrion, unclean animals and creeping things', and it also is written 'But another person there spoke up and said "And who are their fathers', Does Torah have a father? Does it not say 'What is his name or his son's name, if you know it?', and it says 'Property and riches are bequeathed by fathers, but an efficient wife comes from the Lord'". Torah, then, was given to everyone, regardless of origin and lineage.

The Mechilta, on the other hand (Tractate Nezikin, Chap. 12), in its homiletical exposition of the verse 'You shall not wrong the ger', refers again to Abraham, teaching us that he was considered the father of Israel not by virtue of blood relation, but because they were gerim like himself. Therefore, thanks to him, the door was flung open to all future gerim. "Abraham called himself 'ger' as is written 'I am a ger v'toshav [sojourning settler] with you' [...] and it is written 'For we are gerim with You, mere transients like our fathers, our days on earth are like a shadow, with nothing in prospect" [...] beloved are the gerim, for Abraham our father circumcised himself when he was already 99 years old, so as not to lock the gate before future gerim". Israel are gerim like Abraham, and therefore there is no difference between them and gerim from the nations of the word, and, according to the words of the author of the derasha, both are called by the Lord with the same names of intimacy.

But under discussion is not only the attitude towards the ger, but also the nature of the appropriate process of conversion. Only according to the approach which expects the gentiles to convert and to realize their lineage from Abraham, father of many nations, can one explain the aim of the following discussion that ends the long topic on conversion (Bavli, Yevamoth 48b): "It has been taught, R. Hannania b. Raban Gamliel says: Why are gerim in our time persecuted and suffer afflictions?" The sad situation of the gerim is perceived almost as decreed by fate, and the Sages offer various explanations. Along with various views that find fault with the quality of the proselyte's religious observance, the Talmud adds an anonymous and surprising opinion: "Others say: Because they delay entering under the canopy of the Holy Presence". Here it is the delay in conversion which justifies their punishment. Instead of hurrying to convert and realize the proper goal of finding shelter beneath the wings of the God recognized by all, they followed the common path of postponement. Whether because they knew not exactly what it was all about, or whether they wished to ponder the nature of this faith and compare it with attractive alternatives, or whether even when they had already considered themselves as God-fearing, they did not hasten to identify with the people and the yoke of the Torah.

The words of the "Others" voice a clear expectation of the gentiles to join, and this becomes their proper path paved by Abraham. Although the majority delayed conversion, Ruth the Moabite is mentioned as a paradigm for swift conversion, and with this the topic comes to an end. "May the Lord reward your deeds. May you have a full recompense from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have sought refuge - because you hastened and did not delay".

No wonder, then, that in such an ideological milieu the pronounced tendency of the conversion process in the Talmud is to execute it speedily and as soon as possible, without delay. In the only Berayta which describes the conversion process (Ibid. 47a) there is repeated emphasis upon quick completion of the process: if the convert is willing to join the Jewish people and its suffering, 'he is accepted immediately' and after informing him briefly of some of the light and stringent commandments 'we do not make it difficult for him and we are not exacting with him (!) and if he accepts we circumcise him immediately… we immerse him immediately'. The process is so expedited that while yet in the mikveh we inform him of some of the commandments; he joins almost without any prior knowledge.

Even if only reminding the convert of his parents' origins, and insulting the ger because of his background are considered 'wronging', all the more so the oppression of those who walked in the footsteps of Abraham and Ruth and acted in accordance with the Talmud and hastened to convert, to share the load of this nation… the gerim.

(Yair Furstenberg teaches Talmud in the Hebrew University)

 

 

And these are the judgments - R. Eliezer said: Whence is it to be derived that a judge should not trample of the heads of the people? It is written: 'Do not ascend by steps [i.e. force your way] upon My alter', and this is followed by: 'And these are the judgments'.

And these are the judgments- David said: (Psalm 19) 'The fear of the Lord is pure, abiding forever'. To what does this refer? When a person learns midrash, laws and aggadot yet he does not fear sin, his hands are empty. This may be compared to one who says to his fellow: I have a thousand measures of wheat, I have a thousand measures of oil and a thousand of wine. His fellow replied: Do you have storehouses in which to store them? If you do, all is yours, but if not, you have nothing. Thus is the case with one who has learned everything, they say to him: If you have fear of sin, all is yours, as is written (Isaiah 33) '[...] Reverence for the Lord - that was his treasure', therefore it says 'The fear of the Lord is pure', and the prophet cries out (Ibid. 1) 'Zion will be saved through judgment, her repentant ones, through justice'.

(Shemot Rabba, Parasha 30)

 

Temporal servants are servants of servants - The servant of God alone is free.

(Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi)

 

Why was the ear chosen over all other organs of the body for piercing? Said Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai (Kiddushin 22b): This ear, which heard at Sinai "You shall not steal" - yet went and stole - let it be pierced. And if the person chose to sell himself into servitude, that ear which heard at Sinai (Vayikra 25:55) "For the Children of Israel are servants unto Me" - yet went and acquired a master for himself - let it be pierced.

Rabbi Shimon expounded this verse, deriving a 'precious stone" [i.e., an important ethical principle]: Why were the door and the doorposts chosen from among all parts of the house? Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He: Door and doorposts who were witnesses when I passed over the lintel and the two doorposts and I said "For the Children of Israel shall be servants unto Me, they are My servants - and not servants to servants - yet this person went and acquired a master for himself, let him be pierced in front of them.

(Rashi, Shemot 21:6)

 

"And he shall serve him forever" - for the period of a Jubilee - there being no longer period of time in the Jewish calendar. Exodus to freedom, is like a new world. Or another possible explanation: He shall return to his original status of freedom.

(Ibn Ezra, Shemot Ibid., ibid.)

 

If the laborer had already begun to work, but changed his mind in the middle of the day, he may leave; even if he already received his wages and has not the money to repay the hirer, he may still retract and the wages [to be returned] are converted into a debt, as is written: "For the Children of Israel are servants unto Me" (Vayikra 25:55) - not servants to servants.

(Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 333:3).

 

And the Holy One, blessed be He, delivers every man from the stronger

It is correct, in my opinion, that it should say "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him" and you should think "for he has none to save him from your hand:, for you know that you were strangers in the land of Egypt, and you witnessed the oppression with which Egypt oppressed you, and I wreaked vengeance upon them, because I see the tear of the oppressed who have none to comfort them... and I save every man from those stronger than he, and also the widow and the orphan shall you not oppress, because I shall hear their cries, for all these live in uncertainty, and they depend on Me, and in another passage another reason is added; "For you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.", in other words, you know that every stranger, whose spirit is low, and he groans and scrams and his eyes are always towards God and He will have mercy on them as he had mercy on you, as is written (2:23), "The Israelites were groaning under the bondage and cried out; and their cry for help from the bondage rose up to God," that is to say, not in their own merit, but rather that He had pity on them because of the labor.

(Ramban, Shemot 22:20)

 

And you shall not mistreat a stranger, nor shall you oppress him: Lack of Protest can also be Counted as Oppression

After it said do not oppress in the plural, it said if you indeed oppress him [in the singular], for anyone who sees someone oppressing an orphan or a widow and does not come to their aid is also thought of as an oppressor. This is the punishment: if someone is oppressed and the other does not come to his aid, the punishment is inflicted on them all. That is why afterwards [it is written] My wrath will be kindled, and I will slay you [plural] with the sword - all of you.

(Ibn Ezra Shemot 22:20)

 

This notion, i.e., that non-action is also a kind of action, that everyone who is capable of protesting but does not protest is judged as a collaborator, is found frequently in Scripture, Mishnah, and the aggada. The author of the Ha'Amek Davar, who agrees here with Ibn Ezra, makes the paradoxical comment that the prophet makes a claim of this kind against the Holy One blessed be He. If He sees injustice and remains silent, even He is - so to speak - a collaborator with the wrongdoers. And Rabbi Abraham wrote that anyone who sees someone oppressing an orphan or a widow and does not come to their aid is also thought of as an oppressor. He is correct; this is fully supported by a verse from Isaiah (64:11): Concerning these will You restrain Yourself; will You remain silent and afflict us so very greatly? This means: In that You are silent You impose affliction.

(Ha'Amek Davar Shemot 22:22)

 

By restraining and remaining silent - You become - so to speak - one of our oppressors.

(Prof. Nehama Leibowitz z"l, Iyyunim le'Sefer Shemot, pg. 285)

 

The half-shekel as a metaphor for the chasm between the infinite and that which is demanded of man

Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: Moshe heard three things from the Almighty, was frightened, and recoiled. When God said "And they shall make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell therein", Moshe said: Master of the Universe, "Behold, the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain you!" He replied: "Moshe, not like you imagine, but twenty boards at the north, twenty at the south, eight at the west, and eight at the east, and I will compress My Presence and I will dwell among you." And it is written, "I will appoint-meeting with you there and I will speak with you".

And when He said: "Command the Children of Israel and say to them: Of my near-offering, my food..." Said Moshe: "Master of the Universe, were I to gather all the animals of the world and all the cattle, they would not suffice for a single offering, and all the trees in the world would not supply a single fire, as is written: "Lebanon is not fuel enough, nor its beasts enough for sacrifice!" He replied: "Moshe, not as you imagine, but "One lamb are you to sacrifice in the morning", and not two together, because I neither eat nor drink [Literally, "there are neither food nor drink before me"]. Why? If indeed there were food before me, when you spent forty days and forty nights with, and food you did not eat, and if there were food before, you would have eaten. But "a pleasing odor" - be punctilious in offering a pleasing odor." And when He said, "they are to give, each man, a ransom for his life", Moshe wondered and asked, "Who can give full ransom for his life? For it is written "The price of life is too high, and so one ceases to be, forever," "A brother cannot redeem a man, or pay his ransom to God." He replied to him: "Not as you imagine, but rather this shall you give, as this shall you give." Said Rav Huna in the name of Rav, "Shaddai - we cannot attain to Him, He is great in power..." (Job 37:23) The Holy One, Blessed Be He, does not inconvenience Israel. When Moshe heard this, he proclaimed "Happy the people who have it so." (Psalms 144:15) and "Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help (Ibid. 146:5).

 (Tanchuma, Ki Tissa, 10)

 

 

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