That D'Var Torah What I Gave
Oct. 29th, 2007 10:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gnomiBelow is the d'var Torah I gave last Shabbat in observance of mabfan's father's yahrtzeit.
D'var Torah -- Vayera
In this week's parsha, Avraham says to Hashem:
(B'raishit (Genesis), 18:25)
In this pasuk, we see two roots that are of interest: tzadi-dalet-kuf and shin-peh-tet. Mishpat, as used in the pasuk, can be translated as "justice." But tzedek -- from the same root as "tzadik" in our pasuk -- can also be translated as "justice."
In last week's parsha, Hashem tells Avraham to go out of his tent and to look at the sky and to count the stars, and then Avraham is told that his descendents will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. After that, the pasuk says:
(B'raishit, 15:6)
On this, Ibn Ezra says:
"Tzedek" and "mishpat" are brothers. Like brothers, they are related. But also like brothers, there are differences between them.
Mishpat, the word in our pasuk, is often translated in other contexts as "judgment." Mishpat takes into consideration only the act of the guilty party but not the hardship that carrying out his punishment might involve. Nor does it consider the effect that the act and the penalty would have on the general welfare of the community.
Tzedek, however, does take all these factors into account, and tzedakah goes even further.
In our parsha, just a couple of pesukim back from the one I started with, we read:
(B'raishit, 18:19)
Practicing mishpat and tzedakah is the condition under which Avraham's descendents will be worthy of receiving that which Hashem promised Avraham.
Humans must balance mishpat with tzedek -- we must consider the consequences of a potential judgment, to see the ruling in the context of the greater community and the impact it will have on society.
When Michael spoke at his mother's funeral this past January, he talked about how in his family his father represented tzedek and his mother represented chesed. A better analogy might be to say that Michael's father, for whom Michael is observing yahrtzeit today, represented mishpat, his mother represented chesed, and together they represented tzedek.
mabfan's father's yahrtzeit.D'var Torah -- Vayera
In this week's parsha, Avraham says to Hashem:
Chalilah l'cha me'asot kadavar hazeh l'hamit tzadik im rasha, v'haya chatzadik k'rasha, chalila l'cha hashofet kol ha'aretz lo ya'aseh mishpat.
Far be it from You to do a thing such as this, to put to death the righteous with the wicked so that the righteous should be like the wicked. Far be it from You! Will the Judge of the entire earth not perform Mishpat?
(B'raishit (Genesis), 18:25)
In this pasuk, we see two roots that are of interest: tzadi-dalet-kuf and shin-peh-tet. Mishpat, as used in the pasuk, can be translated as "justice." But tzedek -- from the same root as "tzadik" in our pasuk -- can also be translated as "justice."
In last week's parsha, Hashem tells Avraham to go out of his tent and to look at the sky and to count the stars, and then Avraham is told that his descendents will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. After that, the pasuk says:
V'he'emin b'hashem vayach'sh'veh-ha lo tzedakah.
And he believed in Hashem, and He (Hashem) accounted it to him as tzedakah.
(B'raishit, 15:6)
On this, Ibn Ezra says:
Tzedek umishpat achim. Rak b'divrei kadmoneinu zichronam l'vracha derech tzedakah acheret.
Tzedek and mishpat are brothers, but according to our Sages tzedakah is a different way.
"Tzedek" and "mishpat" are brothers. Like brothers, they are related. But also like brothers, there are differences between them.
Mishpat, the word in our pasuk, is often translated in other contexts as "judgment." Mishpat takes into consideration only the act of the guilty party but not the hardship that carrying out his punishment might involve. Nor does it consider the effect that the act and the penalty would have on the general welfare of the community.
Tzedek, however, does take all these factors into account, and tzedakah goes even further.
In our parsha, just a couple of pesukim back from the one I started with, we read:
Ki y'da'tiv l'ma'an asher yitzaveh et banav v'et beito acharav v'shamru derech Hashem la'asot tzedakah umishpat l'ma'an havee Hashem al Avraham et asher diber alav.
I have known him so that he will command his children and his household after him, and they will keep Hashem's way, doing tzedakah and mishpat. Hashem will then bring about for Avraham everything He promised.
(B'raishit, 18:19)
Practicing mishpat and tzedakah is the condition under which Avraham's descendents will be worthy of receiving that which Hashem promised Avraham.
Humans must balance mishpat with tzedek -- we must consider the consequences of a potential judgment, to see the ruling in the context of the greater community and the impact it will have on society.
When Michael spoke at his mother's funeral this past January, he talked about how in his family his father represented tzedek and his mother represented chesed. A better analogy might be to say that Michael's father, for whom Michael is observing yahrtzeit today, represented mishpat, his mother represented chesed, and together they represented tzedek.
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Date: 2007-10-30 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 12:14 pm (UTC)Thank you!
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Date: 2007-10-30 05:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 12:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 03:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 03:13 pm (UTC)I've always wondered about "tzedek" and "mishpat," and this gave me the best reason to explore it.
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Date: 2007-10-31 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-05 02:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 04:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-04 04:04 pm (UTC)What, then, is the difference between mishpat and din? (I thought din was the "cold, hard, just-the-facts" judgement that needed to be tempered by chesed.)
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Date: 2007-11-05 02:35 pm (UTC)From what I recall, "mishpat" and "din" are the same thing, but "mishpat" is the Biblical Hebrew form and "din" is the Talmudic Hebrew form.