This week’s Parshah, Parshas Mishpatim, marks the switch of the Torah offering a narrative of many of the events that had preceded the giving of the ten commandments; from henceforth, most of the Pesukim in the Torah will deal with the hundreds of Mitzvot and their details.

The Parshah starts off with the laws of the “Eved Ivri” or the Hebrew [Jewish] slave. The jump from the giving of the Torah and its seminal role in the history of the Jews to the laws of inter-human relationships and the various Halachic ramifications of those relationships is quite abrupt; the commentators grapple with the deeper meaning of this sudden topic shift. Rabbeinu Bachye [ad. loc.] offers, that the Torah seeks to parallel the ten commandments within the Mishpatim, or laws, that primarily focus on how Jews should interact monetarily with each other. Hence, the first of the commandments [Shemot 20’ 2] —“I Hashem am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage”---parallels the opening sequence of this week’s Parshah, which details the laws of the Jew who, due to the sin of stealing from his fellow, and lacking the availability to pay restitution for the item that he stole, is sold into forced servitude. He can be said to be violating the ideal of the first of the 10 commandments, namely, that a Jew should have only one master–Hashem.

In this vein, the opening line of the Parshah that details our obligation to keep the Mishpatim [laws] of the Torah can now be explored. The Possuk states [Shemot 21’ 1’]:

“These are the rules that you shall set before them.”

The word “Before” in this Possuk is superfluous and does not fully fit with the rhythm of the Verse–the Torah could have just said, “These are the rules that you shall tell them [the Jews].” Rashi, following the Midrashic approach, explains that the Torah is initiating this topic by stressing that Jews should only seek to follow the laws of the Torah within a Beit Din; secular courts, even if they will rule in accordance with the Torah, are to be avoided, as the motive of a non-Torah following individual will not be to do the will of Hashem.

With this perspective, we can gain a further glimpse into the depravity that is the International Courts. The UN, and the ICC, currently, and for prior decades [basically since Israel’s inception], have served as the arm and sword looking to defame and prosecute Israel. If one takes a step back, and objectively views the accusations that these bodies—ostensibly the systems of judgement that represent the world’s morality– have thrown Israel’s way, one cannot help but realize the divine spirit that is speaking through these words of Rashi. The believing Jew cannot help but see the hand of G-d in current events; the only judicial system that Am Yisrael should rely on is that of Hashem, and the Anti-Semitic views of the organizations that are supposed to represent the best of what the world has to offer drive home that point.

Dedicated in memory of all those who have perished and sacrificed for Am Yisrael.

Have a Great Shabbas.