This week’s Torah portion-”Mishpatim” (statutes)- charts a new course for us as we depart (for the most part) the narrative that we’ve had for the last four months. Instead, we are going headlong into the nitty gritty legal structure that is really the backbone of ethical behavior-as the Talmud states “derech eretz kodmin l’Torah” (proper character preceeds the Torah). First learn how to be a mentch, then put it into practice. There’s also an implication that one cannot understand the true depth of the legalities until the blurred lens of his or her emotional world has been cleansed.

There are four paradigms of damaging agents-as described Mishpatim; the ox, the pit, the tooth and the fire. Each one has layers of meaning (of course) and are ultimately rooted in our personalities-which also have damaging properties. Hints abound that provide us with instructions as to how to remove these foreign agents from our psyches and by so doing create tikkun (rectification) in our lives and the world at large.

All are invited to discuss tonight at 7:00…