Last week we read the Ten Commandments, which are like a preview of the 613 commandments, that make up the National Constitution of the Jewish people. This week’s section contains 53 Mitzvot or precepts that directly or indirectly relate to the Ten Commandments, explain them, expand them and deepen their details.
The Parasha begins with the laws relating to the Israelite slave, his release after a maximum of six years of service, and the procedure to follow when a servant expresses his desire to remain in the service of his master. The Tora continues with the laws of a woman in a similar situation and her inalienable marital rights if her master becomes her husband. Then the Tora speaks of the punishment for murder, homicide, kidnapping, and human trafficking. The Tora then mentions the prohibition of physical or verbal abuse towards parents. And the penalties that are imposed on a person who injures or harms another. The Tora describes the punishment beating a pregnant woman and causes her to abort. The Tora then focuses on the responsibilities of an individual for damages caused to the property and possessions of another person; either when these damages have been done by himself, or by his animals, or by an act of negligence, for example, by leaving an open pit in the ground. When a person steals, he or she is obliged to pay the victim the capital plus punitive damages. Whoever causes a fire is liable for the damages caused by the fire that he left unextinguished. The Tora also spells out the responsibilities of an individual who accepts to watch over another persons possessions, or when renting them, or borrowing them.
The Tora mentions the prohibition and punishment for seducing a minor girl. The Tora prohibits sorcery, bestiality, and the offering of an idolatrous sacrifice. It reminds us the prohibition against oppressing a foreigner, a widow or an orphan, and encourages us to lend money to the poor without interest. It also mentions the prohibition of cursing a judge or a political leader. It also warns us against consuming meat that was not ritually slaughtered, or to offer an animal for a sacrificial slaughter before the animal is eight days old. Perjury and judicial corruption are strictly prohibited. The Tora reminds us the obligation to separate agricultural tithes and to consecrate the firstborn.
It also mentions the obligation to restore a lost animal to its owner and help him unload an overloaded animal. We must not lie or accept bribes.
Towards the end of this list of precepts the Tora mentions the Shemitah, just as we work for six days and on the seventh day we stop working, the land rests during the sabbatical year. It is forbidden to mention the name of pagan gods. And we should celebrate the three pilgrimage festivals, Pesach, Shabuot and Sukkot, visiting the Bet haMiqdash.
Finally the Torah indicates the prohibition of mixing meat with milk.
God assures the people that if they eradicate idolatry once they arrive in the Promised Land, they will be rewarded: the peoples who inhabit the land, will fall before them. God will bless their food and drinks and eliminate diseases from His people.
The Parasha concludes with an extremely important theme: the conclusion of the establishment of the covenant between God and the Jewish people. After Moshe transmits the Ten Commandments and the above mentioned laws, the Jewish people commit to enter into a covenant with God. During that night, Moshe writes down everything that God transmitted to him and reads it to the people. Next, he builds an altar that represents the Divine presence and twelve monuments that represent the tribes of Israel. Sacrifices are offered. Moshe takes the blood, pours half on the altar and sprinkles the other half on the people. The Eternal Covenant between God and Israel is sealed when the people pronounce the words: na’ase venishma “Everything that God has said we will do and obey”. Here and in this way Judaism is born! Moshe ascends to Mount Sinai where he will stay for forty days and forty nights, and will come down with the Tablets of the Law.
