February 13th: Mishpatim
THIS WEEK IN THE TORAH
Rabbi David E. Ostrich
Every two years, I share with the Minyanaires (our program for 6th and 7th Graders and their Parents) a passage from the Talmud in which the Mitzvot are summarized and reduced from 613 to one. It begins with Rabbi Simlai:
“613 commandments were given to Moses, 365 Thou shalt nots, corresponding to the days in the solar year, and 248 Thou shalts, corresponding to the number of parts of the human body.” (Talmud Makkot 23b-24a)
Other than his breakdown of do’s and don’t’s, Rabbi Simlai is referring to the old legend that, if one were to count all the commandments in the Torah, one would come up with 613. It is a difficult number to verify, and the various listings of the mitzvot do not always agree with each other. Among the problems is the multiple iterations of some commandments. If the commandment about not “boiling a kid in its mother’s milk” is given three times, is that one mitzvah or three? If both versions of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) tell us not to murder, is that one mitzvah or two? And how do we count the mitzvot in Commandment #10?
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house: you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, or his ox or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Another question involves the applicability of these 613 to any particular individual. Many are only addressed to men. Many are only addressed to women. Many are addressed only to people living in the Land of Israel, and many are addressed only to the Kohanim (Priests) or worshippers bringing sacrifices to the Temple. Most commandments are just for Jews, but the seven Noachide Laws are incumbent on all humans.
In other words, while there are hundreds of mitzvot—and thousands once the Rabbis of the Talmud apply them to the complexities of human life, the number 613 seems more legendary and inspirational. Rather than counting the list, what we should realize is that living a holy life involves lots and lots of details. The details may seem overwhelming but think about how actually performing a mitzvah can involve a number of factors. If we want to observe Commandment #4 from the Ten Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy,” we need to reconcile two conflicting sub-mitzvot. One says that we should not work, but the other says that we should enjoy Shabbat/Oneg Shabbat. Is heating coffee or soup to enjoy the Sabbath included in the category of work? What about going out to a restaurant or going to the beach? Are these not enjoying a day off? There is also the question of driving a car to synagogue—figuring that one can have a holier Shabbat at synagogue? Discussions like this have been going on for over two millennia because people who take the holiness of Shabbat seriously need to figure out exactly what they should and should not do.
In last week’s Torah portion (Yitro), God speaks the Ten Commandments to all the Israelites at Mount Sinai. This week’s portion (Mishpatim) tells about an extended private session in which God reveals to Moses an additional fifty-three mitzvot. Less exalted than the big Ten, they are nonetheless very important—especially if you’re the guy who is getting gored by a neighbor’s ox, or if you are visiting the roof of a neighbor and it does or does not have a railing, or if you are the woman who tries to intervene in a fight between your husband and another man—and you get injured. When it comes to living the complexity of human life, there are lots of situations and factors, and thus these additional fifty-three mitzvot and the other 550 mitzvot in our legendary list are important. It is not just enough to say, “Be nice and fair.” How to be nice and fair requires lots of thought and specifics.
There are times, however, when all those details can seem overwhelming—when we “get lost in the weeds.” For such times, our Tradition also offers more general statements—Tanach quotations about the broad brushstrokes of living holy lives. This is where the Rabbi Simlai passage comes in, beginning with the legendary 613 and then speaking more generally.
Thus does the Talmud quote King David’s listing of eleven core values: “Lord, who shall abide in Your house? Who may dwell in Your holy mountain? Those who are upright; who do justly; Who speak the truth within their hearts. Who do not slander others, or wrong them, or bring shame upon them. Who scorn the base, but honor those who revere the Lord. Who give their word, and, come what may, do not retract. Who do not exploit others, who never take bribes. Those who live in this way shall never be shaken.” (Psalm 15)
Also included is Isaiah’s notion of an ideal person in Chapter 33, “One who walks righteously and speaks uprightly; who that despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes away from bribes, who will not listen to plans of spilling blood, and who does not look kindly on evil”—and his even briefer advice in Chapter 56: “Keep justice, and do righteousness.”
Among the most famous and inspiring summarizations is from Micah (6:8):
“It has been told thee, O human, what is good and what the Lord requires of you:
Only to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Amos, too, has a motto (5.4): “For thus says the Lord unto the House of Israel: Seek you Me, and live.” And there is Habakkuk’s (2.4): “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
Perhaps the most famous summarization is from the ancient sage Hillel. The story (Shabbat 31a) begins with his colleague Shammai insisting on all the details.
“Once a heathen came before Shammai and said to him, “I will be converted if you teach me the entire Torah, all of it, while I stand on one foot.” Shammai instantly drove him away with the builder’s measure he had in his hand.
The same man came before Hillel. “I will be converted if you teach me all the Torah while I stand on one foot.” Hillel converted him. He said to him: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah. All the rest is commentary. Now, go and study.”
Hillel’s thinking is certainly profound, but why does the story include Shammai? Is he just a foil for Hillel, or does he represent something deeper? While generalizations are poetic, memorable, and inspiring, they are not substitutes for the details of living a godly life. Shammai is in this story to remind us eternally that the details also matter. And, as it turns out, his friend Hillel never disagreed: “Now go and study!”