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Parshat Mishpatim
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

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Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

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"Return our judges as of old and our consults as of antiquity... Blessed are You HaShem King Who loves righteousness and justice." (Amida)

The Jewish judicial system is meant to be none other than the extension of the Majesty of God, to such an extent that it says 'in the consult of God (a Jewish court) He will judge', the court itself taking on the name of God - 'Elohim'.

This week's parsha presents before us many of the laws that govern a Jewish court, one of them being the law presented in our title quote. This law states that if a debtor admits to only a partial sum claimed by his loaner in court, then the court summons the debtor to an oath that he owes only the sum he admitted and not more. This law is hinted to in the words 'for he says till this (i.e only this sum of the claim I admit I owe), till 'Elohim'-the court (as explained before takes on the Name of God) their claims shall reach' and our Sages learn that it is the court's responsibility in this scenario to order an oath on the side of the debtor.

Our Sages explain the reasoning in this type of oath as being a method of determining truth, since even a somewhat honest man may say that he only owes a partial amount when in truth he owes more, with the intention to pay the rest at a later time at his leisure. Therefore, the court orders him to take an oath, a very severe and serious act before God and before all that have fear of God, to make sure this man is fully sincere. That said, it should be noted that today, due to the general lack of the fear of God of the generation, oaths are never/almost never ordered in court. Nevertheless, it is a mitzvah to study the laws of court-oaths as in all Torah study and especially with the hope that one day the fear of God will be strengthened and the judicial process of oaths as bringing truth and justice will once again come to the fore.

One of the laws of oaths is that, generally speaking, an oath may not be ordered on real-estate, as learned from the edict of the Biblical verses (not based on human logic). Regarding this law, there is difference of opinion among the poskim whether a law-case on land in the Diaspora impedes the ability to swear in court or not. Those who say it does not impede base their opinion on the Sages' teaching that these lands are meant to be sold (see Erchin 29a, Hoshen Mishpat 95, 1 (Sma and more)) similar to the teaching that 'all synagogues of the Diaspora will be re-located in the Land of Israel' because all Israel will be ingathered from the Diaspora to the Land of Israel, which means that Jewish real-estate in the Diaspora is only a temporary matter. This opinion understands that the Torah's decree not to swear on land applies only to permanent land and not to land that at some point is meant to be sold, just as is this differentiation is made for this same reason in the case of sanctified land (Erchin). The differing opinion, the accepted stance in halacha, does not differ on the basic teaching that Jewish communities will be re-located in the Land of Israel, but rather understands that a differentiation should be made between the laws of sanctified lands and the laws of a court case.

Just as we mentioned that God's Presence rests with the Jewish court, so too we see a parallel between the two in our Sages' teaching that just as the Holy Presence went into 10 exiles, so too the Chief Judicial Court, the Sanhedrin, went into 10 exiles, the last ending in Tiberias. Indeed, the 'Jerusalem' Talmud was compiled primarily in Tiberias. Thus, our Sages explain, Tiberias will also be the location of the renewal of redemption/justice. Just as we explained the attribute of justice being tied to low land when we discussed the Land of the Philistines several issues before, so we may say about Tiberias which is explicitly tied to these stages of exile and redemption for the reason that it is 'low land'. However, unique is Tiberias in the connotation of its name meaning 'umbilical cord/navel' - Tabur (see 'Tabur Haaretz' in Scripture), which suggests this city's importance in raising the Holy Presence that resides with justice from a 'fledgling/ prenatal' state.

Hebron too, the First Jewish City, represents a similar concept of a beginning origin, but yet seems to put more an emphasis on doing so through the attribute of kindness in the high lands of Judea - "And He remembers the kindness of the Patriarchs and brings a redeemer for their descendants for His Namesake with love."

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #155

'I once started talking with someone by telephone, but just then I 'happened' to see him just in front of me..." B.N

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