If you purchase a Hebrew slave . . . (21:2)
There is nothing more difficult for a person than to be subjugated to another person. This is why the Parshah begins with the laws of how the Hebrew slave is to be treated.
(Ibn Ezra)
The law that the Hebrew slave must be set free in the seventh year is reminiscent of the exodus from Egypt referred to in the first of the Ten Commandments. As the Torah says regarding the Hebrew slave: “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and G‑d redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today” (Deuteronomy 15:15). It is also reminiscent of the work of creation, because like the Shabbat, the seventh year is when the Hebrew slave gains respite from serving his master. . . . All time cycles are ordained as cycles of seven—to refer to the seven-day cycle of creation. Thus it is fitting that this mitzvah should come first in our Parshah.
(Nachmanides)
His master shall bore his ear through with an awl (21:6)*
Why the ear? The ear that heard at Mount Sinai, “For the children of Israel are My servants” (Leviticus 25:55)—yet this person went and acquired a [human] master for himself—that ear should be pierced.
(Rashi)
If men fight together, and one strikes another with a stone or with his fist . . . (21:18)
A person is always liable [for damage he causes], whether inadvertently or willfully, whether awake or asleep: if he blinded his neighbor’s eye or broke his articles, full compensation must be made.
(Talmud, Bava Kamma 26a)
He shall pay for the loss of his work, and he shall fully heal him (21:19)
From here is derived that a physician is allowed to heal [and we do not say that since G‑d afflicted the person, it is forbidden to cure him].
(Talmud, Bava Kamma 85a)
The young wife of Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch had fallen ill, and the doctors were unanimous in their opinion that there was no hope of her recovery.
When her father-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, was told of the doctors’ verdict, he said: “The Talmud specifically derives from the Torah that ‘a physician is allowed to heal.’ But nowhere has a doctor been given the right to declare a human being incurable.”
If a man shall give to his fellow money or vessels to keep (22:6)
There are four guardians: the unpaid guardian, the borrower, the paid guardian and the renter. The unpaid guardian swears on everything [and is absolved]; the borrower pays for everything; and the paid guardian and the renter swear in the case of breakage, robbery and death, and pay for loss and theft.
When you lend money to any of My people (22:24)
Wherever the Torah says the word im (“if” or “when”), the implication is that we are speaking of an action that is optional, except in three instances, where the spoken action is obligatory; this is one of them. (In other words, a person is obligated to lend money to a fellow in need of a loan.)
(Mechilta; Rashi)
You shall not act toward him as a creditor (22:24)
Do not show yourself constantly to him. . . . Do not press him for payment when you know that he is unable to pay.
(Mechilta; Rashi)
Neither shall you eat any meat that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs (22:30)
This is to teach us that G‑d does not deprive any creature of its just reward.
Note: This is no longer true however. Factory farming of animals has deprived them of their just reward!
You shall not hear a false report (23:1)
This is also to warn against hearing a true report in a manner that results in falsehood, such as when a judge agrees to hear one litigant without the other being present.
(Mechilta)
Note: That is not necessarily a true report
Put not your hand with the wicked to be a corrupt witness (23:1)
Even to retrieve monies that are justly yours.
(Mechilta)
Note: Not sure what this says exactly?
I include this story as it is very well known, and is told to teach a moral lesson. However, the final paragraph in which G-d smiles and responds: “My children have triumphed over Me,” carries huge import, in my opinion. It speaks of G-d’s desire (as would any Father) for His Chiildren to grow up and become “adults”–taking responsibility for their actions, and thus possibly being able to take a fuller role in Creation.
Perhaps this Creation is just the first stage in a much greater narrative, one in which we are to take a more active part, as a true partner in the unfolding process of Creation, to create, or proceed, to the next level in our “evolution”–read “growth”.
It is also a teaching regarding conformity. Yet growth can only occur through challenging conformity.
Follow the majority (23:2)
[Rabbi Eliezer and the sages debated a point of law regarding the ritual purity of a certain type of oven.] Rabbi Eliezer declared it clean, and the sages declared it unclean . . .
On that day, Rabbi Eliezer brought forward every imaginable argument, but they did not accept them. Said he to them: “If the law agrees with me, let this carob tree prove it!” Thereupon the carob tree was torn a hundred cubits out of its place. (Others say, four hundred cubits.) Said the sages: “No proof can be brought from a carob tree.”
Again he said to them: “If the law agrees with me, let the stream of water prove it!” Whereupon the stream of water flowed backwards. Said the sages: “No proof can be brought from a stream of water.”
Said Rabbi Eliezer: “If the law agrees with me, let the walls of the study hall prove it!” Whereupon the walls inclined to fall. But Rabbi Joshua rebuked them, saying: “When scholars are engaged in a halachic dispute, what have you to interfere?” Hence they did not fall, in deference to Rabbi Joshua, nor did they resume standing upright, in deference to Rabbi Eliezer; and they are still standing thus inclined.
Finally, Rabbi Eliezer said to them: “If the law is as I say, may it be proven from heaven!” There then issued a heavenly voice which proclaimed: “What do you want of Rabbi Eliezer? The law is as he says!”
Rabbi Joshua stood on his feet and said: “The Torah is not in heaven!” . . . We take no notice of heavenly voices, since You, G‑d, have already, at Sinai, written in the Torah to follow the majority.
Rabbi Nathan subsequently met Elijah the prophet and asked him: “What did G‑d do at that moment?” [Elijah] replied: “He smiled and said: ‘My children have triumphed over Me, My children have triumphed over Me.’”
(Talmud, Bava Metzia 59b)
If you see the donkey of your enemy collapsing under its burden, and are inclined to desist from helping him, you shall surely help along with him (23:5)
The Hebrew for “donkey,” chamor, also means “material.” Thus, this verse also instructs us as to the proper attitude toward the body and physicality:
“When you will see the chamor of your enemy”—initially you will see your material self as your enemy, as something that obstructs and hinders your spiritual growth.
“Collapsing under its burden”—in such a state of animosity between body and soul, that the body resists the Torah and its commandments Note: i.e., one’s spiritual urges , making them an unbearable burden for it . . .
One’s first inclination may be “to desist from helping him”—to shun the body, suppress its instincts and deny it its wants.
Says the Torah: “You shall surely help along with him.” Aid the material self with its “burden,” by training it to recognize that the Torah is the vehicle for its own refinement and elevation.
(Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov)
#exc/quote
Bribe
Do not take a bribe (23:8)
An impoverished widow once came to the beit din (courthouse) of the great sage Rabbi Yehoshua Kutner. Weeping bitter tears, she begged him to summon to the court a man she accused of having wronged her.
Rabbi Yehoshua summoned the man to appear before the court, but referred the case to another rabbi, refusing to preside over it himself. “The Torah forbids the taking of bribes,” he explained. “Do you think that a bribe is only a gift of money? Tears can also be a bribe that ‘blinds the clear-sighted’—especially the tears of a poor widow.”
(Maayanah Shel Torah)
You shall serve the L‑rd your G‑d, and He will bless your bread and your water (23:25)
In Hebrew, the pronoun “you” has both a singular and a plural form. The above verse, as written in the Torah, is a grammatical abnormality: the words “your bread and your water” (et lachmecha ve’et meimecha) are in the singular form, while the “you” in “you shall serve” (va’avadtem) is plural.
Explained the Rebbe of Kotzk: A Jew praying, even a single Jew praying alone, is nevertheless praying for—and together with—the entire community of Israel. On the other hand, a thousand people eating together are each eating for the sake of their own selves.
Note: This is what differentiates Judaism and Christianity. When a Christians pray, each prays for him (or her) self, or his/her family, or his/her loved ones. In conscious service, one can also pray for another. Or for a purpose, like a healing, or money, or love, etc. Most Jewish prayers are for all Jews, and, if desired, can include individual prayers.