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Why does Rashi (רש"י) say "ma'eilu miSinai af eilu miSinai" — that mishpatim are from Sinai just like chukim? The shiur argues that without Torah (תורה), we'd have no real understanding of interpersonal relationships. Secular law sees compensation as adequate; Torah law reveals that monetary payment for bodily harm (ayin tachas ayin) can never truly restore what was taken, demanding humility, apology, and permanent recognition of the wrong done.
Rabbi Zweig opens with Rashi (רש"י)'s famous question on the first pasuk of Parshas Mishpatim: "Ve'eila hamishpatim" — what is the "ve'eila" (and these) coming to add? Rashi answers that just as the earlier mitzvos were from Sinai, so too these mishpatim are from Sinai. The shiur asks: what does it mean that mishpatim are "from Sinai"? If not from Sinai, would they be man-made? Or does "miSinai" mean part of the experience at Har Sinai itself? The deeper question: why does calling something "miSinai" matter at all? Rabbi Zweig develops a powerful thesis: "miSinai" means that these laws create sinah (hatred) in the world, just as Chazal say Sinai is called such because "yaradah sinah la'olam" — hatred descended to the world when Torah (תורה) was given. Mishpatim — rational laws — would seem least likely to create animosity. People resent chukim (statutes without reason), but mishpatim are understandable! Yet the shiur argues that mishpatim generate perhaps the deepest resentment, because people feel competent to legislate in areas of civil law and interpersonal relations. When God imposes laws in domains where we think we understand better — commerce, damages, loans — that creates profound tension.
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Parshas Mishpatim, Shemos 21:1 with Rashi
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Why do we owe parents gratitude when they had children for their own fulfillment, not our benefit? The shiur establishes that we owe hakaras hatov to anyone who benefits us regardless of their motives, since nothing is owed to us in the first place. This yesod explains why Og earned merit despite evil intentions and why gratitude creates ongoing obligation rather than closing accounts.
