After the amazing spiritual high of last
week’s parsha with Matan Torah, Parshas Mishpatim deals mostly with the more
fundamental financial, business, and injury laws that make up day to day life.
However, as we approach the end of the parsha, some more general topics emerge
which follow a different theme.
One of these topics is the introduction
to the Shalosh Regalim, the three holidays when we are obligated to
travel to the Beis Hamikdash and celebrate there. They consist of Pesach,
Shavuos, and Succos. The Torah introduces them in an interesting way. First, we
are told to celebrate the holiday of Pesach during the springtime, and then the
pasuk continues with the other two. “חַ֤ג
הַקָּצִיר֙ בִּכּוּרֵ֣י מַֽעֲשֶׂ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תִּזְרַ֖ע בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה וְחַ֤ג
הָֽאָסִף֙ בְּצֵ֣את הַשָּׁנָ֔ה בְּאָסְפְּךָ֥ אֶת־מַֽעֲשֶׂ֖יךָ מִן־הַשָּׂדֶֽה” “And the Festival of the Harvest of the first fruits of
your labor that you sow in the field; and the Festival of the Ingathering at
the close of the year, when you gather in your work from the field.”
(Shemos 23:16). All three holidays are written as being dependent on the
circumstances of the harvest. Is this true? Do we only celebrate the holidays
if we had a good harvest? Of course not! So why does the Torah make it sound as
if our celebration is dependent on that?
Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzky uses this pasuk
to teach a fantastic idea. There are several instances in the Torah where
Hashem uses the success or failure of the crops as a sign of whether the Bnei
Yisrael are following the Torah. One famous example is what we say every day in
Krias Shema, “והיה אם שמע תשמעו אל מצותי... ונתתי מטר ארצכם
בעתו” “It will be that if you hearken to my
commandments…then I shall provide rain for your Land” (Devarim 11:13-14). As long as Bnei Yisrael were living in Eretz Yisrael,
Hashem would motivate them and inform them of their level of belief and
observance based on the production of the crops.
So while there were other
reasons to celebrate the Shalosh Regalim, the harvest was a tremendous
reason to celebrate as well. Not only was everyone happy that they had had a
successful crop, providing sustenance and security for another season, they
were coming to celebrate at Hashem’s house armed with the knowledge that they
were successful in their observance of mitzvos as well.
Perhaps we can also use this to
understand the connection of the Shalosh Regalim to Parshas Mishpatim.
While the more well-known, and more commonly studied, portions of the Torah,
like Shabbos and Kashrus, may garner more interest and zeal in their
observance, they are not the basis for our day to day lives in this world. It
is true, those ideas provide the spiritual fulfillment we desperately need, but
we live primarily a physical existence, and we need a Torah that requires us to
respond to the physical challenges we face every day. And by our success in our
daily endeavors we will be able to measure our success in following the
guidelines set up for us in this week’s parsha, just like the harvest would do
in the times of the Beis Hamikdash.
At least, this is how it was meant to
work. Nowadays, all too often we see successful people who appear not to follow
many of the laws the Torah instructs us in. This is another degree of hashgachah
pratis we have lost in our long exile. Let us pray for the day when we return
to Eretz Yisrael and the hashgachah pratis we have the potential to tap into returns
to its full capacity.
Shabbat Shalom!
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