B"H
Tuesday, Shevat 27, 5781 / February 9, 2021
This week's Parsha, Mishpatim, contains many of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. Most of the mitzvot in this Parsha fall in the category of "Mishpatim"-- civil laws and statutes, between man and man.
In this Parsha the Torah commands us to be careful dealing with converts, widows and orphans; "A stranger [convert] you shall not wrong, neither shall you oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Any widow or orphan you shall not afflict. If you do afflict them and they will cry to me, I will surely hear their cry."
Here are two stories from our recent past, to illustrate the above point.
* Rabbi Yaakov Berlin was a wealthy man. One day while the maid cleaned the house, she accidentally broke an expensive dish. Rabbi Yaakov's wife became very upset and scolded the maid for being clumsy.
"You have no right to scream at her," Rabbi Yaakov said to his wife. "But she caused us such a great loss, " answered the wife. "It is your right to call her to Beth Din (rabbinical court) and present your claim," said Rabbi Yaakov. "But you cannot mistreat her in any way."
"In that case, I am taking her to the Beth Din (rabbinical court) right now to make her pay for the damage." Rabbi Yaakov's wife put on her coat and told the maid to come with her. Rabbi Yaakov also put on his coat to go, too.
"You don't have to bother coming," his wife said. "I can plead my own case."
"I know you don't need my help. But the poor maid is an orphan and has no one to help her. She will be scared and will not know what to say in her defense. It is to help her that I am going..."
* Rabbi Chaim of Sanz was a great rabbi and scholar. Once, he spent Shabbat at the home of a wealthy Jew. At the Shabbat table, every dish was first brought to the Rabbi who would take a portion for himself, then the dish was passed on to the others at the table.
Shabbat afternoon, when the "cholent" (meat stew with potatoes) was brought to the table it was also first handed to Rabbi Chaim. He took a portion for himself, but instead of passing the dish on to the others, he left it in front of him while eating his portion. When he finished everything on his plate, he took another plateful and another, until he finished it all. Out of respect to the rabbi, no one asked him why he did this.
After Shabbat, Rabbi Chaim explained to his students, "When the cholent was brought before me it didn't smell right. After tasting it, I realized that the maid mistakenly put some kerosene in the cholent. I felt pity for the maid, who is a poor orphaned girl. To make sure no one finds out, I decided to eat up all the cholent. This way, I spared the poor girl any embarrassment!"
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY