By: Chaya Sora Jungreis-Gertzulin

This week’s parsha, Mishpatim, opens with the words “V’eileh hamishpatim, And these are the ordinances.” (Shemos 21:1) “V’eileh, And these.” One little letter, vav, meaning and, connects the previous parsha of Yisro to parshas Mishpatim. The word and signifies a continuation. Rashi brings a Midrash, that just as the Aseres HaDibros, the Ten Commandments were given at Sinai, so, too, were the civil laws contained in this parsha given at Sinai.

The Aseres HaDibros were given in the boker, the morning, when the sun is shining and all looks bright. A time of clarity. Bnei Yisroel stood at Sinai and witnessed the miracle of a dry, desert mountain, bloom with magnificent, fragrant flowers and beautiful greenery. Not only was the mountain transformed, but the people in need of healing were cured. Miraculously, the blind were able to see, the deaf were able to hear, the lame walk, the mute were able to speak and all those whose bodies were weary and ached from years of harsh slave labor, were revived and strengthened. Simply stated, Har Sinai was a place of cure and healing. (As an aside, perhaps this explains why there are so many hospitals and health centers named Mount Sinai.) It was a true boker, morning light, bringing hope to the darkness of life.

In contrast, the mefarshim note that the mishpatim, civil laws, were transmitted to Moshe during the evening, the erev. The word erev shares a root with the word irvuvi’ah, meaning chaos, confusion. A time of darkness, pain and challenge. Laws that deal with a variety of life situations, including circumstances that aren’t always pleasant. The Torah given at Sinai was not only meant for moments of clarity and inspiration, but also for the complex, painful, and confusing moments of real life.

The parsha tells us of the eved Ivri, one who stole and has to sell himself to work as a servant in order to make restitution. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) writes that the parsha opens with the laws of an eved Ivri to teach us how important it is to value each and every individual. Even though he stole, he still has to be treated with respect and dignity. In fact, it is stated in the Talmud, “That he who acquires an eved Ivri acquires a master.” For example, the servant must be served the same food as the master, and he cannot be assigned any degrading tasks. Furthermore, if there is only one pillow available, it must go to the servant.

We learn of the desperate father who cannot provide basic needs for his daughter. He sells her as a maidservant, in order that she will be well taken care of. In each of these cases, there are humanitarian laws whose purpose is to protect the rights of the servant. Laws that teach us the importance of kovod habriyos, extending honor and respect to all.

And so, the parsha continues. Laws of accidental manslaughter, of murder and kidnapping. Of inflicting harm or cursing a parent. Of causing bodily injury to another. Of open pits that could bring harm. Of damage caused to another’s property, and so many and countless other laws governing the rough edges of human interaction.

To Bnei Yisroel, the life lesson was clear. While they experienced the boker, the sun shining through the darkness, seeing flowers on the mountains, and everyone being cured from whatever ailed them, there were also moments of erev in life. Times of darkness. Days of chaos and confusion. But it is one Torah, with answers for all times.

A life lesson that remains with us to this very day. We, too, have boker and erev, light and darkness, very often at the same time in our lives. This tension is not unique to Torah; it is a universal human experience. I think of Charles Dickens who wrote in A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Life has its ups and downs. We could be successful in business, yet at the same time have problems at home. We could see nachas from one child, while another is challenging. We could be living in the lap of luxury, yet have health issues.

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-1746) writes in Mesilas Yesharim, Path of the Just, “All that befalls us in the world, the good as well as the bad, are tests.”

Yes, the good too. What we do with our G-d given blessings is a test. If we are blessed do we give adequately to charity? If we are given the gift of spare time, do we use it to help others? It’s all in our hands.

And what if we mess up? If we fail a life test. If we let an opportunity to do and accomplish pass us by.

Shlomo HaMelech teaches “Sheva yipol tzaddik v’kam, A righteous person falls seven times and gets up.” (Mishlei 24:16) The mark of a righteous person is one who could stand up – even after falling. One who doesn’t give up, because he knows that he has a mission here on earth. Though he may stumble, and even fall, he picks himself up and continues on, knowing that HaShem is with him.

For some, the erev of life is metaphorical. For others, it is historical, overwhelming, and enduring. My mother, a”h, wrote a book Life is a Test, a subject she knew only too well. She lived through the turbulent time of the Holocaust. A time she poignantly portrayed as follows: “The powerful Nazi influence transformed anti-Semitism into a politically correct ideology. Overnight, the world became a hunting ground. We Jews became the hunted, and the remainder of the world the hunters. As young as I was, the reality of death never left me.”

My mother lost many aunts, uncles and cousins to the gas chambers of Auschwitz. After the war, my mother and her family came to the shores of this country. Here, she and her family were no longer the hunted. They resolved to become builders. She wrote in Life is a Test, “We were committed to build a better, kinder, more peaceful world.”

With time, my mother met my father, another Holocaust survivor. Both had the same dream, the same aspiration, to build a better world. On their life journey together, there were many bumps along the way, they endured many tests, but never gave up their dream. A lesson to learn.

This Shabbos, we bentch Rosh Chodesh Adar, the month in which we celebrate Purim. The Talmud teaches, “Mishenichnas Adar Marbim B’Simcha, When Adar arrives, we increase in joy. Let the spirit of Adar bring light to whatever darkness we experience, be it personally or as a people. May we experience boker, as we will read in Megillas Esther, “LaYehudim Haysa Ora V’Simcha, The Jewish people had light and joy…” May we learn to recognize the light even when it is hidden, and to carry it forward—into our homes, our communities, and our world.

Shabbat Shalom!

Chaya Sora

Chaya Sora can reached at [email protected]

This article was written L’zecher Nishmas / In Memory Of HaRav Meshulem ben HaRav Osher Anshil HaLevi, zt”l and Rebbetzin Esther bas HaRav Avraham HaLevi, zt’l