Eitan Bloostein – Senior Sermon (RS ’26)
Feb 11, 2026 By JTS Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Mishpatim
Mishpatim All Class of 2026 Senior Sermons
Read More
Before Them, Before Us: Law as Master, Law as Servant
Feb 13, 2026 By Gordon Tucker | Commentary | Mishpatim | Shabbat Shekalim
וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים לִפְנֵיהֶם These are the rules that you shall place before them. (Exodus 21:1) So begins this week’s parashah, Mishpatim. It is here that the Jewish legal tradition begins, where Torah (i.e. “Instruction”) becomes Nomos or Law. Immediately after that opening sentence, the text continues with rules concerning masters and servants. […]
Read More
Don’t Be the Terumah
Feb 21, 2025 By Stephanie Ruskay | Commentary | Mishpatim
Last week JTS, The Rabbinical Assembly, United Synagogue Youth, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Camp Ramah, the Jewish Youth Climate Movement Powered by Adamah, and Congregation Adas Israel in Washington, DC, launched Ruchot, the first ever advocacy and lobbying training for Conservative Movement teens. We gathered as an erev rav (mixed multitude) of 36 teens from 11 states (and one Canadian), 7 rabbinical students, 6 rabbis, three youth director staff, and an Israeli shaliah.
Read More
Talia Kaplan – Senior Sermon (’24)
Feb 7, 2024 By JTS Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Mishpatim
Mishpatim All the Class of 2024 Senior Sermons
Read More
How Can Humans Uphold Divine Justice?
Feb 9, 2024 By Caleb Brommer | Commentary | Mishpatim
In Parashat Mishpatim, the Ten Commandments are immediately followed by a more thoroughgoing account of the Israelite legal code. God, through Their intermediary Moshe, reveals some of the particularly sticky, tricky, and challenging cases of civil law. Mishpatim begins to answer the questions “What happens when human beings are slammed together in community? What happens when they disagree, make mistakes, and cause incidental or intentional harm? What happens when they kill each other?”
Read More
Why Does the Torah Care About Returning Lost Property?
Feb 17, 2023 By Yael Landman | Commentary | Mishpatim | Shabbat Shekalim
There is no obligation in the common law to retrieve someone’s lost property and return it. So why does the Torah make a point of establishing such a requirement? Why does the Torah specify that the owner of the lost animal is the finder’s enemy, and what is the scope of the finder’s responsibilities?
Read More
The Torah’s Creative Team
Jan 28, 2022 By David Shmidt Chapman | Commentary | Mishpatim
The metaphor of a playwright and director crafting a new play together can be applied to our parashah. The playscript God is developing is the set of mishpatim (rules), expanding on the Ten Commandments. God begins developing the “script” in a speech to Moses in Exodus 21:1: “And these are the rules that you shall set before them . . . ”
Read More
God’s Currency
Feb 12, 2021 By Gordon Tucker | Commentary | Mishpatim | Shabbat Shekalim
The arrival of Parashat Shekalim (plural of shekel) each year is what might be called the liturgical “rite of spring” in the Jewish tradition, signaling that Pesah is six–seven weeks away, and preparations (spiritual and physical) for the great festival are very soon to begin. This year, it will be observed on Rosh Hodesh Adar, when the weekly reading will be Parashat Mishpatim.
Read More
