It's The
Triple Crown
Of Purim Events ...
1 Purim Carnival Sunday, February 28
11:45 a.m. to 3 p.m.
food • fun • games & prizes!
2
where? of course! at
Congregation
Beth Shalom
Everyone
Welcome
Chag Purim Celebration
7:15 p.m. Saturday, March 6
Costume Parade • Megillah Reading
Children's Megillah Narration
3 Purim Play & Seudah (Dinner)*
*This event by reservation / there is a charge.
Sunday, March 7 at 5:30, p.m.
Congregation Beth Shalom • 14601 Lincoln Road • Oak Park • 547-7970
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The Torah's Laws
Measure Humanity
RABBI JULIAN I. COOK SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
ow many command-
ments, mitzvot, are in
the Torah? The young
student frequently
answers, "Ten," thinking of
that famous set of rules
familiar to all. But our tradi-
tion counts a total of 613 in-
junctions in the Ibrah. It is so
chock-full of laws that some
translations call the Five
Books of Moses, "The Law," as
if it were that and nothing
more. In the past, Christian
theologians juxtaposed Juda-
ism as a religion of law with
Christianity, the religion of
love. Being under a discipline
of law implied a harsh,
unrelenting legalism, devoid
of emotion, especially com-
passion.
Of course, the Torah is
much more than laws; there
are history, poetry, ethics,
philosophy, humor and
pathos. There also is a good
deal of law, but law as means
to an end, not an end in itself.
At times the law is an instru-
ment for ritual purity, for
holiness, for distinctiveness;
at other times the law is an
instrument for righteousness
and justice.
Law is not the counter-
weight to compassion, but
often a vehicle to achieve it.
This interrelationship can be
seen quite clearly in this
week's portion, Mishpatim.
Its very name — ordinances —
indicates it contains many
laws. Among them are provi-
sions for dealing with the
rights of slaves, personal in-
jury, sexual offenses, the
treatment of widows and or-
phans and controlling ru-
mors, false testimony and
bribes. In other words, this
section largely deals with
how we relate to people.
Perhaps the most compell-
ing and instructive law in
this group is one that com-
mands, "You shall not oppress
the stranger," which is actual-
ly stated twice (Exodus 22:20
and 23:9). It is echoed in a
more positive way later in
Leviticus 19:34, "You shall
love him (the stranger) as
yourself." In fact, this princi-
ple is repeated 36 times in the
Torah, more than any other
commandment. It is, perhaps,
the cornerstone of Jewish
morality. How we treat
others, particularly the
stranger, defines who we are.
Julian Cook is associate rabbi
at Temple Beth El.
.
It is not just law that moti-
vates us, but love as well.
And why does the Torah en-
join us to care for the
stranger? "Because you were
strangers in the land of
Egypt!' The common under-
standing .is kept alive
through the prayerbook, and
especially through the
Passover rituals. We have
been. there; we recall how it
felt. In short, we know better.
But a 16th-century commen-
tator, the Maharal of Prague,
raised an interesting objec-
tion. Does the memory of
slavery really induce the new-
ly liberated person to relate
lovingly to others? In fact, he
notes, it is really often the op-
posite. The downtrodden are
often intent on retribution for
their previous suffering,
rather than displaying com-
passion. We've seen it again
Shabbat
Mishpatim:
Exodus 12:1-24:18
30:11-16
II Kings 12:1-17.
and again, in-Southeast Asia,
in Africa and now quite
grotesquely in Eastern Eu-
rope. Having thrown off the
yoke of communism, ethnic
clusters are bent on slaugh-
tering, "cleansing" or simply
subjugating their weaker
neighbors, the strangers in
their midst. Closer to home, it
has become painfully evident
that children who are abused
and beaten tend to develop
patterns of brutality them-
selves. Merely remembering
former oppression is clearly
not enough to guarantee
moral behavior.
Nachmanides offered a dif-
ferent explanation; "Do not
oppress the stranger" implies
"Do not think that the
stranger has no one to save
him." In other words, just as
God remembered the Israel-
ites in their misery and saved
them from the Egyptians, so
God will ultimately save all
who are oppressed — the
widow, the orphan, the
stranger. Because they are
often defenseless, people are
tempted to mistreat them,
believing themselves safe
from retribution.
The Thrah reminds us of the