Daily Chumash & Rashi – Parshas Mishpatim Revi’i: Laws involving the judicial system (Wednesday, 24th Shevat)

Q&A on Rashi

22:27 — Cursing God and Leaders

Q1: What does “אֱלֹהִים לֹא תְקַלֵּל” prohibit?

A: It prohibits blaspheming God and also cursing a judge (since judges are also referred to as “Elohim”).

22:28 — First Fruits, Terumah, and Redeeming Firstborn

Q2: What is “מְלֵאָתְךָ”?

A: The obligation when produce becomes fully ripe—the mitzvah of Bikkurim (first fruits).

Q3: What is “וְדִמְעֲךָ”?

A: Terumah—though Rashi says he does not know the etymological link between “demah” and terumah.

Q4: What does “לֹא תְאַחֵר” teach?

A: Do not change the halachic order of separating gifts:

• First Bikkurim
• Then Terumah
• Then Maaser
  Do not do a later separation first.

Q5: Why is the mitzvah of redeeming a firstborn son mentioned here again?

A: To place it next to the law of firstborn animals in the next verse, to compare them:
Just as a human firstborn is redeemed after 30 days, an animal firstborn is also kept for 30 days before giving it to the Kohen.

22:29 — Firstborn Animals

Q6: What does “שִׁבְעַת יָמִים יִהְיֶה עִם אִמּוֹ” teach?

A: A warning to the Kohen not to offer a newborn animal before its 8th day — it is not yet fit as a korban.

Q7: Does “בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי תִּתְּנוֹ לִי” mean it must be sacrificed on day 8?

A: No.
Like the parallel pasuk (“from the eighth day ONWARD it will be accepted”), this means:
From day 8 onward it may be sacrificed—this is the earliest permissible time.

22:30 — Meat of a Tereifah

Q8: Why does Torah say “holy people you shall be”—followed by not eating torn flesh?

A: Because true holiness includes not degrading oneself by eating carcasses or animals fatally wounded (tereifah).

Q9: Does “בַּשָּׂדֶה טְרֵפָה” only apply in a field?

A: No. It applies everywhere.
“Field” is mentioned only because that is where attacks commonly occur.

Q10: Why mention giving torn flesh “to the dogs”?

A:

1. To teach: you may give it to dogs or non‑Jews (from a kal va‑chomer).
2. To show the special reward for dogs: They did not bark during the Exodus (“no dog sharpened its tongue”), so God commands giving them their reward.

Chapter 23

23:1 — False Reports and Corrupt Testimony

Q11: What does “לֹא תִשָּׂא שֵׁמַע שָׁוְא” prohibit?

A:

• Accepting slander, and
• A judge hearing one litigant’s claims before the other arrives.

Q12: What does “אַל־תָּשֶׁת יָדְךָ עִם רָשָׁע” mean?

A: Do not collaborate with a wicked person by agreeing to be a false witness.

23:2 — Majority in Judicial Rulings

Q13: What is the plain meaning of “You must not follow the majority to do evil”?

A: If you see a group of wicked people perverting justice, do not follow them—even if they are the majority.

Q14: What does “וְלֹא תַעֲנֶה עַל רִב לִנְטֹת” mean on the peshat level?

A: If the defendant asks your stance, do not repeat the false ruling of the corrupt majority.
State the truth as you understand it.

23:3 — The Poor in Court

Q15: What does “לֹא תֶהְדַּר דַל בְּרִיבוֹ” prohibit?

A: Do not show favoritism to a poor man in judgment, thinking you are helping him. Justice must be impartial.

23:4 — Returning Lost Animals

Q16: What must you do if you find your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray?

A: You must return it — even repeatedly.

23:5 — Helping With a Fallen Animal

Q17: What does “כִּי תִרְאֶה חֲמוֹר שֹׂנַאֲךָ” mean?

A: Here “כִּי” means “perhaps”—“Would you see your enemy’s donkey collapsed under its load…?”

Q18: What is the meaning of “וְחָדַלְתָּ מֵעֲזֹב לוֹ”?

A: Read as a rhetorical question:
“Would you refrain from helping him?!”

Q19: What does “עָזֹב תַּעֲזֹב עִמּוֹ” teach?

A: You must help him unload—the word עזב here means “assist,” as proven from other verses.

Q20: According to Chazal, when may you refrain from helping?

A:

• If the person is an elder for whom the work is beneath dignity.
• If the animal belongs to a non-Jew and the load to a Jew.