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January 28, 2022 (26 Shevat 5782) Details by Design Dear Friends, I hope this correspondence finds you well and in good health. We hope you will be able to join us for our hybrid services, this Shabbat morning at 10:30am, which will be held in our sanctuary and over our regular Zoom prayer link. In this Shabbat’s Torah reading of Parashat Mishpatim, we are offered an expansion of the Decalogue, which was presented to the Children of Israel during the theophany at Sinai. While there were Ten Commandments presented in last week’s text, this Shabbat, we learn of fifty-three additional instructions. Some commentators suggest that we should think of the Ten Commandments as general principles to be applied to the entire Torah, while these new instructions are either subsets or specific details and applications of the Big Ten (not a football reference!). Although the subset argument is valid, there is a second opinion about these additional instructions. It is that although we, as the readers, may become perplexed and puzzled by what we initially perceive as excessive legislative restrictions and constrictions, our tradition interprets the minutiae of these additional laws as the means through which to create a shared vision of a perfect world imbued with divine wisdom. For example, in Mishpatim we read of the law to help your enemy’s ox, which is suffering from its excessive burden. Perhaps this rule is simply teaching us the message of setting aside personal differences to help others in their time of need. In addition, the law to let the land lie fallow every seven years, called Shemita, is perhaps teaching the message of being kind and gentle to our planet and ecosystem. As a third example, the law to put a fence around pits dug on one’s property is perhaps teaching us to consider the consequences of our actions as they pertain to the safety of others. And finally, the details of Shabbat clearly encourage us to reflect on the gift of God’s creation and the importance of work/life balance. And finally, a third opinion suggests that the beauty of religion is found in the details of its practice. So, while many faiths agree on the concept of a Sabbath observance, the particulars of Jewish practice, which include a festive dinner, the lighting of candles to illuminate the room, the cessation of the weekly work cycle, and the singing of Zemiroth (hymns), all add to the richness of our normative behaviors. To quote Neil Blumenthal, “Details matter. They create depth and depth creates authenticity.” My prayer for us, this Shabbat, is for the text to reorient all of us to help find God in the details, and to understand that the details are not simply details, but rather the designs of our experiences as human beings and partners with HaShem. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Eric L. Wasser, EdD.
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