From the Summit of Sinai to Ordinary Law: Hyphenating Yitro and Mishpatim with the Joy of Adar
Bridging grand spiritual revelation with the everyday ethics of Mishpatim as Rosh Chodesh Adar arrives
Last weeks Torah portion of Yitro, with its extraordinary description of the Giving of the Ten Commandments at the foot of Sinai, is arguably at the apex of the most sublime moments recorded in Torah.
Mishpatim, this weeks section, is easily its polar opposite, a rather unsublime collection of ordinary laws, pertaining to the prosaic and pedestrian aspects of ordinary life.
The pairing of the two might well be an intentional literary trick, a "flagging" designed to get us to pay attention to just that.
What is the message that is so urgent?
Perhaps, to remind ourselves, that the Divine Judaism bursting out of the heavens, is incomplete without its human echo on earth, just as the more abstracted nature of a melody is shaped, deepened, and enriched, once instrumentalized.
Ahh, the eternal challenge of achieving synthesis, along the winding road of our spiritual journeys— frustratingly elusive in nature, yet brought into sharp relief, in the rare but worthwhile intervals of synergistic success.
Perhaps, this Shabbat's Rosh Chodesh celebration, ushering in the month of Adar, and its promise of the discovery of joy for those who seek it in earnest— can deepen this a bit. Can the notion of a spiritual practice of joy, brought into sharper focus THIS week—hyphenating the conflicting ying and yang of Yitro and Mishpatim, be the secret to managing the rigors encountered on the spiritual road?
Much Love,
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yossi