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D’var Torah Mishpatim

D’var Torah Mishpatim

And these are the ordinances that you shall set before them. (Exodus 21:1)

Wherever it says "these" it (is used to) separate from what had been stated previously; (when the verse states) "and these" (it means that) it is adding to what has been previously stated. Like the first are from Sinai, so are also these from Sinai (Rashi, quoting Midrash Lekaḥ Tov)
Ḥassidic Master Rabbi Yitzḥak Meir Alter, the first Master of Gur (1799 – 1866] comments that, lest we think that social ordinances are obligatory because they are based in logic and dictated by the social compact, and are not Divinely given mitzvot, but merely human creations, the Torah states explicitly that the social laws originate from Sinai, as do those mitzvot which are beyond human comprehension. The mitzvot which govern interpersonal relations are to be fulfilled because they are God's will, not because they are necessary for societal cohesion.
A generation after the Master of Gur, Ḥassidic Master Rabbi Avraham of Sochotshov made a similar comment in expounding Rashi's following comment:
Why was the section dealing with (social) laws juxtaposed to the section dealing with the altar? To tell you that you shall place the Sanhedrin adjacent to the Temple (other editions: the altar).
The Master comments that for the nations of the world, ordinances and interpersonal relations are not a matter of religious obligations, but simply societal and civic duties, which are necessary to maintain order. Not so, with Judaism, where the rules governing social behavior are Divine commands, which have the sanctity of mitzvot. Just as sacrifices are part of serving God in the Temple, so too, observing the social mitzvot is an aspect of the Jew's service to God in daily life. Therefore, "You shall place the Sanhedrin adjacent to the altar." (David Magence)
Shabbat Shalom!
The Va’ad

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