Parshat Mishpatim, 5785

Mishpatim, First Aliyah (Exodus 21:1-19)

And these are the laws, the Mishpatim, asher tasim that you will set

Before them, lifneihem, to learn and know and not forget

Adding on to those from last week, the famous Aseret HaDibrot

The Ten Utterances or Commandments from chapter twenty of Sefer Shemot

Yes this week we move onwards, learning even more of God’s rules

And exploring one of my favorite Biblical Hebrew grammatical jewels!

Now, the Torah does not write its words in italics or in bold

No, it is meticulously written by hand, in language oh so old

So when the text needs to give emphasis to a particular action word

It starts to get repetitive - yes, the shoresh twice is heard

There are several such examples in the first aliyah this week

So let’s turn our attention now to this repetitive shoresh technique

For serious, hurtful actions, a punishment of death is indicated

Mot yumat, he shall surely die - with the verb twice conjugated

Such shall befall one who hits or curses his father or his mother

As well as the one who kidnaps or who strikes and kills another

And if one hurts his fellow while engaging in a fight

He shall pay for his healing - verapo yirapei - as a way to make it right

As long as that same fellow eventually gets up and walks around

Perhaps with a staff or a cane, rather than remaining bed-bound

These instances of shoresh doubling help to make it very clear

That crime and punishment are serious indeed, so to God’s laws we must adhere

Thus to understand the Torah, we must look out for every clue -

Of course the vocabulary matters, but so does the grammar too.