Last week, each of us stood together at Sinai, past, present, and future souls matched across generations. We witnessed thunder, fire, and the mountain shaking as G-d gave us the Ten Commandments. The most intense moment in human history, and we were all there.
Immediately after, we get Perashat Mishpatim, which is in essence a long list of civil laws covering damages, property disputes, and theft. What to do when your ox gores someone’s donkey, how to treat widows and orphans, even helping your enemy unload his collapsing donkey. These aren’t mystical. They sound like basic common sense, the kind of laws any decent society might come up with. So why place them right after Sinai’s revelation?
Rashi addresses this directly: “Just as the first ‘Ten Commandments’ are from Sinai, so too these are from Sinai” (Rashi Shemot 21:1). Even what seems obvious needs Divine origin.
The Ramban explains that Mishpatim aren’t just civil laws. In actuality it’s an extension of the Ten Commandments. “Thou Shall Not Steal” becomes a precise rule: steal, pay back double. Your ox gores someone’s animal? Compensate. “Thou Shall Not Covet” is prevented through clear boundaries of “mine versus yours” (Ramban Shemot 21:1).
Without this structure, spiritual highs will fade. You can’t sustain a society on inspiration alone. Human “common sense” has a terrible track record.
In the 1970s, no fault divorce laws aimed to simplify breakups, but instead divorce rates tripled and single parent poverty surged. In the 2010s, the UK tried restorative justice in schools, which meant no punishment for bullies, just “talk it out” in an attempt to establish empathy. Instead, bullying got worse. Today, we live in a zero accountability culture where shared reality is eroding. Throughout history, kingdoms have boasted superior “modern values,” only to collapse into barbarism.
Meanwhile, Torah’s mishpatim have sustained us from the year 2448 to 5786 and counting. G-d foresaw every generation’s pitfalls and designed these “simple” laws to maintain stability.
We think we know best with our ethics, our fixes, our laws. Yet G-d’s Mishpatim teaches us that G-d knows best. Whether it’s national trials or personal struggles, He’s directing everything for our benefits.
The spiritual highs are real, but so are the mishpatim, the daily rules, the structure. That’s where greatness actually lives; in helping your enemy’s donkey, in paying back what you stole, in protecting the widow. Doing so because this is what G-d asks of us, not just for the sheer common sense of it.
Trust the process. Trust the One Who designed it. When you do, you’ll see His hand in everything, and you’ll thank Him for it.