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Mishpatim

God’s Statutes and Laws for Israel

The detailed ordinances of the Torah are bestowed directly from God to Israel. These are God’s statutes and laws that He Himself observes and fulfills.

“These are the ordinances that you shall place before them” (Exodus 21:1). That is the meaning of what is written: “He declares His words to Jacob” (Psalms 147:7) – these are the Ten Commandments; “His statutes and His laws to Israel” (Psalms 147:7) – these are the rest of the ordinances, [particularly those relating to civil law]. The attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He, are not like the attributes of people. The attribute of a person is that he instructs others to act but he himself does nothing. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so; rather, what He does, He instructs others to perform and observe, [as the verse refers to “His statutes” and “His laws,” indicating that God Himself observes them]…. Rabbi Abbahu said in the name of Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Hanina: This can be explained by way of a parable of a king who had an orchard. He would plant all types of trees in it, but he would not enter it; rather, he would guard it. When his children grew up, he said to them: My children, I guarded this orchard, and I did not allow any person to enter it. Guard it in the manner that I guarded it.(Shemot Rabba 30)