A Word on Parshas Mishpatim

Sunday starts the weekly Torah portion of Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1-24:18). The most recent Torah portions have covered very exciting and familiar material dealing with the Exodus from Egypt, but Mishpatim, the first parsha in the Torah to cover a large number of laws, is one of the most educational in the Torah. If you are not in the habit of doing this already, you can learn the whole parsha with Rashi's commentary by following the division into 7 aliyos (the readings done on Shabbos). Learn the first aliyah on Sunday, the second on Monday, etc. The book I would recommend using for this is the Metsudah Chumash. Most Jewish bookstores sell it one volume at a time, so you would only have to buy Exodus now.

R. Aryeh Kaplan's excellent Living Torah--another resource for learning the parsha--provides a subject heading for all the sections (also called "parshiot") of this parsha as follows:

66. Laws: The Hebrew Slave
67. The Hebrew Maidservant
68. Manslaughter
69. Murder
70. Injuring a Parent
71. Kidnapping
72. Cursing a Parent
73. Personal Injury
74. Killing of Slaves
75. Personal Damages
76. Injury to Slaves
77. The Killer Ox
78. A Hole in the Ground
79. Damage by Goring
80. Penalties for Stealing
81. Damage by Grazing
82. Damage by Fire
83. The Unpaid Custodian
84. The Paid Custodian
85. The Borrowed Article
86. Seduction
87. Occult Practices; Bestiality
88. Idolatry and Oppression
89. Lending Money
90. Accepting Authority
91. Justice
92. Strayed Animals
93. The Fallen Animal
94. Justice and Festivals
95. Promises and Instructions
96. The Land
97. Sealing the Covenant
98. Moses Ascends

Tags: Torah, parsha, Mishpatim, Judaism