Mishpatim

📜 The Story

Right after the Ten Commandments, God taught Moses many more laws. They are called mishpatim, which means 'laws' or 'rules.' They show how to be fair and kind to each other every day, in big things and small things.

The parsha starts with the law of a Hebrew servant. He works for six years, and in the seventh year he goes free, a little like Shabbat (the Sabbath) comes on the seventh day. Then the Torah teaches what to do when someone's animal or property damages someone else's. It also says 'an eye for an eye.' The Sages explain that this means paying fair money for the harm that was done, not hurting the other person back.

Over and over, the parsha tells us to be kind to strangers, widows and orphans, because we were strangers once too, in Egypt. It also has the mitzvah (commandment) not to cook a young goat in its mother's milk. This is where the rule of keeping meat and milk apart comes from. The Torah also lists the three festivals when everyone came together before God: Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot.

Moses wrote all of God's words in a book and read it to the people. The whole nation answered together, 'Naaseh v'nishma,' 'We will do and we will listen.' They agreed to keep the mitzvot (commandments) even before they understood every reason.

At the end of the parsha, Moses went up Mount Sinai and stayed there for forty days and forty nights to learn more of God's Torah. Aaron and Hur were left in charge of the people below. God also promised to send an angel to guide and protect the people on their way to the Land of Israel.