Parshat Mishpatim
Feb. 14th, 2026 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidI tried an experiment, changing when my bedroom light turned off to before 10p, and it worked: I woke up around 6a, had time to laze in bed, and still be a bit early to 7a davening (no, autocorrect, I do not mean “deveining”….), making it to Shabbat davening in shul for the first time in too long. I was the second person there, and ended setting up the mechitzah. People arrived steadily enough that there wasn’t a wait at shacharit, which was great, especially since some regulars weren’t available (it’s not a large minyan).
We read parshat Mishpatim today, and two pesukim stood out from the rest of the laws being discussed, ones that perhaps the people who still support some of the actions of the current regime yet claim to revere their holy texts should remember.
Shmot/Exodus 22:21
וְגֵ֥ר לֹא־תוֹנֶ֖ה וְלֹ֣א תִלְחָצֶ֑נּוּ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Shmot/Exodus 23:2
לֹֽא־תִהְיֶ֥ה אַחֲרֵֽי־רַבִּ֖ים לְרָעֹ֑ת וְלֹא־תַעֲנֶ֣ה עַל־רִ֗ב לִנְטֹ֛ת אַחֲרֵ֥י רַבִּ֖ים לְהַטֹּֽת׃
You shall neither side with the mighty to do wrong—you shall not give perverse testimony in a dispute so as to pervert it in favor of the mighty—
(and the next pasuk is about not favoring the poor either; I think that is currently not our issue)
I’m glad this minyan still has the chance to have people’s names said during the prayer for the sick (a lot of places have gone with the “say to yourself at the pause”, which just doesn’t feel the same); I had my uncle’s name included. He’s slowly improving, but it’s very unclear how much function he’ll regain.
I’d forgotten that it was also the first of the four special readings leading up to Passover (Shekalim), about each person giving the same amount annually towards the upkeep of the Temple, half a shekel each (worth more than the value of today’s NIS (new Israeli shekel)), but not a huge burden on folks either).
I found I had to walk out during the prayer for the government. I just cannot, not for that guy. Yes, I know he needs all the (thoughts and) prayers he can get. I can’t manage it myself, however.
It was also the shabbat before Rosh Chodesh, so there was the prayer to announce the coming month (Tuesday and Wednesday, which means that the friend sitting shiva this week has what we had 10 years ago, four days in a row of Torah reading days, for the exact same days). It’s one of my favorite prayers, so straightforward yet heartfelt.
Early kiddush was congenial, and I stayed longer than I’d planned, catching up with Liat, with DavidP, and a few others. Then R. Roth arrived, and somehow I ended up staying for the learning, a snipped from masechet Brachot about a disagreement between Beit Shammai, who says that one washes hands before pouring/mixing a cup of wine, while Beit Hillel says that one pours/mixes a cup of wine, then washes the hands. It’s fundamentally a discussion about ritual impurity, whether it is transmitted by touch, or by liquid (or both), including the idea that the outside and the inside of a cup can have different ritual purity status. The conversation meandered some, and also was challenging because two of the kids there came in to announce they’d found their fathers (in the room with us) after each circuit they made of the building (inside); they’re adorable almost-3 and 4 year olds, but it did mean we didn’t have quite the discussion we’d’ve had without repeated interruptions.
The other two minyanim and the kids service ended, but I decided I wasn’t up for the mob scene that was second kiddush (hobbitses we are, clearly), even with mac & cheese on offer. I headed out, and ran into Cesara getting her toddler bundled into her stroller (I had to count: there were 20 strollers lined up in the snow to the side of the building (it’s an old building, and there’s no room inside, plus to put them anywhere would involve serious stairs; it’s been grandfathered into the building codes, but I know there’s a push to see how it could be made more accessible. There is an outdoor ramp on the other side of the building, but blocking that with strollers would not be good.).
I ended up walking and chatting with her most of the way to her home; she, too, is overwhelmed by the crowd at kiddush. I don’t know that we’ve had such a long conversation before, but it was nice, and it got me a somewhat longer walk, which was good.
And then I was done with people for the day. I had some thought to go to the shiva maariv tonight, but read through the end of Shabbat and missed it. (The bar mitzvah I went to on MLK Day was a grandson of the man who just died; it’s clearer why they wanted a Monday when the grandparents could Zoom in…. :-( ).
We read parshat Mishpatim today, and two pesukim stood out from the rest of the laws being discussed, ones that perhaps the people who still support some of the actions of the current regime yet claim to revere their holy texts should remember.
Shmot/Exodus 22:21
וְגֵ֥ר לֹא־תוֹנֶ֖ה וְלֹ֣א תִלְחָצֶ֑נּוּ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Shmot/Exodus 23:2
לֹֽא־תִהְיֶ֥ה אַחֲרֵֽי־רַבִּ֖ים לְרָעֹ֑ת וְלֹא־תַעֲנֶ֣ה עַל־רִ֗ב לִנְטֹ֛ת אַחֲרֵ֥י רַבִּ֖ים לְהַטֹּֽת׃
You shall neither side with the mighty to do wrong—you shall not give perverse testimony in a dispute so as to pervert it in favor of the mighty—
(and the next pasuk is about not favoring the poor either; I think that is currently not our issue)
I’m glad this minyan still has the chance to have people’s names said during the prayer for the sick (a lot of places have gone with the “say to yourself at the pause”, which just doesn’t feel the same); I had my uncle’s name included. He’s slowly improving, but it’s very unclear how much function he’ll regain.
I’d forgotten that it was also the first of the four special readings leading up to Passover (Shekalim), about each person giving the same amount annually towards the upkeep of the Temple, half a shekel each (worth more than the value of today’s NIS (new Israeli shekel)), but not a huge burden on folks either).
I found I had to walk out during the prayer for the government. I just cannot, not for that guy. Yes, I know he needs all the (thoughts and) prayers he can get. I can’t manage it myself, however.
It was also the shabbat before Rosh Chodesh, so there was the prayer to announce the coming month (Tuesday and Wednesday, which means that the friend sitting shiva this week has what we had 10 years ago, four days in a row of Torah reading days, for the exact same days). It’s one of my favorite prayers, so straightforward yet heartfelt.
Early kiddush was congenial, and I stayed longer than I’d planned, catching up with Liat, with DavidP, and a few others. Then R. Roth arrived, and somehow I ended up staying for the learning, a snipped from masechet Brachot about a disagreement between Beit Shammai, who says that one washes hands before pouring/mixing a cup of wine, while Beit Hillel says that one pours/mixes a cup of wine, then washes the hands. It’s fundamentally a discussion about ritual impurity, whether it is transmitted by touch, or by liquid (or both), including the idea that the outside and the inside of a cup can have different ritual purity status. The conversation meandered some, and also was challenging because two of the kids there came in to announce they’d found their fathers (in the room with us) after each circuit they made of the building (inside); they’re adorable almost-3 and 4 year olds, but it did mean we didn’t have quite the discussion we’d’ve had without repeated interruptions.
The other two minyanim and the kids service ended, but I decided I wasn’t up for the mob scene that was second kiddush (hobbitses we are, clearly), even with mac & cheese on offer. I headed out, and ran into Cesara getting her toddler bundled into her stroller (I had to count: there were 20 strollers lined up in the snow to the side of the building (it’s an old building, and there’s no room inside, plus to put them anywhere would involve serious stairs; it’s been grandfathered into the building codes, but I know there’s a push to see how it could be made more accessible. There is an outdoor ramp on the other side of the building, but blocking that with strollers would not be good.).
I ended up walking and chatting with her most of the way to her home; she, too, is overwhelmed by the crowd at kiddush. I don’t know that we’ve had such a long conversation before, but it was nice, and it got me a somewhat longer walk, which was good.
And then I was done with people for the day. I had some thought to go to the shiva maariv tonight, but read through the end of Shabbat and missed it. (The bar mitzvah I went to on MLK Day was a grandson of the man who just died; it’s clearer why they wanted a Monday when the grandparents could Zoom in…. :-( ).