Daily Chumash & Rashi – Parshas Mishpatim Chamishi: Miscellaneous laws – Justice system, Meat and milk, idolatry, Shemita, etc (Thursday, 25th Shevat)

Rashi Q&A — Shemot 23:6–19

23:6 — Justice for the Poor

Q1: What does “אֶבְיֹנְךָ” mean?

A: It means “your destitute one.” It comes from the root אבה (to desire), referring to someone who lacks everything and yearns for all good things.

23:7 — Avoiding Falsehood

Q2: What is learned from “וְנָקִי וְצַדִּיק אַל תַּהֲרֹג”?

A:

• If a guilty person leaves court but someone arrives with new evidence to acquit him → bring him back.
• If an innocent person leaves court and someone arrives with evidence against him → do NOT bring him back.

“Do not kill an innocent or a righteous person” refers to:

• Innocent: Someone not yet acquitted but now with possible grounds for acquittal.
• Righteous: Somene already acquitted.

Q3: What does “כִּי לֹא אַצְדִּיק רָשָׁע” mean?

A: Hashem says: You do not need to reconvict him — I have many ways to exact justice.
If a guilty man was freed by court error, God will punish him.

23:8 — Bribery

Q4: Why is taking a bribe forbidden even if the judge plans to judge truthfully?

A: Because bribes blind even the wisest person; eventually he will forget his learning and lose clarity.

Q5: What are “דִּבְרֵי צַדִּיקִים”?

A: The Torah’s proper, upright laws (“words of justice”), as translated by Onkelos: פִּתגָמִין תְּרִיצִין.

23:9 — Treatment of Converts

Q6: Why does the Torah warn repeatedly not to oppress a convert?

A: Converts are vulnerable and at risk of reverting to old ways if mistreated.

Q7: What does “אֶת נֶפֶשׁ הַגֵּר” mean?

A: “The feelings of the convert”—you know how painful it is to be treated as a stranger, because you were strangers in Egypt.

23:10–11 — Shemittah

Q8: What does “וְאָסַפְתָּ אֶת תְּבוּאָתָהּ” mean?

A: “Gather into your house”—bring the harvest indoors.

Q9: What do “תִּשְׁמְטֶנָּה וּנְטַשְׁתָּהּ” mean?

A:

• תִּשְׁמְטֶנָּה — refrain from full agricultural work.
• וּנְטַשְׁתָּהּ — do not eat produce after the “time of removal” (bi’ur), when it’s no longer available to wild animals.

Alternate meaning:

• Do not plow or sow,
• Nor fertilize or hoe.

Q10: What is learned from “וְיִתְרָם תֹּאכַל חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה”?

A: The needy eat like animals—just as animals do not tithe, so produce of Shemittah is untithed.
This is the source that tithes do not apply during the seventh year.

Q11: What does “כֵן תַּעֲשֶׂה לְכַרְמְךָ” mean?

A: The same Shemittah rules apply to the vineyard and olive grove as to grain fields.

23:12 — Shabbat

Q12: Why restate the command of Shabbos here?

A: To teach that even during the Sabbatical year, the weekly Shabbos must still be kept.

Q13: What does “לְמַעַן יָנוּחַ שׁוֹרְךָ וַחֲמֹרֶךָ” teach?

A: Animals must be allowed true rest, meaning they may graze freely. Locking them indoors is not considered “rest” but suffering.

Q14: Who is “בֶּן אֲמָתֶךָ”?

A: An uncircumcised non‑Jewish slave belonging to the household.

Q15: Who is “הַגֵּר”?

A: A resident visitor (non‑Jew) living in Eretz Yisrael with permission.

23:13 — Avoiding Idolatry

Q16: What does “תִּשָּׁמֵרוּ” teach here?

A: Anywhere the Torah says “guard,” it signals a negative prohibition — here, not violating any mitzvah previously mentioned.

Q17: What does “לֹא תַזְכִּירוּ” mean?

A: Do not mention the name of an idol, e.g., “Meet me next to such‑and‑such idol,” or reference its festival.

Q18: Why are these two ideas (guarding all mitzvos & not mentioning idols) placed together?

A: To teach that avoiding idolatry equals the weight of all mitzvos, and fulfilling it equals fulfilling all mitzvos.

Q19: What does “לֹא יִשָּׁמַע עַל פִּיךָ” mean?

A: Do not cause idols’ names to be spoken due to you—e.g., do not enter business partnerships with idolaters, who might swear by their gods.

23:14–17 — Pilgrimage Festivals

Q20: What are “רְגָלִים”?

A: “Times” or festivals, as seen in “you struck me these three times (רְגָלִים).”

Q21: What is “חֹדֶשׁ הָאָבִיב”?

A: The month when produce begins to ripen in the ear — the first stage (אָבִיב means “early ripening”).

Q22: What does “לֹא יֵרָאוּ פָנַי רֵיקָם” teach?

A: One may not come to the Temple empty‑handed; bring an olah when appearing before Hashem.

Q23: What Festival is “חַג הַקָּצִיר”?

A: Shavuos.

Q24: What does “בִּכּוּרֵי מַעֲשֶׂיךָ” refer to?

A: Shavuos is the time to bring First Fruits and the two loaves, permitting the new year’s grain in the Temple.

Q25: What Festival is “חַג הָאָסִיף”?

A: Sukkos, when the produce is gathered from the fields before the rains.

Q26: Why repeat the command of pilgrimage (“three times a year”) here?

A: Because the surrounding topic is the Sabbatical year; this teaches that Shemittah does not cancel the mitzvah of pilgrimage.

23:18 — Pesach Laws

Q27: What does “לֹא תִזְבַּח עַל חָמֵץ” mean?

A: Do not slaughter the Korban Pesach until all chametz is removed from your possession.

Q28: What is “חֵלֶב חַגִּי לֹא יָלִין”?

A: The fat of festival offerings must not remain overnight unoffered.

Q29: Does the prohibition apply even if the fat is on the altar all night?

A: No — only if it hasn’t been placed on the altar before dawn.

23:19 — First Fruits & Meat/Milk

Q30: How are bikurim selected (“רֵאשִׁית בִּכּוּרֵי אַדְמָתֶךָ”)?

A: One enters the field, sees the first ripening fruit, ties it with a reed, and declares it bikurim. Only the seven species are eligible.

Q31: What does “לֹא תְבַשֵּׁל גְּדִי בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ” include?

A: “Gedi” includes young cattle, sheep, and goats—not only baby goats.

Q32: Why is this prohibition written three times in the Torah?

To prohibit:

1. Cooking meat and milk together,
2. Eating meat and milk cooked together,
3. Deriving benefit from such mixtures.