Beth HaDerech; Messianic Jewish Congregation, Toronto, Canada

Rules, Rules and more Rules! (Video)

Rules, Rules and more Rules!  Who Needs Them? This week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim, Shemot / Exodus 21:1 – 24:18 is filled with rules.  Before we jump to conclusions and say they don't apply today let's look at some category's of relationships.  There are paid employees with a job, volunteers with a job, people that pay to borrow (i.e. rent), people that borrow with no fees.  Would each of these groups of people have the same responsibility and culpability in your home?  Is there a standard and who would decide? Those coming out from Mitzrayim or Egypt had the Pharaoh's rules to obey as slaves.  Other societies' had rules that were cut and dried with no exceptions.  The mitzvot or commandments set into place rules that ease the social fabric and tension.  It creates humanity where there was little humanity in other cultures.   This people coming from a mixed multitude had to have rules that all would be bound to following and obeying. The mitzvot do have relevance today.  Instead of looking at individual commandments let us consider who we each are in our lives.  Am I an employee responsible for a product or process, if so I have a higher degree of culpability than a volunteer doing the same work because I am compensated already for my time?  A volunteer's responsibility is to watch out for the obvious pitfalls,...