RABBI WEIN ON PARSHAS MISHPATIM

The full acceptance – the naaseh v’nishma – we will do and we will hearken – of the Torah by the Jewish people appears in this week’s parsha rather than in last week’s parsha where the actual description of the revelation at Mount Sinai is recorded. We are all quite aware that the maxim that the devil lies in the details is incontrovertibly and unerringly correct. General acceptance of the ideas and values of the Torah is relatively easy to obtain from the people. Acceptance of and commitment to the nitty-gritty details of Torah and Halacha is another more complicated matter entirely. The Torah does not record for us the full and unconditional acceptance by the Jewish people until this week’s parsha, until after many of the details of the Torah have been spelled out and published. Only when details of the covenant are known can there be a true acceptance and agreement between the parties here, so to speak. Moshe, here, serves as the true advocate and attorney for Israel in explaining, teaching and clarifying the laws of the Torah to the people. We are witness on a daily basis of how general agreement on issues in commerce, diplomacy and social relationships break down when put to the detailed test of practical enforcement and behavior.