|
Rabbi Plaut in his commentary, explains that, "The root of the Hebrew word mishpatim means, 'to judge'; thus mishpatim has a distinct legal connotation. Plaut, like Ramban, is highlighting the traditional distinction made between the two terms that the Torah often pairs together, chukim and mishpatim. As Plaut notes, "...the term [mishpatim] covered all Torah laws except those that could not be comprehended by human reason and were to be obeyed because God had ordained them. (These were called chukim)." Since the Torah used these two different terms, it was commonly understood that they had to have significant different meanings. This came to be understood as Plaut explains: mishpatim are those laws that make sense to us as humans (or as some identify them, civil laws), and chukim are those laws that do not make common sense to us (ritual law), but we obey them anyway because God has asked it of us.
|
Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, known as Nachmanides or the Ramban, provides an extensive commentary focusing on just one word, but in doing so, provides us with many different levels of understanding. The word that catches Nachmanides's attention is mishpatim, a word that can be simply translated as "law," but is commonly translated more precisely as "rule" or "ordinance". Mishpatim are mitzvot - commandments that come from the Torah - but are understood to be laws that easily make sense to us as humans. Ramban identifies these as "civil laws". Mishpatim are made distinct from chukim - "statutes" - which are those mitzvot which don't make a lot of sense to us, such as kashrut (the dietary laws) or shatnes (the prohibition against mixing wool and linen), and even Shabbat. The chukim are obeyed because God commanded them, and, even though they may not be understandable to us now, it is assumed that they make sense on a divine level.
Following the giving of the law at Sinai and the presentation of the Ten Commandments in last week's parasha, the Torah continues directly with a listing of laws that are identified as mishpatim. They include laws about slavery, murder, accidental death and injury, treatment of parents, compensation for loss, theft, transactions, and more. This strikes Ramban as a bit odd, since in a previous usage of the term in Exodus 15:25, the term mishpat (singular) is preceded by chok. This precedent is followed throughout the Torah. Therefore, reasons Ramban, if God continually uses the phrase chukim u'mishpatim, shouldn't the chukim be presented before the mishpatim?
Ramban answers his own question in two ways. First, he states directly, that God wanted to explain first to the Israelites the civil laws. These are the laws that will have an effect on the Israelites immediately, controlling their inclinations as humans, and helping to guide their everyday lives from that moment on. Since they make sense, there is a very small learning curve, and it can be expected that they will be understood and obeyed. Ramban uses the example of the commandment, "You shall not covet..." as an example of a law that can be commonly transgressed, but for the explicitly stated prohibition.
But Ramban also notes the placing of "These are the mishpatim..." after the Ten Commandments. The earliest of the Ten Commandments deal with the obligation of knowing God, the prohibition against idolatry and the maintenance of the Sabbath, all of which would, technically, be considered chukim. These are then followed by a series of laws which would be classed as mishpatim. This, then, follows the stated order of chukim u'mishpatim, and the presentation of the mishpatim in this week's parashah is simply a continuation of that list.
So Ramban seems to be playing both side of the question: first, he says, God chose to reverses the order and teach the mishpatim first, but he then states that the mishpatim simply flow from the Ten Commandments, which begin with chukim. Ramban concludes this part of his discussion with a quote from the Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 30:15) which states that, "The whole Torah depends on justice." Justice in this world is primarily a matter for humans - just treatment of one person by another - and is therefore essentially a matter of civil law. The mishpatim guide behaviour between people, while chukim really guide human behaviour towards God. If the Torah depends on justice, then it depends on how people treat one another. By presenting the mishpatim first and foremost, the message is that God cares more about how people treat each other more then how they treat God. By expressing the mishpatim first, God's love of the people of Israel is emphasized.
Lessons for Today
So what does it matter to us today if mishpatim are presented before chukim, or the other way around, or even if chukim mean something different from mishpatim. Aren't they all just commandments? Maybe it made a difference to the Israelites back then in the wilderness, but what difference does it make to us today?
The subtle difference between chukim and mishpatim can mean a lot to us today, even if only on a conceptual level, but it can also teach us a lot about relationship with God, which is timeless.
I have always found it significant that our tradition acknowledges, through its definition of chukim, that a whole bunch of the mitzvot do not make sense. We modern rationalist thinkers tend to dismiss things that do not make sense to us, or feel compelled to find good historical or social reasons for things that do not seem to be relevant to us today. How often have we all heard lengthy theories about why keeping kosher made sense "back then" as a health measure, or is even a healthier way of eating today, or that Shabbat was an innovation of a bunch of former slaves who wanted to express their freedom by taking a day off. But, the fundamental reason that Jewish tradition has always maintained these laws, and many others that may not make sense to us, is that God has commanded it of us! Our tradition knows that they don't make a whole lot of sense. There have always been Jews, in every age, who felt these laws were not relevant to their lives. In the Torah itself we see many examples of Israelites forsaking God's laws for other paths that seemed to make more "sense" to them at the time. But, the point is, we follow these laws as an act of faith, not as an act of rationalism.
There is great power and meaning is suspending our common sense in favour of something higher. That is what religion and spirituality are all about. If you expect everything to make sense in terms of our own experiences and level of understanding in this world, then you deny the possibility of anything greater (God) or beyond our own experiences. Obviously, matters of this world are important. They are of paramount importance, which is why we have the mishpatim, and, as Ramban suggests, that is why they are presented first. This is the world of our experience, and we need to know how to act in order to make it the best place it can be. However, we also need to acknowledge that there is more, beyond this world and beyond our experiences, and even beyond our human comprehension. Albert Einstein, when asked how he, as the foremost scientific mind of his day, could still believe in God, expressed this idea beautifully (I paraphrase): "There is a line. Science will always push that line as we learn more and more about the cosmos, but we will never cross that line. On the other side of the line is the realm of God." It is for this side of the line that we have the mishpatim. It is for the other side of the line that we have the chukim.
|
