This week's Torah portion Mishpatim (Judges) comes immediately after Moshe brings down his initial revelation prior to receiving the first set of the tablets that are the centerpiece of Torah.
The laws of Mishpatim also set the groundwork for the spiritual revelation that Moshe is ascending the mountain to receive. This preparation comes about as a result of taking a people who had formerly been governed by Egyptian law and now had to have a system of their own to govern themselves by.
There is a sense of fairness that is being promoted. While some of these laws may seem strange for our times they work perfectly in people who are now faced with freedom and yet have yet to learn the responsibilities of that freedom. Mishpatim provides that guide rail of responsibility.
This same sense of responsibility occurs when there is the realization that our thoughts are free to express themselves in any way we choose within. That choice however, must be based upon a general sense of what is right and wrong in order to prevent chaos and catastrophe. Yes we are free to think what we will but we must be guided by that fundamental revelation of Torah which speaks of the unity of Hashem.
The unity of Hashem connects our thinking with the worlds of our experience. There is no getting around this core tenet of absolute being. Thoughts form themselves into the byways we travel through our lives. They are indeed both our building blocks for experience and the actual experiences themselves.
What Mishpatim does in the aggregate is to show that there are consequences to our outer actions that should be considered. These outer actions in truth mirror our thoughts within since everything that takes place begins with the intentions we carry with us and carry through without.
If we delve more deeply into this principle it becomes not only what we think about but also touches the very depth of those thoughts and the manner in which we approach that freedom of expression within. The bottom line turns out to be a center that we may always count on that will in turn produce those thoughts we would most like to express.
This center is of course Hashem which for these purposes here we may define as the 'all good' so that we can understand not only the principle of justice but the principle of responsibility in context with holy thinking.
In a later portion of Torah we are told to build a fence on the roofs of our homes to prevent injury. (Deuteronomy 22:8 ).
"Asu syag laTorah - make a fence as a safeguard around the Torah laws" is the instruction given to us by the Anshei Keneset Hagedolah (Avos 1:1)
In order to safeguard Consciousness Torah provides the elements of holiness that we need to protect in order to be able to turn to that center in guiding our way through the various challenges we face. These fences are in the way stopping points that make us think before we act all the time comparing our thoughts with holiness and our ultimate connection to Hashem.
Using Hashem as our center we will then be ever facing towards the 'all good' and make certain the 'good outcome.' B"H.
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