Parshas Mishpatim

Jews to Remove World-Wide Blemish

This week's parsha, Mishpatim, contains a passage which, like several others in the Torah, is not recorded in chronological order. Following the listing of the civil laws which were given at Sinai, the parsha ends by going back in time, to the events preceding the giving of the Ten Commandments, when the Jews were offered the Torah and responded positively. ¹ This is recounted thankfully by Jews in their morning services just before the Shema prayer when Jews declare, "You have chosen us from among all nations and tongues."² Unfortunately, as the Lubavitcher Rebbe has explained,

"The lofty level of sublime unity attained when the Jews accepted the Torah was befouled and polluted when they worshipped the Golden Calf and this affected their bodies as well as their souls. If so, this sin affected the clarity of the projection of G-d's choice of the Jewish material bodies. It affected all classes and levels of Jews and was carried forth into all future generations. How tragic a consequence -- a sin perpetuated for thousands of years still brings suffering to the Jewish people in modern times."³

How can this blemish be cleansed by Jews in this generation? In the past, a partial rectification was accomplished annually by the giving of the half shekel, which is described in the additional Torah reading of Shekalim, read this Shabbos after Parshat Mishpatim.⁴ The half shekel tax was originally used for the sockets of the tabernacle and was later used to pay for the communal offering. The half shekel thus represented the support of the Jewish people for Hashem's House (the Temple) and the holy services conducted therein, negating to some extent the effect of their earlier support for idol worship.

Today, when there is no Temple standing, Jews customarily donate the equivalent of half the local monetary unit ($.50 in America) on the eve of Purim as a reminder of the half Shekel and to accomplish a partial rectification as in Temple Days.

But, as the Rebbe pointed out, even after the payment of the half shekel, the sin of the Golden Calf is not fully rectified and thus still, "brings suffering to the Jewish people in modern times," (3) and brings, "impurity ... to the world as a whole."⁵

How can a full rectification be accomplished? How can Jews prove that G-d's choice was proper -- that the Jews are the nation worthy of the Torah? Safeguarding this gift is the first step. The second is to use the gift as it was intended.

The Torah must first be safeguarded so that its message remain pure. After a two thousand year exile, Jews have, in fact, returned to Israel with the same Tzitzit, the same Teffilin, the same Mezuzahs, the same laws of Kashrut and Family Purity, in short, the same Oral Law. This tremendous accomplishment, insuring that there was "no broken telephone," testifies to the worthiness of the Jews in being set aside as a holy nation. Holy also means separate in Hebrew and the Jews, through the Mitzvoth which separated them, maintained their holiness and the sanctity of the Torah.

Second, the Torah, must conquer the entire world. After safeguarding the Torah in their particular Jewish enclaves in the diaspora, Jews must leave their "training camps" and put the Torah into action, turning each and every gentile to the observance of their Torah obligations. Since, as explained by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, "the walls of Golus (exile) have burned down," there is, in fact, no longer an option of remaining isolated. Like a seed laying dormant in the ground through a two thousand year winter, the seed has remained intact. But, once the ground thaws, the choice is either to blossom into a full tree or rot.

The walls are gone and the ground has thawed--influence will take place. By insuring that the influence is from the Jewish people outward, Jews will fulfill the mission of the Torah, create a world where G-d is comfortable "dwelling," and permanently rectify the sin of the golden calf.

¹Shemos 24:3, See Rashi there
²Tefillat Ahavat Olam
³Public address of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Shabbos Parshat Mishpatim, 5747
⁴Shemos 30:11-16
⁵Likkutei Sichot, Parshat Terumah, III