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EXODUS — 22:21 ill-treat

EXOD669 The prophetic emphasis on fidelity, kindness, humanity and brotherliness, as part of man's duty of faithfulness to God, underlies the legislation of the Torah. The Code of the Covenant tempers its rigorous and inflexible justice with the quality of mercy. It is solicitous that the stranger should not be wronged and that the widow in orphan shall not be afflicted. If further enjoins that consideration be shown for the poor borrower and that a helping hand be extended even to the enemy who is in need (Exodus 22:20-26; 23: 4-9]. The Deuteronomic Code makes active beneficence the keynote to its entire legislative system. The doctrine of God's love for His people serves as the basis of man's reciprocal love of God and for his love of his fellow man. While stressing the impartial and strict execution of justice and the elimination of social evil, great-hearted benevolence is urged upon the people. "Humanity is the author's ruling motive, wherever considerations of religion and morality do not force him to repress it." (S. R. Driver, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy, p. xxiv.]

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EXODUS — 22:30 eat

EXOD741 Dietary Laws. A further illustration of the application of the sacred to Jewish life is afforded by the dietary laws. While they have exerted beneficial effects upon the health of the Jewish people, their hygienic value is but incidental. Their primary aim is to train the Jews in holiness. Derived from ancient tabus and intended at first for the priests (Ezek. 4:14; 44:31), they were subsequently extended to all Israel as the priest people of God (this verse, Deut. 14:21; 12:13-27). Their purpose is summarized in Leviticus 20:26: "And ye shall be holy unto Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that ye shall be Mine." The Pharisees carried the rules of priestly purity from the Temple into the home (with ablutions before meals and with benedictions), thus turning it into a sanctuary and the table into an altar. They took over the temple mode of slaughtering and inspecting the sacrificial animals for the preparation of their meat (Shehitah and Bedikah). [K. Kohler, art. Pharisees, Jew. Enc. IX, p. 662]. The dietary laws were invested with the absoluteness of Divine commands. They were to be observed not because of personal taste, but as an expression of obedience to God. In the words of the Sifra to Lev. 20:26, "Say not, 'I do not like swine's flesh'; but rather 'I do like it, but abstain from eating it in accordance with the decree of my Father in heaven.'"

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EXODUS — 23:3 favor

EXOD790 The prophetic pleas for justice, integrity, mercy and benevolence were embodied into the legal codes of the Torah. Here they were translated into concrete laws to govern the affairs of men. Animated by faith, the law was so formulated as to serve the ends of morality and was to be so administered as to have justice done to all. To ensure the rights of poor and rich, of home-born and strangers alike represents the duty of the judges, rulers and Kings. God Himself is the guarantor of justice. "Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike; you shall not be afraid of the face of any man; for the judgment is God's" [Deut. 1:17]. Most striking are these laws in the Code of the Covenant: [this and previous verses] Geiger calls attention to the uniqueness of the last law. The rich man must receive no advantage because he is rich, nor should the poor man have preferential treatment because he is poor. "Sympathy and pity are emotions that have their proper place in use, but even those noble feelings must be silent before justice." [Judaism and Its History, p. 37] The full significance of this law is brought out by its sequel: "Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of the poor in his cause" (verse six). It is more important that he get justice than that he be favored. Inequity in any form is iniquity. The Code of Holiness state similarly: "Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor favor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor" (Lev. 19:15).

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EXODUS — 24:7 do

EXOD920 While men who lead an intellectual life may proceed from thought to deed, the generality of men learn by doing. The visible symbol and the concrete act are the most potent means of leading to communion with God. [Menahot 43b] There is profound truth in the order of words in Israel's acceptance of the covenant: Na'aseh v'nishma, "we shall do and hear" [this verse].

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EXODUS — 25:40 patterns

EXOD951 In the art of living as in the art of sculpture or painting we must reckon not only with aims and motives but also with patterns. Moses, we are told, was shown at Sinai a fiery model for the lamp which he was to make for the tabernacle. The Rabbis took this to be symbolic of the fashioning of human lives as well. Of them, too, it is said: [this verse]. Like a star a man's ideal is high in heaven. Though he may never quite succeed, he must strive to hitch his wagon to the star. In the very endeavor he finds scope for the expansion of his powers and for the growth of the spirit. The person whose eye is set on the highest cannot be satisfied with a pattern derived from the lower order of being. He refuses to regard life as a "strange interlude," composed of nothing but predatory impulses, sex hungers, and animal satisfactions. Neither is he content with a pattern of utilitarian type. His mind has been fired with a higher vision. He strives to fill his life with richer meaning. He no longer lives in the physical tracks of the body. He is conscious of soul life, of reason, of love, of truth, justice, of goodness, of beauty and of holiness. He is a child of the Divine order, created in the very image of God. While his physical being demands care, it must not dwarf the spiritual side of his being, if he is to work out within himself the pattern revealed to him on the height of religious vision. The Midrash comments on the words of Psalm 100:3, "'It is He that made us, and not ourselves'-- we do not make ourselves." Rab Aha adds: "We do not complete our souls." Our perfection as human beings is attained through our consciousness of the Divine. [Gen. R. 100. I; see Sefer Hasidim, 756.] Herein lies the chief service of religion to morality. Plato recognized that morality based upon considerations of reward and punishment or similar ideas of prudentialism lacks intrinsic worth. True morality consists in assimilating man to God.

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EXODUS — 32:10 thee

EXOD979 From earliest times the belief was current that expiation by means of suffering or enduring full punishment for the offense forms a condition of pardon for both the individual and the nation. Under a system of strict social responsibility, the nation was believed to suffer for the sins of the individual even as the individual bore the sin of his kinfolk and nation. Popular belief assumes further that "the wicked is a ransom for the righteous" (Prov. 21:18). Deeper religious reflection showed to the contrary that the righteous sometimes suffer for the wicked. According to Isaiah 53, the servant of the Lord--probably a personification of ideal Israel--bears the penalty of the sinful nations and this atones for them. [Also, Is. 42:1-4; 49:1-7; Zech. 12:10]. The idea of vicarious atonement underlies the remarkable episode and the life of Moses, when, in consequence of Israel's apostasy, God said unto him: [this verse]. In reply, Moses pleaded with God to pardon the people's sin, or else to erase his name from the book (of life). Though God responded: "Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out from My book," Moses persisted in imploring forgiveness. Finally, in answer to his entreaty, God revealed himself to Moses (Exodus 34:6-7; Num. 14:18). The self-abnegation of Moses made him appear to Rabbi Simlai as the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, who "bore the sin of many" that he might expiate the sin of the golden calf. His burial near Bet Peor was intended to atone for Israel's licentious worship of Baal Peor (Num. 25:3; Deut. 34:6). [Sotah 14a]

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EXODUS — 33:11 stir

EXOD1009 When God saw [Joshua's] great devotion to study (cf. this verse), He said: since the words of the Torah are so precious to you, may not the book of the Torah depart out of your mouth! It is emphasized that the study of Torah must not be reduced to a mere duty. Instead of a burdensome task it should be considered as a blessed privilege. [Men. 99b; see also Mid. Tehilim 1:17] Maimonides rules in his Code: "Every Jew is obligated to study Torah whether he be poor or rich, in good physical health, or a sufferer, young or very old. Even if he goes begging from door-to-door, has a wife and children to support, he must set aside time for the study of the Torah. ... And how long must he continue to study? Until his death." [Hilchot Talmud Torah, 1, 8-10]. The mind and spirit must be kept active and awake by learning something everyday. A man's obligation does not end with his own study of Torah. He must also teach it to his sons. The Law reads: "Ye shall teach them [the Commandments] diligently unto your sons" (Deut 6:7, also 11:19). The father may delegate this task to a competent teacher, but he must provide his sons and even his son's sons with religious education. Even the poor made heavy sacrifices for the sake of training their sons in Torah. In case the father was too indigent, the community considered itself obligated to secure religious instruction for every boy within its jurisdiction.

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