SUPER
SENSITIVITY: PARSHAT MISHPATIM
Shira
Smiles Shiur –
January 19, 2014/Shevat 18, 5774
Summary
by Channie Koplowitz Stein
“Sensitivity
Training”
did
not begin in modern day corporations or schools; it began centuries ago
when
Bnei Yisroel were given the laws delineated in Parshat Mishpatim
and
related laws throughout the Torah. These laws are intended to make us
super
sensitive to the most vulnerable members of society and, by extension,
to all
mankind. Within this parsha, one group of verses stands out as
particularly intense. Beginning with sensitivity to the stranger (or
convert),
a warning oft repeated in the Torah, the verses continue: “You
shall not cause
pain (afflict) to any widow or orphan, for if you afflict, afflict
(surely
afflict) him, if he shall cry, cry out to Me, I will hear, hear his
outcry. My
wrath shall blaze through My nostrils (vechoro api) and I shall
kill you
by the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children orphans.”
This is indeed powerful language. The only other times Hashem refers to
His
anger as “blazing
through His nostrils”
is when He admonishes us against worshipping strange gods. Rabbi
Schrage
Grosbard asks why do only these two sins elicit such strong
condemnation. The
effect is further compounded by the doubling of the major verbs, notes
Rabbi
Sorotskin as he cites the Seforno in Habinah Vehabracha.
There
must be information conveyed and lessons learned beyond the dramatic
effect of
saying, “If
you afflict, afflict,”
“If
he shall
cry, cry out,”
and “I
will
hear, hear.”
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, who regularly examines the etymology of
words to
extract their deeper meaning within the context of the Torah, notes
that almanah,
widow, is derived from elam, mute, for the
widow
has lost her voice, the voice of her husband who would speak for her. Yotham,
orphan, also connotes someone vulnerable; kothom
is
crippling someone by amputating his legs. The orphan is vulnerable
because his
parent is no longer there to support him as legs support the body.
Because
these are weaker individuals within society, Rabbi Kreiser, citing Sefer
Hachinuch, notes that we must be extremely careful in how we speak
to them,
aiming always toward compassion. The doubling of the verbs, explains
the Medrash,
is to emphasize the severity of the prohibition, that a minor, painful
word
transgresses equally as a major affliction. Further, Rabbi Sorotskin
adds, a
widow and an orphan suffer doubly when they are afflicted, first from
the
affliction itself and then from the memory that they are alone.
In Daas Schrage, Rabbi Grosbard focuses on Hashem’s
crushing anger, flaring nostrils
ready to breathe flames. When we afflict the orphan we are afflicting
His
children. After all, Hashem, the King of kings, is Father to the orphan
and the
only One upon Whom he can rely; He is Avi yesomim veDayan almanot
(Tehillim 68:6). So when one afflicts the orphan, one is offending the
King
Himself, and therefore merits such severe punishment. As Rabbi Kreiser
adds in Ish
Lerayayhu, if you’re
starting up with the widow and orphan, you’re
starting up with their Father and Protector, Hakodosh Boruch Hu
Himself.
Therefore, we must be extremely sensitive to both their feelings and
their
money, irrespective of social or financial status.
Rashi points out that although the widow and orphan are
specified, the
Torah’s
intention is to sensitize us to all people and uses the most vulnerable
as
examples. Even those people who come to our homes as solicitors of
charity
deserve our respect. If we can’t
give a donation, we can validate their effort and give them a smile,
Rabbi
Sternbach urges us in Taam Vodaath.
What is the essence of affliction? From the various commentators, it
appears
that any preventable discomfort we inflict on another, even
unintentionally, is
affliction. Many commentators cite the dialogue between Rabbi Shimon
and Rabbi
Yishmoel as they were being led to their deaths by the Romans. Rabbi
Shimon was
distraught. How had he sinned to deserve such a fate? Rabbi Yishmoel
replied, “Was
there a time
someone came to you for a judgment or question and you made them wait
while you
finished your drink or changed shoes?”
Making them wait an extra few moments when they are in a vulnerable
position is
a kind of affliction.
Rabbi Shimon was comforted, for he now realized that in some small way
he had
caused pain to another. We are not judged on this high standard, but we
must
nevertheless think before we speak and before we act. We may be unaware
of the
inner world of someone within the circle of people to whom we are
talking, but
an innocuous statement about children or an upcoming wedding may cut
them to
the core.
Rabbi Frand understands that we cannot fix most situations. We cannot
bring
back the widow’s
husband or the orphan’s
father. What we can do is open our hearts and listen to their cries.
But we
must put ourselves in the position of each person with whom we are
interacting,
writes Rabbi Ezrachi in Bircath Mordechai. How would we want to
be
treated? Does he not reflect the same image of God we ourselves
reflect? If we
treat him disrespectfully, we are disrespecting the very image of God!
Hashem’s
anger
can flare up or can be contained, notes rabbi Belsky in Einei
Yisroel.
He can “take
a
deep breath –
ma’arich
af”
or He can blaze
forth and punish immediately. While our insensitive treatment of others
will
ignite His anger, we also have the possibility of subduing His anger
and bringing
forth blessings. Hashem has always created balance. When we have
afflicted
another and he cries out to Hashem, Hashem hears the cries and passes
judgment.
On the other hand, when we treat others with respect and compassion,
when we
give tzedakah and help others in difficult situations, their
words of
thanks and praise also rise to heaven, and Hashem rains down blessings
upon us.
Focusing on the double language, the Ktav Sofer offers a
completely
different perspective on our verse. While each of us must be sensitive
to the
orphan and widow, the vulnerable among us, the orphan and widow must
also be
sensitive and not cry out to God for redress immediately, for they do
not know
the circumstances that may have brought their afflicter to act or speak
the way
he did, perhaps completely thoughtlessly. If the orphan calls out and
brings
punishment on another, the orphan himself is also liable for causing
pain to
another. His own pain does not relieve him of his responsibility to be
sensitive to others.
Rabbi Pincus, in Tiferes Shimshon, provides an analogy that
gives us
greater insight into the social dynamics depicted in the orphan’s
cry and Hashem’s
response. When
someone goes to a rich man and asks for help, the rich man, being
compassionate,
will undoubtedly give him a donation. However, if someone comes to him
crying
that he has no one else to turn to, the rich man’s
response will be not only more generous but also offered with greater
empathy,
for he is the sole refuge of this poor man and he feels a fatherly
responsibility. Similarly, the widow and orphan have no one else to
turn to, so
they cry out to God to be their Savior, to act as their Father. The
double
language reflects the widow and orphans total dependency on Hashem, if
He
doesn't respond immediately they call out again. This, notes Rav
Pincus
is the mode each of us needs to embrace, realizing there is no other
recourse
to receive what we need except from Hashem.
We already have an example of salvation through an orphan. Rabbi
Matisyahu
Solomon cites the Medrash on a verse in Eichah – Lamentations:
“We
have become
orphans, fatherless. Our mothers are like widows.”
On this verse, Hashem responds, according to the Medrash, “I
swear that I will
give you a leader and a savior who is also an orphan.”
How and when does this happen? In the
story of Purim, as Queen Esther, an orphan raised by her uncle,
prepares to
enter the throne room of Ahashuerosh without having been summoned,
risking
death, turns her heart and her eyes Heavenward and prays, “Hashem,”
she silently
cries, “I
am
totally alone. I have no one else to turn to except You. Do not forsake
me.
Please help me in my mission.”
Hashem, Father of orphans and Father of us all, invests her with the
beauty of
royalty. The king extends his scepter to her, and the events leading to
the
salvation of the Jews and Haman’s
downfall are set into motion.
Rabbi Solomon continues. We too have the opportunity to bring about
redemption.
We have to turn to Hakodosh Boruch Hu as if we ourselves are orphans,
for in
truth we have no one else on whom to rely but on our Father in heaven,
for He
surely hears the cries of orphans. Further, we can act toward others as
a
father of orphans, with sensitivity and caring, and helping to take
care of
their needs. The way we behave here will open the pathway for Heaven to
rain
down blessings and salvation for us, as Mordechai did when he chose to
go back
into exile from Eretz Yisroel to care for his orphaned niece, to become
an earthly
father to an orphan. Hence, on Purim Matanot LeEvyonim, gifts to
the
poor, widows and orphans, wherein we act this role plays such a pivotal
role.
As we work on our sensitivity to others and try to treat others with
the love
of a father for his children, may Hashem also treat us as His orphaned
children, sending us blessings and hastening our salvation.