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BEGIN WITH A GRIN

A man is facing a very serious litigation case, and his lawyer warns him that the judge is very strict and plays by the rules, “He won’t stand for any nonsense and he knows all the tricks!”

“Well, would it help if I sent him a box of cigars and a case of whiskey?”

“Absolutely not!” says the lawyer. “He’s as straight as an arrow and completely beyond corruption!”

The day of the trial comes along and the man wins his case easily, and afterwards says to his lawyer, “I knew that the cigars and whiskey would do the trick!”

The lawyer is horrified, “Surely you didn’t send them, after everything I said!”

“Oh, I did. But I sent them in the other guy’s name.”

NOT SO COMMON SENSE

In this week’s parsha, Mishpatim, we learn about what happens right after the Giving of the Torah. Moshe Rabbeinu went to the top of Mount Sinai in order to learn and receive the 613 mitzvos. Most of the mitzvos detailed in our parsha are mitzvos that are interpersonal and are rationally understood. Still, G-d commands Moshe that the Jewish people should observe them not because they understand these mitzvos but because G-d said so.

This is seen in the well-known halacha which is learned from the first verse of our parsha with Rashi, “These are the mishpatim-laws which you shall place before them” – before them and not before idol worshipers, and even if you know about a certain din that they adjudicate it as in Jewish law, do not bring it to their courts.

The question is, why? Why should it matter to G-d if the case is brought before a Jewish court or a secular court? When all is said and done, the results will be identical so why make us problems and drive us up the wall?

The poskim and commentators addressed this conundrum already back at the time of the sealing of the Talmud, each with his explanation. We will focus on the fundamental and deep Chassidic principle that lies behind this law.

It is commonly accepted that the mitzvos of the Torah are divided into three general categories: logical mitzvos – mishpatim; mitzvos having to do with central events in Jewish history which can be rationally understood – eidus;  and super-rational mitzvos that are decrees we need to accept – chukim. One might think that rational mitzvos would be more readily accepted by man and would become a universal part of nature including Jews and, l’havdil, non-Jews. Indeed, we find that many not-yet-religious Jews readily agree to observe rational mitzvos. The mitzva of tzedaka, for example. You would be hard put to find a Jew who repudiates the mitzva of tzedaka because, after all, it’s in our blood, it’s in our mothers’ milk. A Jew, by nature, is merciful and kind.

In contrast, we find that over the centuries, the world around us has had a very hard time digesting many of the rational mitzvos. Since the creation of the world, there have been wars over territory, starting with Kayin and Hevel who fought over the division of the world, down to our times with world wars (hot and cold) in which millions of people lost their lives. Many of them were wars of honor. With just two nuclear explosions over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at the end of the World War II, hundreds of thousands of people died. After that there was the nuclear arms race and the Cold War.

The nations spread devastation across the globe. Why? Why not live in peace? Why not let the other guy breathe? The basic principle, (Rambam, end of Hilchos Chanuka) “Great is peace that the entire Torah was given to make peace in the world, as it says, ‘Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its pathways are peace,’” seems to have been missed by humanity over the millennia. The statement made by Neville Chamberlain, when he tried to prevent war, “In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers,” for some reason, made no impression on world leaders in past centuries.

Herein lies a fundamental idea pertaining to morality and justice: human logic is not a basis on which to build, on which to rely. The intellect of limited man is unable to be a basis for anything true and for anything just and moral. A person is ruled by his animal soul and yetzer hara, which is why his ideas about truth and morality are at best incomplete and greatly distorted because of the corrupting influence of self-love. This is why, those things which he regards as true according to the standards of his logic, are likely to miss the mark and on the contrary, deviate from the truth to the extreme.

THE TORAH’S COMMON SENSE SOLUTION

The sole basis for goodness, kindness, justice and morality is a command from G-d which obligates man in a manner of bittul, emuna, and kabbolas ol. However, that’s not all. The obligation to follow halacha and obey rabbanim is not only because human intellect is not reliable; not only due to a lack in our intelligence or in the moral rectitude of the world; but is an expression of a deeper dimension in the connection between the Torah and the world and the influence of the Torah upon the world.

The reason we need to go before a rabbinic court is because the ruling of the sages is not merely a legal ruling but actually determines the reality on the ground. The Torah rules the world and creates reality. G-d used the Torah as the blueprint for the world and Torah’s reality is what creates the reality of the world. The logic in rational mitzvos is also sourced in Torah, i.e. if these mitzvos had not been given on Sinai, man would not have figured them out on his own. It’s just like the earlier example about how human behavior over the millennia was in direct contradiction to the simple understanding of every little child alive today.

It is only the halachic determination, only the G-dly command established in Torah, the wisdom of G-d, that these mitzvos should be understood through logic that allows man’s intellect to understand and relate to them. This is why we need to go to the source and access the root of all human logic. We need to stand before a rav, before the world of Torah, before a rabbinic court, which establishes the halacha, creates the understanding, and defines the reality!

So, if today everybody understands that there are no winners in war and we need to figure out how to all get along, when did the change begin? When did the world start to behave according to the oh-so logical rationale and dictates of Torah? The answer is that these change have been occurring in tandem with the massive impact of our Rebbeim on the world at large. The Rebbe Rayatz came to New York in 1940 and launched a massive scale program of spreading Torah across America. Five years later, the United Nations was founded in New York. On the building is etched, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

When it came his turn, the Rebbe MH”M proclaimed on day one that the task of our generation is to bring the Geula. In 5751, the Rebbe began speaking about Moshiach being revealed and that this is the time of the Geula. Rabbanim united to issue a psak halacha that the time for the Geula has arrived. What happened as a result?

On 26 Shevat 5752 (January 31, 1992), erev Shabbos parshas Mishpatim, something was announced in the world that had no historic precedent: a decision by world leaders, in particular the leaders of the United States and of Russia, to reduce their weapons stockpiles.  The Rebbe called it a “new epoch in international relations — eliminating a state of wars between the countries of the world, illustrated by the reduction and destruction of weaponry…”

So, who influenced who? The Torah on the world or the world on the Torah?

TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY

We will end with a story that shows how Torah determines everything, even in monetary cases. The Rebbe told this story at a farbrengen on Acharon shel Pesach 5745.

A letter arrived at the home of the Rogatchover Gaon from the communist government, demanding the payment of two types of taxes. The gaon told his nephew to pay one of them and explained: One tax is correct according to Torah law, which is why it should be paid. The other tax is not correct according to Torah and therefore, it is impossible that one should owe such a tax. Amazingly, a few days later, a letter arrived from the government canceling the second tax.

The Rebbe explained that the Torah is “in charge” of the world which is why a psak Torah brought about the cancellation of the government tax.

Good Shabbos!

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