Friday, February 1, 2019

Parsha Mishpatim Part 1, two stories, Rabbi's Rant, news


Parsha Mishpatim Part 1


Last week, we saw that Moshe was judging the people. On what did he judge them it is not written. Moshe received most of the Torah on Mt. Sinai but he may have been given certain laws earlier and there is no early law or no later time period in Torah. One thing for sure is that after the 10 commandments, Moshe spent 40 days on Har Sinai. These practical laws might have been in tradition from Avraham, Yitzchak and/or Yacov or there were given to Moshe. His job was to teach the people the laws. This week’s Parsha shows us the starting point about what he taught the people as a lot deals with damages caused by neighbors or owners of slaves (servants).


21:1 Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them.

These laws are on how we should judge cases. The Judges of 10, 50, 100, 1000 and members of the Sanhedrin had to know them on different levels. The leader of ten knew the basics and of fifty more until one would reach the top level.

2 If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

A Hebrew ‘slave’ or servant would serve until the Shmita year.

3 If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he be married, then his wife shall go out with him.

He was either sold to the current master-boss because he was poor or because he stole something, was caught, and the new master agreed to pay of object on grounds that he serves him.

4 If his master gave him a wife, and she bear him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

The master saw this young man in his house and in order to protect his wife and daughter gave him his non-Jewish slave or servant. Now that Shmita has come, the person goes out free to view the world.



5 But if the servant shall plainly say: I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free;

This could be out of love or it could be out of economic concerns.

6 then his master shall bring him unto God, and shall bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

Not forever but until the Yovel year. For the person who heard “I am the L-RD … no other besides ME” has now chosen a master.

7 And if a man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the men-servants.

She goes out upon reaching maturity or the age of 12. She is then ready for matrimony. The first option goes to the master or his son as she was “sold” to learn the ways of the household and become a member of a good family.

8 If she please not her master, who hath espoused her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed; to sell her unto a foreign people he shall have no power, seeing he has dealt deceitfully with her.

Why did he purchase her and raise her in his house if not to marry into the family! He has cheater her of her opportunity to advance.

9 And if he espouse her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.

He shall pay for the wedding, her gown and give her a dowry.

And if he designates her for his son: [I.e., if] the master [chooses her as a wife for his son]. [This] teaches [us] that his son also stands in his [the master’s] place to designate her if his father so desires, and he does not require another betrothal, but he [can] say to her, “Behold, you are designated to me with the money your father received [originally] for your value.” -[From Kid. 18b]  According to the law of the daughters [of Israel]: Meaning sustenance, clothing, and marital relations. — [From Mechilta]

10 If he take him another wife, her food, her raiment, and her conjugal rights, shall he not diminish.



Although the original Torah did not have a Ketuvah, oral law and this passage provided for rights. He cannot take another wife unless he gives her both food, clothing, shelter and conjugal rights.

11 And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out for nothing, without money.

If she is going to marry the man or his son, then he is to have her go free even at a financial loss.

12 He that smites a man, so that he dies, shall surely be put to death.

Two people started fighting and one kept pounding him or hitting him with his fists or a weapon when he was neutralized. However, this requires a warning by two witnesses. However, if for example the dead person attacked him first and he wacked him back hard in self-defense and aggressor died, then of course he is exempt.

13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God cause it to come to hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he may flee. 14 And if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from Mine altar, that he may die.

He has to be warned by witnesses and brought before the Sanhedrin and put on trial. A secret murderer if caught can be put in jail but not given Skilla punishment with being thrown down from a height of about six feet and a large stone thrown on him before the people stone him.

15 And he that smites his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

This is not a push back from being hit but a good drag down fight that causes black and blue marks or blood to be spilled. In such a case he needs warning and witnesses. For in the heat of an argument a teen or even young adult may “lose it” for a minute. If he deceases with the warning or can be restrained, he will not be put to death. Still children should be wary.

Last week we had “Honor your father and your mother”. In Vayikra 19 we have “A man should fear his mother and father”. This violation is very bad. Society at that time was from the rules of a father to his son or the tribal patriarch to his sons, grandsons etc.

16 And he that steals a man, and sells him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

What the Arabs and different African tribes did to others when they enslaved the people of Africa a few hundred years ago until about the time of the US Civil War. This required the death penalty for doing so to a fellow Ben Yisrael.

17 And he that curses his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

He does not give an ordinary cuss like people say to one another but rather uses a NAME of HASHEM or similar NAME.

I am still weak from the illness that plagued me and must sleep more this has taken time from my commentary which will continue next week I have the two stories and my “rant” below that I hope you enjoy. MY MAIN GOAL IS A QUALITY COMMENTARY.


Road Work by Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles http://ascentofsafed.com/cgi-bin/ascent.cgi?Name=1103-21


The Rebbe requested that I try to see to it that the Rebbetzin gets out of the house every day for fresh air. Usually, we would drive out to a park in Long Island. In the years that my son, Ari (may G-d avenge his blood*) was a young child, we would often drive by his school on Ocean Parkway to take him along; the Rebbetzin enjoyed playing with him, pushing him on the swings in the park playground, etc.
One day, as we neared the park, we found our regular route closed off due to road work, and were forced to proceed instead on a parallel street. As we drove along that street, we heard the sound of a woman screaming in Russian. When I stopped at the next traffic light, the Rebbetzin turned to me and said: "I heard a woman screaming. Can you go back and see what that was about?"
We drove back to the beginning of the street. There we saw a woman standing on the curb and weeping, while near her, workers were carrying furniture and household items from a house and loading them on to a truck belonging to the county marshal. At the Rebbetzin's request, I parked behind the marshal's truck and went to learn the details of what was going on. The marshal explained that the woman had not paid her rent for many months, and was now being evicted from her home.
When I reported back to the Rebbetzin, she asked me to go back and inquire from the marshal how much the woman owed, and if he would accept a personal check. She also asked that I should not say anything to the family being evicted.
At this point, I still did not realize where all this was leading, but I fulfilled the Rebbetzin's request. The sum that the family owed was approximately $6,700. The marshal said that he had no problem accepting a personal check, as long as he confirms with the bank that the check is covered; he also said that if he received the payment, his men would carry everything back into the house.
When I informed the Rebbetzin of the details, she took out her checkbook and, to my amazement, wrote out a check for the full amount, and asked me to give it to the marshal. The marshal made a phone call to the bank, and then instructed his workers to take everything back into the house.
As soon as they began, the Rebbetzin immediately urged me to quickly drive away, before the woman realized what had transpired.
I was completely amazed at what I had seen. Later, when we were in the park, I could not contain myself, and asked the Rebbetzin what had prompted her to give such a large sum to a total stranger.
"Do you really want to know?" asked the Rebbetzin.
"Yes, I do," I replied.
"Then I'll tell you," she said.
"Once, when I was a young girl, my father** took me for a walk in the park. He sat me down on a bench, and started to tell me about the idea of hashgachah peratit (specific divine providence). Every time-said Father-when something causes us to deviate from our normal routine, there is a divinely ordained reason for this; every time we see something unusual, there is a purpose in why we've been shown this sight.
"Today," continued the Rebbetzin, "when I saw the 'Detour' sign instructing us to deviate from our regular route, I remembered my father's words, and immediately thought to myself: Every day we drive by this street; suddenly the street's closed off, and we're sent to a different street. What is the purpose of this? How is this connected to me? Then I heard the sound of a woman crying and screaming. I realized that we had been sent along this route for a purpose."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: Reprinted with permission from //chabad.org/156251 and supplemented by Yerachmiel Tilles. [Chessed Halberstam worked in the employ of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, wife of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, for eighteen years-from 1970 until the Rebbetzin's passing in 1988-performing household chores and serving as the Rebbetzin's driver.]
* Author's note: Ari Halberstam was murdered by an Arab terrorist in 1994, in the infamous Brooklyn Bridge shooting.
** Biographical note:
Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson (25 Adar 5661- 22 Shvat 5748 / March 1901 - Feb. 1988 C.E.) was the daughter of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef-Yitzchak Schneersohn. On 14 Kislev 5689 (Dec. 1928 C.E.), she married the future Rebbe, her distant cousin, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in Warsaw, in a wedding attended by many Chasidic Rebbes and leading Torah scholars of the generation. She devoted herself totally to supporting her husband in his role as a leader of world Jewry, and was known in her own right for her modesty, erudition, piety and good deeds.


And oldie and goodie – Love your neighbor as yourself it may save your life


In Crown Heights, there was a Jew, Yankel, who owned a bakery. He survived the camps.
He once said, “You know why it is that I’m alive today? I was a kid, just a teenager at the time. We were on the train, in a boxcar, being taken to Auschwitz. Night came and it was freezing, deathly cold, in that boxcar. The Germans would leave the cars on the side of the tracks overnight, sometimes for days on end without any food, and of course, no blankets to keep us warm,” he said.
“Sitting next to me was an older Jew – this beloved elderly Jew - from my hometown I recognized, but I had never seen him like this. He was shivering from head to toe, and looked terrible. So I wrapped my arms around him and began rubbing him, to warm him up. I rubbed his arms, his legs, his face, his neck. I begged him to hang on. All night long; I kept the man warm this way. I was tired, I was freezing cold myself, my fingers were numb, but I didn’t stop rubbing the heat on to this man’s body. Hours and hours went by this way.
Finally, night passed, morning came, and the sun began to shine. There was some warmth in the cabin, and then I looked around the car to see some of the other Jews in the car. To my horror, all I could see were frozen bodies, and all I could hear was a deathly silence.
Nobody else in that cabin made it through the night – they died from the frost. Only two people survived: the old man and me… The old man survived because somebody kept him warm; I survived because I was warming somebody else…”
Let me tell you the secret of Judaism. When you warm other people’s hearts, you remain warm yourself. When you seek to support, encourage and inspire others; then you discover support, encouragement and inspiration in your own life as well. That, my friends, is "Judaism 101".


Rabbi’s Rant


I don’t always write an editorial but things are getting out of hand before Moshiach. The NY Eugenics Abortion Law and one in Virginia that was defeated because it went up to giving birth and complete infanticide. I am not against abortion if really and truly the embryo endangers the life of the mother that is a viable life. Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin calls in such a case the embryo a “Rodef” or a pursuer and the pursuer in the Torah can be killed. Up unto 40 days after conception the soul does not enter into the body in the womb – Kabbalah. So if genetic defects are found that would make a non-viable child or abnormal to such an extent, there are Rabbis who permit. HOWEVER, EUGENICS TO REDUCE THE POPULATION OF AMERICAN BLACKS OR HISPANICS IS TANT AMOUNT TO MURDER AND A FORM OF GENICIDE.


It is my opinion and perhaps shared by others that Benyamin Netanyahu makes a wonderful Foreign Minister. However, Prime Ministership has been a long term failure. He as a way with words as a former salesman and a way of slandering other candidates that he has remained in power. However, he has been Pareve towards aggression. I don’t know if the other candidates who oppose him are much better. He has not caused a big Kiddush HASHEM with all his scandals and behavior especially eating non-kosher in public. One of the worse was the hiring of an electrician on Yom Kippur to fix his private home at government expense. It is time preferably within the Likud that a younger man arises with fresher ideas but with some experience in government to replace him. For even a good leader even President Trump coming without political experience made mistakes like taking Jeff Sessions to be the Attorney General.


In Short, right before Moshiach, Yisrael is not in the best of hands and we must do Teshuva, Tephilla and Tzedducka to avoid any evil decree.


Milestone billionaire Israeli passes away. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258144

Rosanne Barr and Rabbi Boteach visit the Shomron praise settlers. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258146


Int’l Holocaust day only 212,000 alive in Israel today. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5452455,00.html

Criminal son of Israeli woman accused of murdering her and sister. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258175




Medical Cannabis the new export from Israel. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5453557,00.html

Heartwarming story: MK Rabbi Yehuda Glick almost died in a terror stabbing attack. His wife lost her battle to cancer a year ago. Hadas lost her husband 17 years ago. She lobbied the MKs for help for single parents. She met Yehuda and there was an immediate spark between them. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258265

20.56% increase of Jews living in Judea and Samaria in the last 5 years, or an actual growth of 76,614 people. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258260

Always wash your fruit and vegetables with soap and water unless special measures are taken like with lettuce and cabbage that is approved. Pesticides are killing us. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5455284,00.html

At this juncture, Lapid is proving himself to be narcissus otherwise Ganz-Lapid ticket could beat Netanyahu. Otherwise, they would get 33 to 35 seats vs. Netanyahu with 30. https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/01/30/latest-israeli-polls-show-a-united-gantz-lapid-party-would-oust-netanyahu-from-office/?utm_content=news1&utm_medium=daily_email&utm_campaign=email&utm_source=internal/


Intel looking to invest in Mellanox. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3755297,00.html

Police – Ethiopian Jews clash in Tel Aviv. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5455682,00.html


Inyanay Diyoma


Hezballah wants to keep up tunnels. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258168

Galant w/big mouth Israel has a plan kick Iran out of Syria. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258159


Benyamin region, settlers come under rocks them. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5453137,00.html

Venezuela changes tune on US diplomats. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258174

Satanic cult burns Netanya Schul. (usually mixed multitude from USSR.) http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258183


Int’l Holocaust Day British Religious Leaders Unite. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258171

Saudis testing Ballistic Missiles and A-Bomb. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258175

Ed-Op while Iran and Israel are fighting, Assad is laying low. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5452283,00.html

Iran’s COS threatens to go to the offensive. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258230

Merkel notes Iran’s anti-Israel stance: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258226

British Labor suspended antisemite reinstated. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258224

Czech’s recognize int’l definition of antisemitism. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258225

Ed-Op Ron Ben Yishai three positive developments for Israel. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5453518,00.html

Malaysia stripped of Paralympics site. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5453482,00.html

Arab killed after lynch attempt was a convicted terrorist. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258192
Teen tells of attempted lynch bandaged from stab wounds. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258182

Israeli Arabs riot after their team loses game. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258217

Medical Cannabis the new export from Israel. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5453557,00.html





Israeli Presidents predicts Iran will increase attacks. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5454303,00.html

WHY IS NO SOLDIER GUARDING IRON DOME??? https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5454110,00.html

General goes gentle on Hamas rough on the soldiers. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258280

Int’l force in Chevron to be cancelled. An election concession by Bibi. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258269


Iran claims nobody died in Israeli raid. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258283

Hezballah-Hamas hate each other’s religion but hate Israel more. They plan to disrupt the Israeli election with missiles and rockets. https://www.debka.com/nasrallah-gaza-leaders-plot-disruptions-of-israels-election-including-rocket-fire/

Amnesty Intl antisemitic. https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/01/29/antisemitic-amnesty-international-campaign-targets-historic-jewish-sites-in-israel-watchdog-says/?utm_content=news1&utm_medium=daily_email&utm_campaign=email&utm_source=internal/
Criminals arraigned in brutal Crown Heights attack. https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/01/30/brooklyn-police-arrest-two-suspects-on-hate-crimes-charges-after-brutal-beating-of-crown-heights-jewish-man/?utm_content=news1&utm_medium=daily_email&utm_campaign=email&utm_source=internal/




This comes from a leftist source so please take with a grain of salt about ISIS and the possibility of resurgence. https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/01/31/isis-could-reclaim-land-in-6-to-12-months-without-military-pressure-warns-pentagon-draft-report/23658177/


Israeli Rescue team in Brazil no chance of more survivors. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5455171,00.html


If Netanyahu is indicted it will before the elections. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258465


UK Ministry of Ed. trying to destroy the Jewish Religion. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5455897,00.html

Have a wonderful, comfortable, pleasantly warm Shabbos and stay healthy,
Rachamim Pauli
Posted by Rabbi Rachamim Pauli at 11:43 AM