Mishpatim - Partners in Law

בס"ד 

In parshas Yisro the Ten Commandments are given. These are the foundations of the law and to a certain extent all other aspects of the law can be derived from them. For example fraud, bribery, and use of dishonest weights and measures can be reasonably derived from the commandment not to steal. That a person should generally have good character can reasonably be inferred from do not crave that which belongs to your neighbor. Basic faith can be derived from the first commandment. The religious holidays logically follow from keeping Shabbos but it helps to have read the Chumash first. Also most would not intuitively derive limited liability, use of hazardous substances, degrees of responsibility concerning bailments from not stealing. A prohibition against deadly force even in self defense would seem to be unreasonable but a case could be made for it from, "do not murder". "Do not commit adultery" can be understood as an exhortation to be spiritually clean, but its extension to foods that a Jew is forbidden to eat would be very abstruse. For this reason a lengthy list of laws follows after the giving of the Ten Commandments in parshas Mishpatim. 

Mishpatim (מִשְׁפָּטִים) literally means statutes. It conjures up the idea of a legislature making laws based on a constitution. A constitution sets out general rules while a statute applies them to more specific situations. So to speak Hakodesh, baruch Hu, gave the nation of Israel a constitution when He gave them the Ten Commandments and was acting like a legislature concerning the other laws that were given on Mount Sinai.

Many laws are also given in the book of Deuteronomy. However these are texturally different in that the original source is Moshe, our teacher, not Hashem. Sometimes they are variations of what was given earlier but in a form that human beings can more easily relate to. Others are additions but in the spirit of the laws given by G-d. The exegesis of Moshe is considered as the beginning of rabbinic enactments. This is also known as the oral law for many it is synonymous with the Babylonian Talmud or more simply stated the Gemara. Perhaps a distinction should be made between law originating with Moshe and those coming directly from G-d, but none is, and both are reckoned as from the Torah. Many also give the oral law and the written law the same status saying that they were both given on Mount Sinai. 

In any case the practical obligation to keep the law is the same regardless of its source, be it the Five Books of Moses, the Talmud, Shulchan Aruch, or a modern rabbi. This is because they are all dealing with the same issue. Taking a person's wallet is stealing, this is simple. Letting your animal graze on a neighbor's property is stealing, too. Likewise, tricking a person out of their money on the internet is stealing. It is through the application of the Torah to real life situations, especially new ones, that we become a partner with G-d, Moses, and the sages of the Talmud as givers of the law and guardians of a beautiful just world. 

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