Menachem Mirski
Thoughts on Parashat Mishpatim
Humans are social animals. Society is not just a group of atomized human individuals, it is also, if not primarily, a deep structure of relationships between these individuals – biological, social, political and cultural relationships. If this structure is harmed (which can happen for many, often unforeseen, reasons) human societies go through crisis, if it’s destroyed – societies fall apart.
Human societies evolve over time, they change their deep structures but nevertheless remain usually stable, which ensures continuity of their identity. Our parasha for this week describes the structure of the ancient Israeli society and historically speaking it’s a society of the early First Temple period. (1000-800 B.C.E) Interestingly, the economic, social, judicial, religious, and ethical aspects which the chapters of our Torah portion presuppose and regulate do not reflect a nomadic or even semi-nomadic society, but a people who have passed the beginning stages of settled civilization and have achieved some degree of well-being. They have not, however, acquired yet those luxuries destructive of public and private life which were denounced by the great ethical teachers Amos and Hosea in Israel, and Isaiah and Micah in Judah in the 8th century B.C.E.. This suggests that many of the laws belong to the time of Israel’s settlement in Canaan. At the same time, the foundations of the code most likely are older. The “household” is the basis of society. A father heads it; children are that father’s quasi property. Offense to both parents is a capital crime. In case a protecting father is absent, widows and orphans are the moral responsibility of the other households. Their community is called Am (nation, people), which also includes the resident alien (ger) and the nonresident stranger (nochri).
Tribes are not mentioned in the code, although we know they were an integral part of the structure of the ancient Israelites. There are rich and poor, and a developed system of justice. The poor are protected by law and moral injunction, and if reduced to selling themselves into bondage they are automatically freed after six years. This society knows shepherds, farmers, judges and priests, but no special class of merchants or soldiers is mentioned. Money in the form of silver weights is in use, but domestic animals, especially bovines and sheep are the mainstay of wealth. The legal system in many respects resembles the patterns and principles known in the ancient Near East, but often humanizes them significantly. An ethical urgency underlies the whole law: the weak must be protected, no matter if they are Israelites or strangers, and even aid to an enemy may be sometimes required.
In terms of religious practice, Shabbat, like today, is the core of all observances; it guarantees the continuity of the cult and is to be observed by all people in their private and public life. Idolatry is illegal and punishable by death. Altogether, the law is not the king’s law, as in Babylon or in Egypt; it is God’s and belongs to the whole people who have pledged themselves to observe it faithfully.
We, modern Jews, share fundamental social and cultural structures and principles of life with our ancient ancestors despite centuries of civilization and cultural changes. Human culture and civilization, in general, develops by adding more and more layers, and every subsequent stage is typically more diverse. There is obviously a replacement: some societal and cultural institutions, as well as concepts, customs and norms are superseded by new, better ones. However, this is only part of the story, one side of the coin, because some of the societal institutions and concepts are irreplaceable, and are to stay forever. One of them is family. It’s an integral part of the structure of every society because it’s the first and the most reliable circle of human, personal responsibility. Family is the reason people first become social and then grow up; starting your own family is the primary reason why people become real, responsible adults. Our individualistic, highly organized and thoroughly thought-out contemporary societies allow individuals to live, contribute and grow, who fundamentally do not care about being part of or having a family of their own. It has its pros and cons. On the one hand, allowing individuals to function only in the context of “broadly understood society” helps to bring out their unique features that would certainly be suppressed by the need to take full responsibility for their immediate human environment. On the other hand, it also allows certain individuals to never grow up and become truly responsible adults, which often has damaging consequences for them and their immediate human environment.
A complete elimination of family from a social landscape has disastrous consequences, for both individuals and society, and unfortunately it is seen only in the long run. Both nazism and communism hated the very idea of family, and were trying to replace it with tribe/nation or ‘the humankind’. Both systems collapsed. It wasn’t the only reason, but it was one of the reasons for their collapse.
The social reality of ancient Israelites contained four instances: individual, family, tribe and nationhood. Our contemporary model also contains four: individual, family, society/nation and humanity. Only a proper balance between these instances will ensure stability and enable growth. There need to be unifying narratives on every level of this structure: we need to have narratives that keep family, society and humankind together. Our traditions contain all these narratives. But whenever you feel confused or lost in the contemporary world remember that family (to which you were born or family of choice) is always your primary social structure. So, never stop taking care of it, no matter how imperfect it may be.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Menachem Mirski
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