Two Minute Torah Podcast

Mishpatim 5770 by Scott Littky

Shalom, my name is Scott Littky, Education & Youth Director of Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, VA. Welcome to KOACH's Two-Minute Torah; a project of the College Department of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

This week we find ourselves reading Mishpatim. When I began to think about this sedra, I could not help but be reminded of Flip Wilson and a character he played in his 70's variety show. One of the many characters that he player was a judge. The scene always opened with the audience hearing — "Here comes the Judge, Here comes the Judge." Now you are asking, how does this relate to Mishpatim — well I think of God as the Judge and Moses yelling to the people — "here comes the Judge, here comes the Judge," as God is about to present us with a system of justice. The Etz Hayyim Humash states that we are presented with four sets of different laws making up what they call the Book of the Covenant. Each set of laws has its unique feature and purpose in the lives of the new Jewish people. Further, each set helps to establish the Jewish people as a civil and just society.

First, we find the judicial rulings. Second, are the laws dealing with humanitarian issues. Third, we are instructed about God's promises to Israel and the danger of losing our identity as Jews.

Finally, we learn about the ratification process of the laws and Moses' decent from Mount Sinai.

Since my time is limited I would like to focus on one area; Jewish identity.

In chapter 23, verse 19, we are taught; "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." On its own this verse appears very simple but as we know it is not. The rabbis of long ago said that as a result of this verse we were not to mix milk and meat together. In the last hundred years or so there are those who have said that there was no need to keep kosher and that the laws of kashrut held us back from joining the mainstream society.

I reject this notion of there not being a need for separating dairy and meat. Yes it may be true that there was a literal pagan custom of "boiling a kid in its mother's milk," and as Jews we are to act as Jews and not pagans. Keeping kosher allows us a Jewish people to establish a truly individual identity and to acknowledge that in all we do we are Jewish. Without food one cannot exist and without Jewish laws and a system of governing our life and society we could not and would not continue to exist.

Shabbat Shalom