A story is told about a mountain climber, determined to reach the summit of a high mountain. She trained for months and years, until finally she was ready for the climb. The mountain climber wanted to achieve this feat on her own, so she didn’t bring anyone with her. She began her final ascent as the sun set beyond the mountain peak. As night fell, she became overcome by the encroaching darkness and grew weary. The mountain climber was only a few yards from the summit, and she slipped! Falling off the mountain ledge at a frightful speed. During those anguished moments, her life passed before her. Suddenly she found herself suspended in midair, caught by a sharp branch, and she held on for dear life. This was not a person of faith, but at that moment a spontaneous prayer sprang from her lips and she shouted, “Help! Please save me!” Suddenly a voice came to her, and God said, “Let go of the rope, and I will be here to save you!” The mountain climber looked around sheepishly, still holding on for her life, and shouted, “Is there anyone else who can save me?!”
In my mind this is the exact opposite story as the man caught in a flood and hanging on to a tree for dear life. A jet ski passes by and offers a ride to safety and he says, “no don’t worry, God will save me.” A boat passes by and offers help, and he says, “no don’t worry, God will save me.” Then a helicopter flies overhead and throws down a rope to haul him away and he says, “No don’t worry, God will save me.” He dies and goes to heaven and berates God, “Why didn’t you save me? Why didn’t you come to my aid?” And God says, “I sent you a jet ski, a boat, and a helicopter, what more did you want?!”
The first story is about belief. Does this person really believe that if she lets go, God will provide, God will save her? That question of belief and faith is much more difficult to answer. But the second story, though, is a story about action. At some point, you must realize that you are the main character in your own story. It’s on you to make choices. It’s on you to take action.
This seems to be the message of this week’s parsha, Mishpatim. We have to live in the real world. We have to look around and notice what is happening in the world around us, and we have to act in real time. How does this play out? Our parsha begins with the words,
וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים לִפְנֵיהֶם׃
“These are the rules that you shall set before them:”
What is that word lifneihem,before them, doing there? Rav Simcha Bunim of Pesischa believes that it is the key to the entire parsha.
לפניהם – לימדה תורה שיהיו המשפטים, היינו המצוות שבין אדם לחברו, לפני הכל, לפני המצוות שבין אדם למקום. דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה.
The Torah is telling us these laws go before those laws. The laws of this week’s parasha, the laws that are “ben adam lechaveiro,” between human beings, the ways we are supposed to treat each other, these laws should come before everything else, including before the laws that we received last week… the Ten Commandments. These last five laws go before the first five – supercede?
What a radical idea! These laws of morality, of ethics, of taking care of one another and treating each other properly. These are the priorities. These are the things we deal with every single day. These are the choices we have to make. And through observance of these laws, we fulfill those laws as well.
The people of Israel seem to implicitly understand this. They listen to all of these laws about treating other human beings and immediately after we read,
וַיִּקַּח֙ סֵ֣פֶר הַבְּרִ֔ית וַיִּקְרָ֖א בְּאזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר ה’ נַעֲשֶׂ֥ה וְנִשְׁמָֽע׃ שמות כ״ד:ז׳
Then he took the record of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. And they said, “All that ה’ has spoken we will faithfully do!” Ex. 24:7
The Mei HaShiloach explains that the fact that the Israelites put doing before hearing gets at a crucial point about Torah and Mitzvot which is that none of us fully understand the depth of the meaning behind them. We just don’t know! For mitzvot like these, these ones about how we treat each other, hopefully we can feel it in our bones and know that it’s right, but we don’t truly know.
And, according to the chassidic masters, if we did have that understanding, we wouldn’t even have to do anything, all we would have to do is have the intention to do them and would thereby fulfill our obligation. Since we are limited by our comprehension, we need to pair our thinking with action so that we can fully understand and act upon our understanding.
We can’t always know where a choice or an action might lead, and neither could they when they heard these laws for the very first time. As such, they said “we will do” first before fully comprehending what they were promising, hoping that perhapsGod would help them understand after the fact. Here’s the metaphor the Mei Hashiloach uses to illustrate his point. This is like a parent who is traveling with their child and they happen upon a precious treasure and the parent tells the child, take what you can. The child doesn’t know the value of this treasure and they ask their parent. The parent responds, just take it and when we get home, I will let you know how precious it is. Or like me telling my daughter she needs to eat her brussels sprouts because they are good for her!
We may not fully understand how our actions may help or where they might lead right now, but that should not stop us from taking a step, from making a move. With na’aseh v’nishma we see the preceding of doing to listening. Doing is the simple act of performing a mitzvah to the best of our abilities and then afterward, we will listen, and we will allow our hearts to deepen our understanding of what we have done so that we learn and grow from it.
Oftentimes in situations where we have to make hard choices, we get in our own way and follow our own egos. That is the way we have learned to interact with each other in society. But only when we are actually even able to listen in the first place, to hear the cries or pleas of those in need, are we able to embody na’aseh v’nishma in earnest. Three particular pleas and verses stand out and all come in rapid succession. First, Exodus Chapter 22 verse. 25:
אִם־חָבֹ֥ל תַּחְבֹּ֖ל שַׂלְמַ֣ת רֵעֶ֑ךָ עַד־בֹּ֥א הַשֶּׁ֖מֶשׁ תְּשִׁיבֶ֥נּוּ לֽוֹ׃ כִּ֣י הִ֤וא כסותה [כְסוּתוֹ֙] לְבַדָּ֔הּ הִ֥וא שִׂמְלָת֖וֹ לְעֹר֑וֹ בַּמֶּ֣ה יִשְׁכָּ֔ב וְהָיָה֙ כִּֽי־יִצְעַ֣ק אֵלַ֔י וְשָׁמַעְתִּ֖י כִּֽי־חַנּ֥וּן אָֽנִי׃
If you take your neighbor’s garment in pledge, you must return it to him before the sun sets; it is his only clothing, the sole covering for his skin. In what else shall he sleep? Therefore, if he cries out to Me, I will pay heed, for I am compassionate. (Shmot 22:25-26).
A person in pain crying out is the one of the purest, most basic forms of prayer, and we see that God listens to that prayer. But there are two words here that teach us something else. “Bameh Yishkav? In what else shall he sleep?” This question seems very strange in this parsha of law after law after law. But it is essential to understanding the whole parasha. In all of our relations with other people, especially those who may be less fortunate than we are, we must strive for awareness. We must ask ourselves these questions. In what else shall he sleep? What do the members of my community need from me, and how can I be there for them? And then we read,
אֱלֹהִים לֹא תְקַלֵּל וְנָשִׂיא בְעַמְּךָ לֹא תָאֹר׃
You shall not revile God (or a judge), nor put a curse upon a chieftain among your people.
לֹא תִשָּׂא שֵׁמַע שָׁוְא אַל־תָּשֶׁת יָדְךָ עִם־רָשָׁע לִהְיֹת עֵד חָמָס׃
You must not carry false rumors; you shall not join hands with the guilty to act as a malicious witness:
Especially in moments when it feels like the majority are all of one opinion, or where most people get their news from quick 30 second reels and rumors fly amok, it is all the more important to understand how one must respond in their wake.
Two years ago, Dr. Erica Brown, a professor, author, and scholar who teaches on leadership at Yeshiva University and all over the world, wrote a book on the Torah of leadership, with essays on leadership based on the parsha. Each essay is powerful and inspirational, but in particular this week I was struck by the way she reframed these concepts around how each one of us should behave should we be the person who is maligned or mistreated, whether we are the day laborer or the cursed chieftain. As you listen, think about how this might apply to any leader, from Moses the prophet to you yourself in a leadership moment. She writes,
“In “How Leaders Should Handle Public Criticism,” Ron Carucci argues that the more public your role is and the more decisions you make, the more likely you are to get things wrong and the more people will critique you in ways that are not always just or fair. “The cruel reality of leadership is that when things go wrong, you take a disproportionate amount of the blame.” This can be a hard burden to carry, because the rumor mill works overtime. “When you make mistakes, the scrutiny from the broader organization is intensified. Remember, the farther people are from the problem, the less context and understanding they have. They will fill in the blanks with conjecture, projection of their own, trauma, and perceived motives for why you did what you did,” Carucci advises leaders to accept this reality and, as hard as it may be, try not to get sidetracked by the noise. Play the long-game of impact.
At the same time, respond with humility and transparency and, when necessary, set the record straight with facts rather than emotions. Respond to the kernels of truth in what you hear, take action, and report back your result…Be your best self even and especially when you feel crushed: “You have to be true to the values you want people to remember you by. If you don’t want this moment to define you, then make sure it reveals who you intend to be.” Moments of intense criticism can also be opportunities to share your deepest convictions.
We and our neighbors and co-religionists and countrymen are living through some very hard moments right now. Today, my wish for us is that we do not take after the man in the story who waits too long to be saved. May we find ways to take action, individually and communally, and may we find opportunities to share our deepest convictions and allow our true colors to shine through.
Shabbat Shalom
