18 Feb PARSHAS MISHPATIM: TURNING THE THEORY INTO PRACTICE

One Who Cheats In
His Business Doesn’t
Believe in G-d
Our Parsha begins
“And these are the
statutes that you
shall place before
them.” There is
a very famous Rashi on the words “And
these”. Normally “these” would mean “to the
exclusion of others”. But Rashi says that the
conjunction “and” adds to what came before
(vov mosif), in Parshas Yisro.
In Parshas Yisro, G-d gave us the Ten
Commandments. Rashi here says that just as
the Ten Commandments were given at Sinai,
so too the laws that are recorded in Parshas
Mishpatim were also given at Sinai.
The truth of the matter is that this Rashi
requires understanding. There is another
famous Rashi [Vayikra 25:1] on the words
“On Mount Sinai” (mentioned in connection
with Shmita) which asks, “What is the
connection between Shmitah and Mount
Sinai?” Rashi there answers that just like the

laws of Shmita were given with all their rules
and intricate details at Sinai, so too all other
commands were given with their rules and
intricate details at Sinai.
If that is the case, what is Rashi adding
here, by telling us that the laws of Parshas
Mishpatim were given at Sinai? We know that
— the whole Torah was given at Sinai!
The Ramba”n says a very interesting thing.
According to the Ramba”n, Parshas Mishpatim
and the Parsha of the Ten Commandments
were said together at the initial meeting of
G-d with Moshe on Sinai (prior to the 40 day
period when Moshe learned the rest of the
Torah). Subsequent to that, Moshe Rabbeinu
came down, taught the Jewish people what he
had learned from G-d and then went back up
to Mount Sinai to learn more.
What emerges from this Ramba”n is that the
laws of one ox goring another ox, of digging a
hole in the public domain, or paying workers
on time, all the mundane intricacies of life have
the same status and were given at the same
time as the Ten Commandments. Therefore,

Rashi is stating something significant.
But, is it not peculiar that almost in the same
breath as G-d spoke “I am the L-rd your
G-d who took you out from Egypt…”, the
foundation of Judaism, He also told us about
our responsibilities when we borrow our
neighbor’s car?
Why does Parshas Mishpatim rate the same
session as “I am the L-rd your G-d”?
Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, said that this
comes to teach us that if a person does not
keep Parshas Mishpatim (monetary laws), he
doesn’t believe in “I am the L-rd your G-d”
either.
“I am the L-rd your G-d” is the theory — I
believe. But the other side of the coin, the
practice, is do you cheat in your business? If
you cheat in your business, you do not believe
in “I am the L-rd your G-d”.
Rav Moshe continues, if a person believes
in G-d with more than lip service, then the
person believes that G-d provides him with
a livelihood. If a person believes that G-d
provides the livelihood, then what reason is

there to cheat? “A person’s livelihood is fixed
for him from Rosh HaShannah” [Beitzah
16a]. If one believes that, there is no need to
cheat. Anyone who cheats, does not believe it.
That is why “I am the L-rd your G-d” is in the
same session as the law of how to pay one’s
workers.
The ‘test’ of earning a livelihood is not only
a test of telling the truth, of not stealing, etc.
It is a test of ‘I am the L-rd your G-d’. Daily,
we are put to the ‘test’ of whether or not we
really believe. If we really, really believe, then
there is never a reason to be less than 100%
honest in our dealings with other people and
with ourselves.