I have such an interesting life; I spent Sunday morning learning with three women who want to learn how to leyn (chant) Torah, so we discussed conjunctives and disjunctives, the role of the meteg, and punctuation. This was followed by meeting with a new family and their daughter who is considering learning for her Bat Mitzvah. As I type these words, I am listening to a rehearsal of a play that involves mention of a rabbi, and every time I hear the word rabbi stated so vociferously, I jump! Meanwhile texts arrive about funerals and sadness, about minyan and banana bread, about the stuff of life and death.
Mishpatim, the parashah this week is fascinating for exactly these reasons. Mishpatim teaches us civil law – tort law – underlining that within Judaism all of life holds potential for the sacred and holy. We read 53 laws some positive commandments, some negative, about all aspects of life. What to eat, what not to eat. About prayer, and about gifts brought to the Temple, about our Festivals, and about how we must treat those foreign to us. Mishpatim is a real mish-mash, in the best of all possible ways.
In Yitro, we were given the broad brushstrokes of law – the Ten Utterances – but in Mishpatim we get many details about how to live a life filled with sacred trust in our people and in our God. We learn to apply those Utterances in our dailyness. We barely have a breath as we shift from standing at Sinai to putting these laws into action. Sometimes our lives can feel overly full as we move from one thing to another to another – let’s remember that in that fullness is life.
I want us all to find a mitzvah in Mishpatim that we can begin to apply in our lives, in merit of those still trapped as hostages in Gaza. Light candles, put up a mezuzah – touch that mezuzah in our comings and goings, learn to read a prayer, recite the Sh’ma at bedtime. So many blessings we have at our fingertips. Let’s Bring Them Home.
Wishing all long life, healthy life, a good life,
With deep love,
Rabbi Lynn
Mishpatim
February 17, 2025 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk
I have such an interesting life; I spent Sunday morning learning with three women who want to learn how to leyn (chant) Torah, so we discussed conjunctives and disjunctives, the role of the meteg, and punctuation. This was followed by meeting with a new family and their daughter who is considering learning for her Bat Mitzvah. As I type these words, I am listening to a rehearsal of a play that involves mention of a rabbi, and every time I hear the word rabbi stated so vociferously, I jump! Meanwhile texts arrive about funerals and sadness, about minyan and banana bread, about the stuff of life and death.
Mishpatim, the parashah this week is fascinating for exactly these reasons. Mishpatim teaches us civil law – tort law – underlining that within Judaism all of life holds potential for the sacred and holy. We read 53 laws some positive commandments, some negative, about all aspects of life. What to eat, what not to eat. About prayer, and about gifts brought to the Temple, about our Festivals, and about how we must treat those foreign to us. Mishpatim is a real mish-mash, in the best of all possible ways.
In Yitro, we were given the broad brushstrokes of law – the Ten Utterances – but in Mishpatim we get many details about how to live a life filled with sacred trust in our people and in our God. We learn to apply those Utterances in our dailyness. We barely have a breath as we shift from standing at Sinai to putting these laws into action. Sometimes our lives can feel overly full as we move from one thing to another to another – let’s remember that in that fullness is life.
I want us all to find a mitzvah in Mishpatim that we can begin to apply in our lives, in merit of those still trapped as hostages in Gaza. Light candles, put up a mezuzah – touch that mezuzah in our comings and goings, learn to read a prayer, recite the Sh’ma at bedtime. So many blessings we have at our fingertips. Let’s Bring Them Home.
Wishing all long life, healthy life, a good life,
With deep love,
Rabbi Lynn