Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

Download print

Parashat Mishpatim- "We Don’t Live In a Bubble"

Much of Parashat Mishpatim is devoted to the Torah’s code of civil law, the foundations of the Halachot pertaining to interpersonal relations and financial disputes. One of the classic laws presented in this Parasha is that of "Bor," a pit or other obstruction in the public domain (21:33). If a person digs a hole in a public area, or even if he removes the cover of a hole, such as a manhole, for example, he bears liability for damages that occur as a result. As the one who created the potentially dangerous obstruction, he is responsible to remove it – by covering the hole – and if he fails to do, then he is liable to compensate for damages that occur as a result.

The Halacha of "Bor" reflects the broader obligation to always carefully consider how our conduct and actions may affect other people. This law reminds us that we do not live in a bubble; we cannot act as we please and do whatever suits us, without concern for how this might impact upon our fellow citizens.

The great Jewish Sages went very far in applying this principle. The story is told of the Hafetz Haim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, 1839-1933) who was once walking with several students through a public area. He noticed a scrap of paper on the ground, and initially thought that it was from a Torah book. Immediately, he bent down to pick it up. When he saw that the page did not contain Torah material, he instinctively dropped it on the ground. A moment later, went back to pick it up.

He explained to his students that if he had left the paper on the ground, then another Jew might pass by and, like him, think that it was a page of Torah material that must not be left on the ground. It would be improper, the Hafetz Haim said, to cause another person even this slight inconvenience of bending down to pick up a strewn piece of paper unnecessarily. He therefore made a point of picking the page up off the ground.

The Hafetz Haim understood that the Halacha of "Bor" serves as a prototype for all kinds of disruptions and inconvenience that a person could cause through his conduct. Just as a person is held liable for damages caused by a hole he digs, similarly, we are to ensure not to cause any kind of harm, disturbance or inconvenience to others. The Torah instructs us to think very carefully about how our actions can potentially impact other people. We share this world with many people, and we must therefore be sensitive to their concerns at all times. As the Hafetz Haim taught us, we must avoid doing anything that could cause even minor inconvenience to others – just as we would not want others to inconvenience us.


Related Parasha
Parashat Mishpatim: Our Religious Resume - 2023 Year
Parashat Mishpatim: Humility and Scholarship - 2022 Year
Parashat Mishpatim: The Special Joy of Anticipating Redemption - 2021 Year
Parashat Mishpatim- “We Will Do and We Will Hear” - 2020 Year
Parashat Mishpatim: A Perfectly Balanced Torah - 2019 Year
Parashat Mishpatim- The Elixir of Life - 2018 Year
Parashat Mishpatim: The Prerequisite to Success in Torah - 2017 Year
Parashat Mishpatim: Torah Observance During “Days of Darkness” - 2016 Year
Parashat Mishpatim: Setting the Table - 2014 Year
Parashat Mishpatim: Finding Peace in the Courtroom - 2013 Year
Parashat Mishpatim: The Altar and the Courts - 2012 Year
Shabbat Morning Class - Parasha Mishpatim - 2011 Year
Shabbat Morning Class - Parasha Mishpatim - 2011 Year
Sefer/Parasha:
Parashat Shemot- Keeping Our Sins Silent
Parashat Vayehi- Time Flies When You’re Doing God’s Will
Parashat Vayigash- True Life
Parashat Miketz- Learning From Yosef’s Bitahon
Parashat Vayesheb- “Yaakob Sought to Dwell in Tranquility”
Parashat Vayishlah- The Reason Why Sadikim Love Their Money
Parashat Vayeseh- How to Respond to the Yeser Hara
Parashat Toledot- The “Double Life Syndrome”
Parashat Hayeh Sara- Education – Around the Clock, Around the Year
Parashat Vayera- The Test After the Test
Parashat Lech Lecha- Nip it in the Bud
Parashat Noah- Raising Children, Raising Oneself
Bereshit- “It is Not Good for Man to be Alone”
Don’t Let the Utensil Break
Sukkot- Rising with the Water
1002 Parashot found