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Torah Portion
Where We've Got The Spirit!
THE
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DATEBOOK
SATURDAY
FEBRUARY 5
Scout Shabbat
Men's Club Annual Las Vegas Night
SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 6
Youth Department. Goes to the Shrine Circus
The Covenant's Laws
Have A Divine Source
DR. RICHARD C. HERTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
SATURDAY
FEBRUARY 12
Sit Down Kiddush
SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 20
Annual Purim Carnival
THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 24
Reading of the Megillah
SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 27
Post Purim Party . . . "Who's Mordy?", A Rock Parody
Followed by Dinner
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COMING SUNDAY, MAY 22 — PAUL ZIM AND HIS SIMCHA KLEZMER BAND
FOR INFORMATION CALL 352-8670 21100 W. Twelve Mile Rd./Southfield
SCHINDLER'S LIST SURVIVOR SPEAKING IN DETROIT
Doti t Skiss
This Ectuca,tion,a1
and Ileaftwarraing
EN.perieo cel
The Jewish Community, neighbors
and friends are invited to meet and
hear a Schindler's List Survivor,
WILLIE S 1 ERNER of Miami.
Mr. Sterner will speak about his memories
and experiences with the real
Oskar Schindler.
Sunday, February 6, 1994
12:30 p.m.
Jewish Community Center
Maple/Drake • Shiffman Hall
Cost: Nominal fee to attend; Students and C.H.A.I.M. members FREE.
For further information contact Charles Silow at 489 8 8 86.
Children of Holocaust-Survivors Association in Michigan
-
Group Apartments
for the Elderly
A Jewish Family Service Program
Since 1979
• Luxurious apartments, with private bedrooms, for shared living.
• Supportive care provided by Geriatric Care Workers and Social
Workers.
If someone you know desires a family-like setting,
please call Jan Bayer at 559-1500.
JEWISH
FAMILY
SERVICE
Limited subsidies available.
Endowed by the Coville Triest Family Foundations.
-
ur sedrah this week con-
tains the Torah legisla-
tion that has come to be
known as the Book of the
Covenant. At one time in bib-
lical history it was considered a
book on to itself, since the title
indicates it underscores the out-
standing legal characteristics
of the collection. The laws have
a divine source and record stip-
ulations between God and Is-
rael enacted at Sinai. These
laws are inseparable from the
Exodus narrative.
The Book of the Covenant
treats a variety of legal topics
that relate to civil and criminal
matters. It is not strictly a law
code, since it is silent on many
important areas of legal prac-
tice such as inheritance, the
transfer of property, commerce
and marriage.
Nor does it appear to be writ-
ten in any orderly arrangement,
but rather in a fashion to aid
one's memory in the recital of
those laws. After all, the knowl-
edge of writing was not wide-
spread at that time, and order
was not especially emphasized
then. The important thing was
that the authority of those laws
came not from Moses but was
traced to God's will. Not just
custom but divine authority
backed these laws; they were
considered to be based on reve-
lation, divinely sanctioned.
The laws concerning slaves
were not unusual for the times
in which they were written, but
what was emphasized here was
the humanitarian approach
concerning slavery, that slaves
were to be regarded not merely
as chattel or property but rather
as human beings.
Laws concerning capital of-
fenses that involved murder,
dishonoring parents and kid-
napping carried under specific
conditions the death penalty.
Numerous laws regarding
personal injuries caused by the
physical attack on one human
being on another included the
most famous of these laws
known as Lex talionis an eye
for an eye. The Torah's Lex tal-
ionis strove to achieve exact jus-
tice so that a private wrong
would not be settled between
families of the assailant and the
victim. The Torah's law repre-
sented here was an important
law limiting private revenge, es-
pecially in family or tribal feuds.
Damage to livestock, laws of
theft, laws regarding seduction
—
Richard C. Hertz is rabbi emeritus
of Temple Beth El.
of a virgin all reflect humani-
trian concerns in the Book of the
Covenant. Most of these are hy-
pothetical cases dealing with
specific situations that could
arise in the course of everyday
life.
Concern for the widow and
orphan and exploitation of these
unfortunates were protected by
the Torah's law. The poor were
to be protected from exploita-
tion by the more fortunate.
Loans and the forbidding of in-
terest for the poor made the tak-
ing of interest a moral, not just
an economic offense.
Judicial integrity was to be
preserved by judges outlawing
unethical behavior in courts of
law. Not taking sides with the
mighty rather than the humble
guaranteed the courts not show
deference to a poor man in his
dispute. No consideration was
to be given to the social stand-
Shabbat Mishpatim:
Exodus 21:1-24:18
Jeremiah 33:25-36
34:8-22.
ing or the litigants lest justice
be perverted.
The much quoted law con-
cerning dietary products is
included in this sedrah. For-
bidding the boiling a kid in its
mother's milk was generalized
to outlaw the mixing of eating
meat with milk products.
Finally, when all the various
laws of the Book of the Cove-
nant had been set forth, there
comes the moment of summing
up the ratification of the Cove-
nant. Moses was commanded
to ascend Mount Sinai to re-
ceive the tangible, permanent
symbol of the Covenant, the two
stone tablets on which the Deca-
logue was written.
This, in a way, canonizes the
Torah literature. The people
have spoken, "All that the Lord
has spoken, we will do." The
people thus bound themselves
orally into obedience. The stip-
ulations of the various laws
were then expounded and an
elaborate rite of ratification took
place with it being put into
writing.
The written document was
read to the people who again
made the pledge affirmation
and loyalty. The Book of the
Covenant had now been sealed
with the ratification and con-
sent of the people. ❑