How High?

This week’s Torah portion is Mishpatim, which means ordinances or statutes. It contains a code of civil law that directly follows the giving of the 10 Commandments, and includes rules governing such areas as slavery, theft, accidental and intentional murder, negligence, and many other subjects. The 10 Commandments, heard in last week’s portion, are the minimum laws that God asks us and expects us to keep. But we know there are 613 commandments in the Torah, and in Mishpatim alone we find more than 50 commandments. How are we to regard this long list of obligations, some of which are as meaningful today as they were 3,000 years ago, such as you shall not taunt or oppress a stranger, and some that are antiquated, such as the laws pertaining to slavery and sacrifice?
There is a statement in this Torah portion, “People of holiness shall you be to me.” It indicates that the 10 Commandments are a start for becoming an ethical and holy people, but that they are only a beginning. The S’fat Emet speaks of straightening our paths; and King Solomon, in Ecclestiastes, wrote, God made man upright or straight; (but they have sought out many schemes7:29) but we know that we are not upright. In looking back over our lives each of us can recall things we did that we shouldn’t have done, things we did in the past that we would not longer do; how we failed to live up to our own standards or intentions. The rules of the 10 Commandments help us to live lives that are straight, to walk in God’s ways, as in the Psalmist’s claim, “All the paths of God are straight.” But we need more straightening. Life presents us with constant tests and opportunities to choose the even straighter over the not so straight; and in this the additional laws of the Torah are exceedingly helpful. Our sages taught that all the rungs of perfection already exist in us. If we go about setting right our actions they allow us to ascend the ladder higher and to straighten our lives even more. And there is no limit to how high we can ascend. However the is a correct way to ascend and an incorrect way. The Chassidic sage, the Kotzker Rebbe said, in effect, be holy because God wants Holiness on earth. The laws in Mishpatim all deal with real life on earth, with interactions between people. Even in the 10 commandments, of which there are only really 9, the first being a statement, I am God, and not a command: of the 9 Commandments only 3 deal with the relationship between people. In other words, they are laws for society. Our sages taught that it is of greater merit to repair our relationship with our fellow human beings than with God, and the Torah certainly reinforces that interpretation. Possibly it is more meritorious because making peace between people is harder than making peace with the Creator. But the irony of repairing our human relationships is that it must be for the sake of heaven and not only for ourselves. Everything we do to another person we do to ourselves and we do to God. Every YOU is really me. Every THEY is really us. It is all really God. It is circular and it is all One. We cannot help becoming better people by being better to each other, which helps us to draw closer to God. As we draw closer to God we also become kinder to each other. The pathway we choose, deeds or study, community or communion with the Divine, lead to the same result, if done correctly, that is, with good intentions. The Torah’s statutes are there to create a harmonious society and help us to climb a little higher, should we wish to do so. The S’fat Emet said that the quotation, “A people of holiness shall you be to me,” is not only a command but a promise. God promised us that we should and could reach the level of holiness that was given to us as our birthright and also as a sacred trust. The Divine Presence revealed the rules in Mishpatim to ensure that our innate holiness would one day be realized. It is there, waiting for us to discover it, to embrace it, and to choose it in our daily lives. May we climb the rungs of holiness that we find within us, and may the ascent expand our ability to dwell in the dimension of the holy.