Mishpatim (Judgments) Sh’mot Exodus 21-24
Torah Portion: Mishpatim (Judgments) Sh’mot Exodus 21-24
HafTorah: Jeremiah 34:8-22; 33:25-26
Tonight we read the Torah portion Mishpatim or Judgments. This portion follows immediately after the giving of the Ten Commandments in last weeks Torah reading. The Jewish people had been in Egypt for hundreds of years, most of that time serving as slaves to the country of Egypt. They had little or no experience living as a free people, a people that had to deal with how to live as a free society. Here in this portion we read the beginning of G-d’s instructions on how a society should operate.