KabbalaOnline.org Mishpatim 5783 Chasidic Master's Insights on the Torah Reading
KabbalaOnline.org Mishpatim 5783 Chasidic Master's Insights on the Torah Reading
Dedicated in loving memory and
for the merit of
YITZCHAK ben SHMUEL HAKOHEN z"l
May his soul have a great elevation above and continue to be a faithful
advocate for
STEVEN MARTIN & family
Justice Through the Incarnations
Jewish mysticism teaches that justice is often served in hidden
ways.
Beginner
"These
are the ordinances that you shall set before them." (Ex.
21:1)
On
this verse, the Zohar (II:94a) says: "These are the cycles
of reincarnation…"
This
is a surprising connection, seeing that the subsequent verses speak about
monetary laws. However, I heard the following explanation: One person accuses
another in court [that he owes him money]. Though the defendant knows he is
innocent, the Torah nevertheless obligates him to pay. He shouldn't
be plagued by the question "Isn't it a Torah of
truth, whose paths are pleasant?", because this is the
truth of the Torah and its pleasantness. How can this be so? Undoubtedly, he
owed this money to the other man in a previous incarnation, and the Torah is
now making him pay in order to free him from this debt. As for the person who
took the money deceitfully, he will have to give his own accounting in the
future. This is only one example of many possible cases.
This
is what the holy Zohar alludes
to in its reading of the verse: "These are the ordinances". For while
the law may at times seem unjust, really, "these are the cycles of
reincarnation". The Creator of the world and of all souls knows what
occurred between individuals in previous lives, and directs His world according
to the Torah, with love and compassion, with righteousness and true justice.
The
implications of this are very broad.
[Adapted
by Eliezer Shore from Degel Machane Ephraim ("The
Flag of the Camp of Ephraim") parashat Mishpatim,
the seminal work of Rabbi Ephraim Chayim, the grandson of
the Baal Shem Tov.]
Rabbi
Israel Baal Shem Tov [“Master of the Good Name”], 1698–1760. A unique and
seminal figure in Jewish history, revealed the chassidic movement, and his own identity
as an exceptionally holy person, on his 36th birthday, 18 Elul 1734. He passed
away on the festival of Shavuot in 1760. He wrote no books, although many
contain his teachings. (Also referred to as “the BeShT,” from an acronym of
Baal Shem Tov.)
Rabbi
Eliezer Shore, the translator, studied in yeshivot in New York and Israel for
many years. He currently lives in Jerusalem, where he is a writer, storyteller,
and Torah teacher.
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