Parashat Mishpatim- Compassion in Law

V’eileh hamishpatim…. V’khi-yakeh ish et-avdo…. Ayin tachat ayin shein tachat shein yad tachat yad regel tachat regel. …. V’ger lo toneh v’lo tilchatzenu ki geirim heyitem b’eretz Mitzrayim

Vayashuvu Acharei-khein vayashivu et-ha’avadim v’et-hashfachot asher shilchu chafshim vayikh’b’shum la’avadim v’lishfachot. ….v’rachamtim.

^{Shemot 21:1}And these are the laws…. ²⁰And if a man strikes his servant…. ²⁴Eye for an eye; tooth for a tooth; hand for a hand; leg for a leg. .... ^22:20And a stranger, you will not wrong nor oppress, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

^{Jeremiah 34:11}And they turned afterwards and caused the servants and handmaids, whom they had set free, to return, and brought them into subjection as servants and handmaids. ^33:26….and I will have compassion.

Parashat Mishpatim is a parasha of laws and of justice. It seemingly flits from subject to subject, but there is a cohesive message throughout, from the parasha through the haftarah. The laws direct us to the path of justice, but it is a moral justice, a compassionate justice. Without compassion justice is amoral. It stands alone with no connection to those for whom it is meant. An eye for an eye may seem fair, but, as Tevye points out in Fiddler on the Roof, “that way, the whole world will be blind and toothless.” From the earliest, our leaders have equated this with monetary value, enhancing justice through compassion and morality. We have looked beyond simple justice to righteousness. It defines us as a people. We act as we do because we have experienced oppression. We act as we do because we expect each of us to act b’tzelem Ehlohim, in the image of God. We are not black and white. Right and wrong is not so simple; it flows through areas of grey so that each situation, each case is different and unique. We realize that one eye does not fully equal another eye. However, compassion combined with justice causes us to strive for the best compensation. 

We have not always gotten this right. In these areas of grey, it is sometimes difficult to know how to place emphasis, when to lean towards justice, and when to lean towards compassion. As individuals, we have acted wrongly. No one, no people, can be perfect all the time. However, we continuously strive to hold ourselves to a higher authority. The haftarah serves as a reminder of these times, a reminder that we must learn from our mistakes. Like God, we must has compassion, act rightly. Only then can the laws of Mishpatim and the entire Torah have true meaning for us.