Posts so far for parshat Mishpatim

2010

1. Mishpatim sources -- revamped, with over 100 meforshim on the parsha and haftarah.
   
   
2. Mishpatim: The implications of refraining from commenting -- Several pashtanim pointedly refrain from offering commentary on the Torah's legal codes, despite their innovation elsewhere. Rather, they endorse the traditional halachic conclusions. Examples: Ibn Ezra, Ibn Caspi. What does this mean, hashkafically speaking? And what could this tell us about their divergence in the case of midrash aggadah?
   
   
3. Charoses and the authenticity of the Zohar -- If named Tannaim or Amoraim mentioned in the Zohar think the tapuach is the apple, but according to true Chazal the tapuach is the citron, then how could the Zohar be anything other than a forgery?
   
4. 
   

2009

1. Mishpatim sources, with links to an online Mikraos Gedolos, and many meforshim on the parsha and haftarah. Great for preparing the parsha.
   
   
2. Now these are the laws ... Is there room and legitimacy for a peshat commentary? This as a preface to Mishpatim, and so is part of the running commentary.
   
   
3. When you purchase a Hebrew slave... Does leOlam mean until Yovel? Who is being spoken of here? How the theme is the balancing of the financial interests of the master and the human, personal interests of the servant. Also part of the running commentary.
   
   
4. Permission for a doctor to heal, based on Rabbenu Bachya -- is the permission only for external wounds? is psychological treatment being excluded here? Plus, some troubling approaches to the legitimacy of psychology.
   
   
5. The Satan dancing between the ox's horns, also based on a Rabbenu Bachya. What is the meaning of the statement in the gemara? And is that the same as Rabbenu Bachya's interpretation?

2008

1. Was the "Malach" Metatron or Moshe? A machlokes. And who exactly is this "Metatron?"
   
   
2. Do not oppress the widow and the orphan -- the message in the threat being one of empathy.
   
   
3. Marriage as penalty -- for a man who seduces a virgin. And how Shadal explains it as a matter of social standing.
   
   
4. In Shadal's vikuach, a pasuk at the end of mishpatim with ambiguous parsing is used as a basis for showing that they did not have trup.
   

2007

• Leaning on his staff, as we lean on Chazal
• and the interpretation of this legal point by pashtanim, as it might clash with established halacha.
• Acharei Rabbim LeHatos
• and how Rashi gives a peshat against the traditional, and halachic reading, but in line with the trup on the verse.

2005

1. Twice Betrayed: A Case Study in Multivalence - part 1
• by her husband, by her father. how Rashi presents them as simultaneously correct.
  
2. Implementing Biblical Law in Florida
• an attempt at implementing ba bamachteret, such that homeowners can use lethal force on home intruders.
  

2004

1. HaAm = Ziknei HaAm as synecdoche
• in which the whole refers to the part. In Mishpatim, Moshe ascends with Aharon, Nadav and Avihu and the elders, and it subsequently refers to them as the Am. So too in Yitro, Moshe asks the elders a question and the Am responds.
  
2. Ayin Tachat Ayin as metaphor
• In which I argue that saying that it means monetary payment is actually peshat, because it actually is a metaphor in which the punishment fits the degree of the crime.
  
3. From parshat Behar-Bechukotai, a discussion of serving LeOlam/until Yovel for the perpetual servant mentioned in the beginning of Mishpatim.
• and how two apparently opposing verses actually show different facets of the same law.
  
4. from parshat Ki Teitzei, Eshet Yefat To`ar As Progressive Feminist Legislation, where in the course of discussion, I compare it to Amah Ivriya, the Hebrew maidservant, mentioned in the beginning of Mishpatim.
• how it represents a reform of existing practice, and implements protections for the captive woman.
  

to be continued...