BAIS HAVAAD ON THE PARSHA 5772 ~ PARSHAS MISHPATIM ~Arka'os: Litigating Before a Secular Court

(PLEASE LEARN FOR A RUFUA SHELAMA FOR THE GEDOLIM Rav Elyashiv -Yosef Sholom ben Chaya Musha, Rav Shteinman - Aaron Yehuda Leib ben Gitel Feiga, Rav Weiss - Yitzchak Tuvia ben Rikal, Rav Belsky - Yisroel ben Chana Tzirtel, Rav Yosef - Yaakov Chai ben Margalit And Telzer Rosh Yeshiva, Yitxchok Izak ben Trina Devorah for a refuah shleima b’soch kol cholei am Yisrael.)

In this week's parsha the Torah instructs us concerning the mitzvos of mishpat - monetary laws. It is noteworthy that this immediately follows the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. Rashi explains that this is because the Torah wishes to emphasize that these mitzvos were also given on Mt. Sinai just as the Ten Commandments were. The Terumas Hadeshen adds a further elucidation. He writes that every society must have a system of justice in place, without which anarchy reigns. The Torah's laws of civil justice are essentially logical and understandable, and as such, one might have thought that Moshe legislated them himself, Heaven forbid. Therefore, the Torah emphasizes that these laws were divinely ordained and were instructed to Moshe on Mt. Sinai by G-d Himself. Rashi continues to explain that the first passuk of the parsha serves as a prohibition for Jews to adjudicate financial issues in a secular court. Rashi adds that in addition to this prohibition, there is a severe Chillul Hashem involved in doing so. This is because by turning to a secular court system one is equating its laws to those of the Torah, or worse still, preferring them over the Torah. This is a great slight to the Torah itself and therefore a Chillul Hashem.(AUDIO) FULL PRINT VERSION MORE AUDIO AND VIDEO