Last week on The Torah Parshat Yitro ended in the midst of God's revelation at Mount Sinai. This week's parsha begins with a seemingly unrelated tangent regarding civil law and torts. Parshat Mishpatim is loaded with practical laws and laws that are ben adam le chavero ( interpersonal relationships).
Someone once wrote a letter to a rabbi. "Rabbi, I studied the Torah and this is spirituality? What fork to use for meat and dairy? How to return a lost object? This is tiny hair splitting minutiae. As I can see you do not have an answer to my question as I have wrote you twice and you have not answered.
The Rabbi answered-
I did answer your email, I just sent it to jason@yahoocom. I forgot the dot. What is the difference I figured it was just a small insignificant dot, tiny hair splitting minutiae. But because of that missing dot the email did not get to you. Of course a programmer could explain to you how important the dot is and what it represents. It is not just an insignificant dot. So to with spirituality, the ramifications of the small details have profound effects in the spiritual realm.
We are unaware of the significance and interconnectivity of our everyday actions. When we hold the door open for someone or say good morning, not only do we not understand the ramifications in the spiritual world, we don’t even come close to understanding the ramifications of our actions in the physical world. We have no idea what saying good morning or a thank you does for a bus driver, mailman, spouse, parent or teacher.
The juxtaposition of the most spiritual event in history with the laws regarding damaging property and caring for people's feelings highlights the fact that spirituality is not only found in the big mass revelations but is also found in our day to day activities. And that these moments of kindness to others and caring are akin to the mass revelation at Sinai. Our limitations are self imposed. If we were able to perceive the impact of a single smile, of just one hug on the whole of humanity, we would understand the truth. We have the power to reveal the divine within ourselves in our everyday interactions with one another.
Someone once wrote a letter to a rabbi. "Rabbi, I studied the Torah and this is spirituality? What fork to use for meat and dairy? How to return a lost object? This is tiny hair splitting minutiae. As I can see you do not have an answer to my question as I have wrote you twice and you have not answered.
The Rabbi answered-
I did answer your email, I just sent it to jason@yahoocom. I forgot the dot. What is the difference I figured it was just a small insignificant dot, tiny hair splitting minutiae. But because of that missing dot the email did not get to you. Of course a programmer could explain to you how important the dot is and what it represents. It is not just an insignificant dot. So to with spirituality, the ramifications of the small details have profound effects in the spiritual realm.
We are unaware of the significance and interconnectivity of our everyday actions. When we hold the door open for someone or say good morning, not only do we not understand the ramifications in the spiritual world, we don’t even come close to understanding the ramifications of our actions in the physical world. We have no idea what saying good morning or a thank you does for a bus driver, mailman, spouse, parent or teacher.
The juxtaposition of the most spiritual event in history with the laws regarding damaging property and caring for people's feelings highlights the fact that spirituality is not only found in the big mass revelations but is also found in our day to day activities. And that these moments of kindness to others and caring are akin to the mass revelation at Sinai. Our limitations are self imposed. If we were able to perceive the impact of a single smile, of just one hug on the whole of humanity, we would understand the truth. We have the power to reveal the divine within ourselves in our everyday interactions with one another.
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