Exodus, 21:1-24:18

Portion Summary

In the portion, Mishpatim (Ordinances), the Creator gives Moses a collection of laws and judgments pertaining to various topics: laws between man and man, Hebrew slaves, Hebrew maidservant, murder, theft, lending money, and others. The Creator also dictates laws concerning man and God, meat and dairy foods, the Sabbath, Shmita (year of omission, refraining from growing crops), etc.

Moses conveys to the children of Israel the message that the Creator will help them enter the land of Israel, and warns them about practicing idolatry. Moses reads to them from the book of covenant, and the people reply, “We will do and we will hear” (Exodus, 24:7). Moses builds an altar and offers sacrifices to the Creator, and a covenant is signed between the people and the Creator. Moses carries out the Creator’s command, ascends Mount Sinai to receive the tablets of the covenant, accompanied by his servant, Joshua, and stays there for forty days and forty nights.

Commentary

In the portion, Mishpatim (Ordinances), Moses ascends Mount Sinai, although he had already received the laws and ordinances, and the children of Israel had already kept the Torah and laws regarding the offerings. This tells us that laws and ordinances are one thing, while the Torah is another.

The portion details all the laws of the spiritual world, everything we need to know and do. In order to be able to follow them, we must receive the Torah. The Torah was given because “I have created the evil inclination, I have created for it the Torah as a spice.”¹ That is, one is shown to whom one is compared to be at the degree of “man,” in a state of loving others and connection among everyone, a state of correction of all the egoistic desires.

This is why the laws come first. When we begin to study the wisdom of Kabbalah, we understand that first we correct ourselves, our attitude toward the group, toward people, and toward the world. There are many internal corrections of the evil inclination that we must perform. When we understand what we must do, the period of receiving the Torah arrives. We learn to receive the light that corrects us during our studies.

This is how we gradually obtain the Creator, the upper force that fills the upper world. This is why it was said, “We will do and we will hear.” First we must do, and then—in the corrected Kelim (vessels) that we build—we will discover the Creator filling those Kelim.

The portion explains the structure of the soul because that is all there is. Although we are living in the soul now, too, we feel and understand this world within the soul to a very limited degree, the still (inanimate) degree. The portion tells us how to open up the soul, the Kli (vessel), and how to correct and expand it. This allows us to transcend the boundaries of this world.

When we correct all the levels in the soul, namely the corrupt desires, we open them up and discover within them the higher dimension, the upper world. Thus, in addition to our perception of this world, we also feel the upper world, as it is written, “You will see your world in your life.”² The Torah was given to us in order to open ourselves up to the perception of the spiritual world, so we could live in both worlds through our present perception, through our bodies.

Today, the entire world, the whole of humanity, is in a crisis. It is a stage of transitioning from only perceiving this world into perceiving the spiritual world, as well.

In conferences that discuss the future of the world, scientists and psychologists state that the whole of humanity is in transition to a new perception. We therefore see that we are shifting to new laws and a new perception of reality.

The portion, Mishpatim, is pertinent today, as well, as we are discovering that we do not know the rules affecting our world, making it difficult for us to cope with it. When we begin to understand the world, we will discover that to cope with it we need the Torah for our instruction, for “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice.”

We should recognize that we do not yet have the power of the light that reforms, the Torah of light, namely the wisdom of Kabbalah, by which we can correct human nature. With the corrected nature, we will see a new, expanded reality.

When Moses arrives with Joshua at Mount Sinai, he leaves him below and ascends. He stays on the mountain for “forty days and forty nights” (Genesis, 7:4) in order to receive the power of the Torah. This means that he has risen a degree.

Man is a small world. Therefore, we must come to see that the whole of reality is in us. Within us are all the laws, all the ordinances, the people of Israel, all the parts of our will to receive that we must arrange as the structure of our souls. We leave what is considered “Joshua” below, while Moses climbs to the top of the mountain. When we set up the picture correctly at the stage of our spiritual progress called “the portion, Mishpatim,” we advance toward attaining the goal of Creation. In that state, we feel as one who is climbing up the mountain and is already in contact with the Creator.

Questions and Answers

The portion details many rules concerning Hebrew slaves, intake of meat and dairy foods, etc. These are divided into two parts: between man and man, and between man and God. On the one hand, we say that everything is about relations between people. On the other hand, we say that everything is about connecting to the Creator. Why do we make that division?

All the rules were intended for the correction of the soul, meaning our will to receive. All that was created is the will to receive, and each of us is immersed in it. The will to receive is divided into ten Sefirot: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut. It is also divided into three lines, into five Behinot (discernments), and into Aviut (thickness, levels of desire) Shoresh (root), one, two, three, and four. It contains everything.

We are living inside our will to receive, called a Neshama (soul), and the Creator is the general force of bestowal, love. When we are inside our will to receive, and not in bestowal and love, we cannot discover the Creator in our soul. He is hidden. We can discover Him only if we correct our will to receive so it works in order to bestow, in love of others. In that process appears the force of bestowal and love, called “the Creator.”

So how do we correct it and how do we approach the correction? The whole world is mistaken when asking that question. Everyone thinks that they understand what we need to do in life; this is why there are so many religions and belief systems. But no one, with the exception of true Kabbalists, has any clear notion.

In fact, our Torah is very simple. It is even written, “It is one, easy thing.”³ We need to join a group that engages only in the love of friends, and that this is its goal. If we are “as one man with one heart,”⁴ we will receive the Torah. If we are not, here will be our burial, as it is written, “If you receive the Torah (law), good; if you do not, there will it be your burial.”⁵ That is, everything relates to connection.

There are two stages in the love of humanity. First, there is “That which you hate, do not do to your friend.”⁶ Next, there is “Love your neighbor as yourself ... it is a great rule in the Torah.”⁷ Both stages are to be carried out in a group, where we learn all the rules concerning man and man.

When we understand, know, and have mastered these laws, and can feel and sense them, we will understand how to advance from the love of man to the love of God, the Creator. This is when we ascend to a state of “…and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy, 6:5). In that state we acquire the mind, heart, understanding, and inclination toward it when we engage in love of others. This is why we go from loving people to loving the Creator.

There are rules concerning man and man, and there are rules concerning man and God. Why do we feel it is easier to observe the commandments concerning man and God?

It is easier because when we perform commandments concerning man and God we feel that we can say anything. It is enough to shove a note into a crack in the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem to calm ourselves. It is nice; we get no response; no one tells us if we are right or wrong, or if it is enough or not. However, toward friends, relatives, neighbors, the nation, state, and humanity, we need to actually reach our goal: to examine whether we love them or not.

“Love” means that one takes the desires of others and satisfies them however one can, caring for them before caring for one’s own desires. This is the meaning of love. It is serving others in every way, instead of serving oneself. Today it seems impossible, so it is easier to cover it up by saying, “Don’t worry, I get along with the Creator.” However, this leads us very far from the true Torah.

From The Zohar: Administer Justice in the Morning

Why did the Creator see fit to give the judgments to Israel, meaning the portion Mishpatim (Ordinances), after the Ten Commandments? The Torah was given to Israel from the side of Gevura. For this reason, they must establish peace among them through judgments and ordinances, so that the Torah will be kept on all its sides. The world exists only on Din, for without the Din it would not exist. And for this reason, the world was created in Din and exists.

Zohar for All, Mishpatim (Ordinances), item 517

The world lives by judgment because the Creator created only the will to receive, an egoistic desire that wants to satisfy itself and feel good. There is nothing in reality but the desire to bestow, which is the upper force, and the desire to receive, which is the force of the creature. All that exists is the balance between these two forces. We can also see how it unfolds in the order of the worlds, in Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey, how it is rooted and hangs down to this world.

This world, too, is built on four basic principles. If they did not exist, it would not be possible to sustain the universe with all its stars, the earth, and the life upon it. These four principles exist in atoms and in the relationship between the parts of the atom.

The will to receive is the foundation. When we begin to work with that foundation in order to bestow, we permeate Creation. We have never done this before because we have only been using the laws that are in us egoistically.

Until now, we have been following the path paved for us by Nature. Now, for the first time, once we come to the wisdom of Kabbalah we begin to seemingly work against our nature. This is why this work is called “My sons defeated Me,”⁸ because we are seemingly going against the Creator.

The Creator created the evil inclination and we can turn it into a good inclination, thus opening ourselves up to a completely new reality. Only in this new world do we feel solely our nature.

As it is written in The Zohar, the corrections are through the correction of Gevura, which is why we become Gevarim, from the Hebrew word Hitgabrut (to overcome). That is, we rise above our egos and enter the world above the ego, the other world—the world of bestowal.

The Book of Zohar is special because of the influence of the light on our correction. Never in history has there been another event where ten great Kabbalists gathered, each corresponding to a different Sefira at the head of the system of governance. They assembled and wrote first-hand the master plan to govern and guide the whole of reality. In fact, they were part of that source themselves.

Therefore, when reading what they wrote, we draw to ourselves that light so it may sanctify us and bring us to the level of Bina, which is called “holy” or “sanctified,” meaning bestowal—love of others. This is when we receive our best weapon against our egos.

From The Zohar: The Grandfather

Many are the people in the world whose minds are confused and they do not see truthfully in the Torah. Each day, the Torah calls upon them with love for them, yet they do not wish to turn their heads back and listen to her. In the Torah, a thing comes out of its sheath, appears briefly, and promptly hides. When it appears out of the sheath and promptly hides, the Torah does it only for those who know her and are known in her.

... So is a word of Torah: it appears only to the one who loves her. The Torah knows that that wise of heart circles the gate to her house each day. What does she do? She shows her face from within the palace, gives him a hint, and promptly returns to her place and hides. All those from there neither know nor look, but he alone, whose guts and heart and soul follow her. This is why the Torah appears and covers, and goes to her loved one with love, to awaken the love with him.

Zohar for All, Mishpatim (Ordinances), items 97-99

When we need to reveal, we also need to conceal. And yet, it is exactly when we conceal that we reveal. This is the Torah, the Megila of Esther (the story of Esther). It becomes Meguleh (revealed) particularly in concealment. The more we conceal our egos, the more we reveal the place above the ego where the Creator appears. This is the oppositeness that people do not understand. Our senses cannot perceive it because the technique of concealment and disclosure is built on oppositeness.

What is the meaning of the commandments that the portion discusses?

All commandments are laws pertaining to the soul. Meat and dairy foods correspond to right and left, and observing the Sabbath pertains to the prohibition against touching the last part of the will to receive, which for now remains unattended to because we haven’t the strength for it. Only when we complete all of our corrections and reach the seventh millennium, after six thousand years—the six days of working on our corrections, our will to receive—will we reach the Sabbath, namely rest. On Sabbath, we avoid touching desires that pertain to the seventh part.

The portion describes humanity seemingly jumping a degree; what is that jump?

When Moses and the people of Israel approach Mount Sinai, the nature they are in—which they must correct—appears to them. Today, that state of required correction is gradually appearing before humanity, and many academic and scientific conferences around the world are discussing the correction that humanity is going through.

Will new laws appear before humanity?

Yes, and people will begin to talk about it. They will understand and feel it. We are changing each day. A new awareness, new sensation, and new perception is coming to the world, making people more sensitive. Suddenly, we can perceive that there is another dimension outside of us, that we are living in our egos, inside our will to receive, and that this is where we perceive reality. We feel through our desires, and should they change, we will perceive a different reality, as it is written, “I saw an opposite world.”⁹

What does it mean to see an opposite world?

All the laws of Torah were meant only to explain how to discover laws that are opposite from us, how to move from love of self to love of others. This is the meaning of being opposite.