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The letter “Vav” that introduces Parashat Mishpatim implies a connection to the previous Pesukim at the conclusion of the previous Parashah. What principles can we discern by this linkage between our Parashah, replete with an array of technical civil and criminal laws, with the three laws presented at the end of Parashat Yitro, which themselves seem to be repetitions of laws articulated in that very same chapter containing the Aseret HaDibrot?
The first of the three, “לא תעשון אתי אלהי כסף ואלהי זהב לא תעשו לכם”, “you shall not make with Me gods of gold and gods of silver…” (Shemot 20:20) appears to be an unnecessary recapitulation of the sin of idolatry found in the first of the Aseret HaDibrot. But the emphasis on gods of gold and silver, a specific reference absent in the first Dibrah, may suggest an alternative homiletical lesson. Could it be a warning against unbridled materialism, an admonishment against an obsessive desire to amass gold and silver that would compete with Hashem (suggested by the subtle language of לא תעשון אתי “do not make with Me”) as the sole entity worthy of one’s energy, ambition and devotion?
The second of the three, “לא תבנה אתהן גזית כי חרבך הנפת ותחלליה”, “do not build (the altar) out of hewn stone, for if you lift up your sword against it, you have profaned it” (Shemot 20:22) falls into the category of another central tenet of the Dibrot, the prohibition of murder. This new formulation linking murder to temple worship warns that an abundance of zeal for divine service never justifies the taking of life or even such a threat. “Jihad” in its most sinister form of forcefully imposing one’s beliefs and religious practices upon others is completely foreign to the peaceful and non-coercive aspirations of Jewish worship.
Finally, “ולא תעלה במעלות על מזבחי אשר לא תגלה ערותך עליו” , “you shall not climb My altar with steps, so that your nakedness will not be revealed on it” (Shemot 20:23). With its reference to physical modesty, this law echoes the Dibrah proscribing adultery or perhaps the last Dibrah of לא תחמוד, the commandment sanctioning the coveting of another’s spouse. The Torah’s innovation in defining the parameters of Avodat Hashem lies in its absolute rejection of the ancient cult service that associated idolatrous worship with licentious behavior. Here again, this last law joins the previous two in expanding the cardinal sins of idolatry, murder and sexual immorality into more encompassing principles that guide and delimit the nature of authentic Avodat Hashem.
Taken together, these three new laws that are accompanied by philosophical rationales absent in the concrete prohibitions of the Aseret HaDibrot serve as the transition, bridge and Hashkafic foundation underlying the code of criminal and civil law that we will study this Shabbat in parashat Mishpatim. The “Vav” of ואלה המשפטים teaches that the letter of the law may be adhered to with the greatest of care and observed in its myriad minutiae, but its dry and technical practice will lose its potency to promote true Avodat Hashem without due attention to its philosophical underpinnings and values-driven meaning.
My high school rebbe, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, wrote homiletically about another implication of the last of the three laws. The word מעלות means steps in the literal context, but it can also refer to one’s good qualities, as in the Yiddish mailes. The Pasuk can then be read as “do not ascend to My altar with your good qualities, lest your nakedness be revealed.” The altar cannot be a stage of self-aggrandizement, a means of showing off one’s piety and a display of self-righteousness, lest the hollowness of your Avodat Hashem be betrayed. The altar of G-d must be approached with fundamental modesty and humility.
A Chassidic tale captures this sentiment. Two men by the name of Chaim lived in the same town, one a great scholar supported by his wealthy father-in-law, the other a poor porter. They had little contact, except for a moment each morning when the poor Chaim dashed to work from an early minyan and the Torah scholar arrived for the later minyan. Reb Chaim the scholar would look at Chaim the porter with a supercilious sneer, gloating that his lot was with Torah learning rather than with heavy packages. By contrast, Chaim the porter looked upon the other Chaim with a sigh of yearning, lamenting the fact that he could not spend his day learning Torah.
The two men passed away on the same day and a heavenly trial was held. First Chaim the scholar was judged, with his good deeds and years of Talmud Torah weighed against his daily sneer of self-satisfaction. Then Chaim the porter entered to be judged. All his sins were weighed against his daily sigh of yearning to learn Torah. The verdicts were then issued. Only the simple Jew was ushered straight to heaven.