This week's parsha
Unless otherwise noted, "This week's Parsha" comprises articles taken from contributors to the Chabad.org website. We show the original author's name here, so that proper attribution is given. For the sake of brevity, footnotes cited in the original author's writings are omitted from this website. If you need to see the citations, please refer to the original articles on the Chabad.org website.
The Temple at Home
The Jewish home is called "a small sanctuary." It has the quality of the Temple, a dwelling for G-d. This week's Torah reading describes the Sanctuary which Moses and the Jewish people were going to build. They constructed it before leaving the Sinai region and carried it with them throughout the forty years in the desert. Then they brought it into the Land of Israel. It was later replaced by the Temple built in Jerusalem.
In the command to build the Sanctuary, G-d tells Moses "They shall make for Me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell in them."
G-d does not say "I will dwell in it," in the Sanctuary, but "in them." The Sages explain this means that G-d dwells in the heart of each Jewish man and woman. Each person is sacred, and the home in which they dwell is also sacred.
The Sanctuary or Temple had three basic qualities which are potentially expressed in every Jewish home.
In the command to build the Sanctuary, G-d tells Moses "They shall make for Me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell in them."
G-d does not say "I will dwell in it," in the Sanctuary, but "in them." The Sages explain this means that G-d dwells in the heart of each Jewish man and woman. Each person is sacred, and the home in which they dwell is also sacred.
The Sanctuary or Temple had three basic qualities which are potentially expressed in every Jewish home.
Inspiring Everyday Life
The name of our parshah is Mishpatim, which means "laws." There are several words for "law" in Hebrew. All have a similar meaning, but a slightly different nuance.
Mishpatim, or "judgments", means laws which can easily be understood, such as not to steal and not to kill. In fact, most of the laws in our parshah are of this nature.
Another term -- chukim, or "statutes" -- means laws which cannot be understood by ordinary human intellect. An example of these is the law not to mix milk and meat, which is also written in this parshah. Many times in our history the laws of this kind have presented a challenge to us. In some epochs the non-Jews mocked us for adhering to them. In our own age, governed by rationality, many Jews wonder why they are necessary. Nonetheless, the chukim are an important aspect of our bond with G-d.
A third kind of law is called edut, "testimony." The command to observe Passover is in this category. We keep this festival as a testimony and a sign of the fact that G-d took us out Egypt. Without the Torah we would not have thought of this law, but now that we have it, it makes sense to us.
Mishpatim, or "judgments", means laws which can easily be understood, such as not to steal and not to kill. In fact, most of the laws in our parshah are of this nature.
Another term -- chukim, or "statutes" -- means laws which cannot be understood by ordinary human intellect. An example of these is the law not to mix milk and meat, which is also written in this parshah. Many times in our history the laws of this kind have presented a challenge to us. In some epochs the non-Jews mocked us for adhering to them. In our own age, governed by rationality, many Jews wonder why they are necessary. Nonetheless, the chukim are an important aspect of our bond with G-d.
A third kind of law is called edut, "testimony." The command to observe Passover is in this category. We keep this festival as a testimony and a sign of the fact that G-d took us out Egypt. Without the Torah we would not have thought of this law, but now that we have it, it makes sense to us.
Now I know
"...Now I know that G-d is greater than all gods...." — Exodus 18:11
This week's portion describes the mass revelation at Mt. Sinai and the events leading up to it. While the nation was encamped at the foot of the mountain, Jethro, the former Midianite high priest, came to join them, proclaiming, "Now I know that G-d is greater than all gods." The fact that Jethro says, "Now I know," indicates that there had been a time when he did not know. Indeed, tradition tells us that Jethro had studied every form of idol worship known in his day and had practiced them all. Jethro was one who came to his belief in G-d only after a lifetime of trial and error.
It is interesting that tradition relates that Jethro's presence was so integral to the revelation at Sinai that G-d would not have deemed the great event worthy of taking place had Jethro not been there. Why was the presence of Jethro, the former idol worshipper, so crucial to the revelation at Sinai?
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