Mishpatim: What's Lurking Behind the Laws??

Our Torah portion this week is SO focused on rules, ordinances, rituals, behaviors, legal clauses, and contracts that the very name of this parashah is Mishpatim,

meaning "laws." Gone are the readings about mysterious angels, Divine miracles, fantastical plagues, and inexplicable phenomena. Now we're ready for the nuts-and-bolts of the Israelite legal system, and the "fine print" that governed their society. However, this dichotomy isn't actually correct. Hidden behind the wording of all these mitzvot, these commandments, are countless references to spirits, angels, super-natural events, and even a preoccupation with dead and the hereafter. This upcoming Monday, Rabbi Miller are I are leading yet another Death Café conversation; it'll be our third. And this time, we thought we'd try something different, namely inviting people to share their own experiences of things other-worldly, mysterious, or perplexing.

Why? Because we never otherwise talk about these things. I mean, Judaism doesn't believe in spirits, demons, and all that mumbo-jumbo... right? Well, I'm not so sure. I think a lot of people DO believe in these things, and when we state, unequivocally, that Judaism does not, we alienate them.

Especially when our tradition very much incorporates these Other Worldly elements. Even a text like this week's, which is so heady and law-focused, still manages to spend a surprising amount of time on the paranormal. I hope you'll come to the conversation on Monday evening, to perhaps discover just how common and pervasive these kinds of experiences really are. When we dismiss things we do not understand, without giving them a second thought, we are actually closing ourselves off to something that can be quite important. Something deeply emotional and vulnerable, and perhaps even fundamentally human.

The hints are sometimes subtle, but they're unmistakable. In the midst of giving laws around interpersonal relationships and financial agreements, the Torah all of a sudden declares: "You shall not let a witch/sorceress remain alive" (Ex. 22:17).

There are many examples of these kinds of unsanctioned practitioners, and one theory is that the Torah was mainly concerned that their magic and spells WOULD work, not that they wouldn't! The authors very much believed in the power of dark magic... they just saw it as outside the realm of our Jewish ritual practices. The text also tells us that God "is sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way" (23:20), and adds "pay heed to him and obey him. Do not defy him!" (21), which definitely suggests the writer believed this was a concrete, visible angel! At the end of the parashah, we also read that Moses and the elders "saw the God of Israel" (24:10) and that God then "appeared before all the Israelites" (17). All of these, one might argue, are supernatural phenomena.

But why focus on all these "weird" things? Well, I think in today's world, we allow ourselves to get into a one-dimensional (and pointless...) debate about science vs. religion. As if it must be one or the other.

What if, instead, we imagined that most things in this world adhered to the laws of gravity, math, and logic... but that some things were outside that sphere? What if some aspects of our reality (and beyond) were simply inexplicable? If nothing else, our encounters with The Spirit Realm might be articulating some deep, emotional, desperate need; walling ourselves off to that voice can really do us harm. When hearing someone else share a mystical, weird story, we might be inclined to laugh, raise an eyebrow, or just think that person is a little crazy. Perhaps we could fight that inclination, and instead be open, accepting, and curious. It's easier to be skeptical and cynical, but there ARE other options. Death is, in fact, a vital element in the life cycle, even as it remains unknown and scary to many of us. A sense of mystery is very much in our nature as humans, just as it's intrinsic to our Biblical heritage. Let's suspend disbelief. Let's share and let's listen, and perhaps we too will actually SEE the Divine Spirit among us! Now wouldn't that be something?


Images in this blog post:
1. CC image courtesy of grigorezubat on Flickr
2. CC image courtesy of Rene Schwarz on Wikimedia Commons
3. CC image courtesy of Alice Popkorn on Flickr
4. CC image courtesy of Fotorech on Pixabay