In this week's Torah portion of Mishpatim, God teaches the Israelites laws governing how one person should deal with another. These laws, known as mishpatim, were taught to the Israelites after they received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. The laws discussed include regulations for slavery, accidental murder, witchcraft, and a prohibition against cooking or eating meat and milk together.
2. In this weeks parsha,
following the receiving
of the Ten
Commandments,
Hashem teaches the
Jews about mishpatim,
laws about how one
Jew must deal with
another Jew. They were
taught these laws while
camping in the city of
Mara, and were taught
additional mishpatim at
the bottom of mount
Sinai after receiving the
Torah.
3. One law discusses the slave who volunteers to
remain in his masters service. If after six
years of service a slave wants to continue
working for his master, he is taken to the Beit
Din, House of Judgment. If he reinforces his
refusal to leave his master in front of the
judges, his master brings him to the door of
his house, or someone else's house. Then his
master bores a hole through his right ear, a
sign that he remains enslaved until the next
Yovel year. (Every 50th year is a Yovel year.)
Then he is free.
4. Another law discusses the punishment
for murder by accident. If someone killed
somebody else by mistake, having no
previous intentions of causing him harm,
he must go to an Ir Miklat. These are
special cities of refuge, set aside for
people with these circumstances. In the
city they will be safe and will not need
to be worried about anyone coming
after them.
5. This law discusses the mitzvah
for the Beit Din to kill anyone
practicing witchcraft. The Beit
Din is commanded to execute a
person who practices witchcraft
in Israel. Although the Torah
says a warning in regard to
women who engage in sorcery,
both men and women were to
be executed. The reason the
Torah singled out the women is
because witchcraft was more
commonly practiced by women.
6. One last law talks about the prohibition against mixing milk and meat together. Hashem
commanded Klal Israel, You should not cook a kid in its mothers milk. These words are
found in three different places in the Torah, indicating three different prohibitions to the
matter:
1.It is forbidden to eat a cooked mixture of meat and milk.
2.One may not gain any benefit from such a mixture.
3.The two may not be cooked together.
7. One last law talks about the prohibition against mixing milk and meat together. Hashem
commanded Klal Israel, You should not cook a kid in its mothers milk. These words are
found in three different places in the Torah, indicating three different prohibitions to the
matter:
1.It is forbidden to eat a cooked mixture of meat and milk.
2.One may not gain any benefit from such a mixture.
3.The two may not be cooked together.