Parashat Mishpatim: On Top of the World

“I’m on the top of the world, looking down on creation…”

Last Motzei Shabbat (Saturday night), the lyrics from the famous Carpenters hit filled my head as I ticked off another wish on my bucket list.

For years I have driven past the UCL Observatory on the Watford Way (aka the A1) dreaming of being able to pay a visit and view the night sky through one of its half-dozen telescopes.  This is not a place you can just walk into whenever you wish.

On the rare occasion that an opportunity arose, it also seemed to take place either over Shabbat or at a time when I was otherwise occupied.  You can therefore imagine my delight when I received an email from my late parents’ shul, Dunstan Road, (officially known as Golders Green Synagogue) advertising its Men’s Levana (Moon) Night.  Apparently, the Ladies’ trip last year had been a huge success and I was not about to give this one a miss.

There was a slight hiccup in that I needed to be there by 7.30 pm and granted that Shabbat finished at 5.51pm in Staines, this might pose somewhat of a challenge, particularly if the M25 was not ‘playing nice’.  I gritted my teeth and prayed for the desired outcome.  Notwithstanding a pretty smooth run, I was also hopeful that the inclement weather would take a break to allow us the opportunity to view a planet or two.  I’m delighted to report that both worked in in my favour and not only did I make it there in time, but I was also able to clearly view Jupiter surrounded by two rings, accompanied by satellites on its east and west.  It looked very much like this image (although the other two moons were situated on the planet’s dark side).

 

If I were to link my visit to a Parasha, Mishpatim would not be the first one that comes to mind.

Bereishit, which described the creation of the world and particularly the fourth day when Gd created the sun, moon and stars, would be a perfect candidate.  I could even stretch this to last week’s Parasha when Gd gave us the Aseret Hadibrot/Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai which was aflame, accompanied by special effects such as thunder and lightning.  That would make more sense.

This week, we have a wide range of civil laws varying from oxen falling into open pits and taking bribes, to how to deal with sorceresses and the laws of Shmittah.  Nary a star nor planet in sight!  Where we talked about the heavens in last week’s Parasha of Yitro, we are now discussing pursuing justice in the small-claims court (sorceresses notwithstanding).

On the face of it, both Parashot seem like chalk (and Kosher) cheese.  However, it is not a coincidence that Mishpatim directly follows on from Yitro.

Rabbi Sacks would often share the following story.

In the early 20th century, the great astronomer George Ellery Hale built the world’s most powerful telescope.  When it was finally completed, he invited a group of scholars—scientists, philosophers, clergy—to witness the first night of observation.

One of the rabbis present later wrote that as he looked through the telescope and saw the swirling arms of distant galaxies, he felt a surge of awe.  But then he noticed something else: the astronomers weren’t simply admiring the beauty.  They were measuring.  Calculating.  Mapping.  They were trying to understand the order behind the beauty.

And the rabbi realised:

Wonder is the beginning of faith.

But order is the beginning of responsibility.

The stars inspire us.

But their order obligates us.

 

One of our greatest philosophers, the Rambam, begins his masterwork, the Mishneh Torah, with Hichot Yesodei Hatorah, the Laws which form the Foundations of the Torah.  Note that he didn’t prioritise the laws of Shabbat or Kashrut or prayer.  He commences with astronomy.

He writes:

‘The foundation of all foundations and the pillar of wisdom is to know that there is a Primary Being who brought into being all existence.  All the beings of the heavens, the earth and what is between them came into existence only from the truth of His being.’

After explaining why Hashem is the only god, he writes in Chapter 2:

‘It is a mitzvah to love and fear this glorious and awesome Gd, as [Deuteronomy 6:5] states: "And you shall love Gd, your Lord" and, as [Deuteronomy 6:13] states: "Fear Gd, your L-rd."

What is the path [to attain] love and fear of Him?  When a person contemplates His wondrous and great deeds and creations and appreciates His infinite wisdom that surpasses all comparison, he will immediately love, praise, and glorify [Him], yearning with tremendous desire to know [Gd's] great name, as David stated, "My soul thirsts for the Lord, for the living Gd." [Psalms 42:3]

When he [continues] to reflect on these same matters, he will immediately recoil in awe and fear, appreciating how he is a tiny, lowly and dark creature, standing with his flimsy, limited, wisdom before He who is of perfect knowledge, as David stated, "When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers...[I wonder] what is man that You should recall Him?" [Psalms 8:4-5]’

In other words, we have a sacred duty to recognise that Gd, and only Gd, created the entire universe and that (as the Rambam continues to expound) with this in mind, we can only have love and awe of Him.

If Gd is perfect, the universe that He has fashioned and created must therefore be perfect (although, as we know, the world that we live in – the only one that He has allowed humans to take control of – is anything but).

In His perfection, He has created the universe not as some random entity that was cobbled together on a ‘Divine Whim’, but as one that operates according to structure, predictability, balance and morality, all of which are based on ‘order’.

It is, according to the Rambam, the order of the cosmos which is a metaphor for the order of society.

Just as the stars follow their orbits, human beings must follow laws that are created to maintain justice.

Just as the heavens move in harmony, communities must move with compassion.  Working with and not against each other.

Just as the universe avoids physical collision, society must avoid moral collision.  Where centuries’ old traditions are tossed aside to make way for the ‘great new idea’ where ‘anything goes’, and the societies and countries that we were raised in are now unrecognisable and threatening.

Only after discussing this does the Rambam turn to Halachah because without the former, the order, you cannot create the latter: healthy and thriving societies.

Rambam sees Parashat Mishpatim not as constituting a step-down from the revelation at Sinai but continuing themes introduced at Sinai.

The same Gd, who set the galaxies into the cosmos He created, commands us to build a world of dignity and responsibility.

The same precision that governs the heavens must govern our courts.

The same harmony that melds the universe into a seamless, vast, expanse must hold our communities together.  The orchestra can only succeed if every instrument plays its part to create the ‘music’ that unites us.

Or, as Rabbi Sacks beautifully states:

Judaism marries heaven and earth.

It brings the Divine into the details.

G-d created the universe as a model of order.

Similarly, we need to create our societies using the same principles.

Mishpatim instructs us to:

·         Protect the vulnerable.

·         Guard our neighbour’s properties.

·         Be honest and ethical in business.

·         Do not oppress the widow, orphan or stranger.

·         Do not pervert justice.

We need to do all of these to create the gravitational forces that protect our societies from collapsing.  Compromising on any or all the above leads to the kinds of headlines we have sadly become used to reading, day in and day out.  The shocking and morally reprehensible behaviour that has been wrought on the world by Jeffrey Epstein, a member of our tribe who has shamed us and created a Chillul Hashem/a desecration of Gd’s name of epic proportions.

Returning to Rabbi Sacks’ story:

‘When that rabbi stepped away from the telescope, he wrote:

“The stars taught me awe.
But the astronomers taught me duty.”’

That is Mishpatim.

Sinai gives us awe…Mishpatim gives us duty.

Sinai lifts our eyes upward toward the heavens…Mishpatim turns our eyes outwards to the people around us and beyond.

Sinai reveals Gd in the heavens…Mishpatim reveals Gd in the human being standing next to us, down the road, in the Houses of Commons or the Lords.

That trip to the observatory last week was more than the fulfilment of a dream, it was a reminder of how infinite the universe is and, at the same time, how infinitesimally small I am in relation to the galaxy in which I live.

You and I are walking under the same stars that the Rambam studied nearly a thousand years ago.  We learn from the same Torah that he pored over and marvel at the intricacies and challenges that it presents us.

We have a duty to bring Gd into the world, not only through prayer but in ensuring that justice is fair and equal for all; that our faith guides us in making the correct decisions and that we are held accountable when we do not live up to the expectations that others have of us and, ultimately, those we have of ourselves.

It is all well and good to look up to the stars but we must not forget to see those around us and play our part in building and maintaining healthy societies.

When we ensure that the mitzvot/commandments enshrined in Mishpatim are acted upon, we effectively align our lives with the moral geometry of creation.

We become, in a sense, astronomers of the human spirit—charting paths of righteousness, avoiding collisions of ego, and ensuring that our community moves in harmony.

May we live lives that reflect the order of the heavens and construct societies that are worthy of the Gd who created the heavens and the earth and everything else in the universe.  He saw that it was good and we must do the same if we are truly to be worthy of having been ‘created in His image’.

Only then will this week’s Parasha be a true reflection of the wondrous vista I witnessed a few days ago at the UCL Observatory.

On top of the world, looking down on creation.

Shavuah Tov.