Mishpatim 5774

The many rules in Parshat Mishpatim provide the foundation for civil society.  Most can be placed into general categories:  slavery, assault, robbery, vicious animals, borrowed property, and credit.  As we read the list, we can discern at least one important theme:  the obligations incumbent upon individuals.

If your ox gores someone, you are responsible.  (21:28)  If you dig a pit and don’t cover it, you have  obligations to anyone – human or animal – who falls in.  (21:33)  You can’t let your livestock graze on someone else’s land.  (22:4)  If you lend someone money and take collateral, don’t do so in a way that’s punitive or degrading.  (22:24)

In a free society, it is tempting to believe that our personal freedom is infinite.  But civilization requires it to be curtailed in some cases.  The Torah espouses a civil contract, and denies that we are purely free agents.  Our actions – and the ways we treat others – matter.

Most of us happily conform to laws that protect personal safety.  But there is a troubling trend in our culture, a movement of disrespect of other’s person, dignity, and time.

How regularly do we expect that another person be available to us precisely when we want them?  We get angry or frustrated when their schedule doesn’t conform to ours.  How regularly do we demand that a product or service conform to our specific requirements?  We want what we want when we want it, and act out when we don’t receive it.

I discern an extraordinary sense of entitlement in today’s culture.  If the Kardashians and “Real” “Housewives” of Beverly Hills can be demanding and get away with it, why can’t we? 

I suspect that the ubiquity of the internet plays a big role in this.  All the information in the world is available in our own pockets, 60/1440 -- that is, each minute of the day.  Waiting feels primitive.  Since multi-national corporations have taken over almost every shop, we are far more likely to interact with “workers” than “owners” – and so we, as customers, expect to be always right.  We take instant gratification for granted and grow frustrated with anything less.  Are we becoming a society of four year olds?

No matter what the wider society may expect, we are reminded this week that we are to respect each other’s person, as well as their dignity and their time.  We may not have livestock, but we must nonetheless respect the integrity of another’s space.