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Why does Shemos 22:21–23 punish the abuser's wife and children when he mistreats orphans and widows? The shiur develops a striking yesod: a person cannot be sensitive to others' vulnerability unless his own family teaches him emotional awareness. Wives must tell husbands how much they mean to them, and children must express love to parents—otherwise the family itself is culpable for the father's insensitivity.
This shiur delivers a profound analysis of Shemos 22:21–23, which prohibits abusing widows and orphans and threatens severe punishment: the abuser will die, and his wife will become a widow unable to remarry (an agunah), while his children become orphans unable to inherit. Rashi (רש"י) explains that the bodies of these men will not be found, preventing remarriage and inheritance. Rabbi Zweig opens with a fundamental question: why are the wife and children punished when they did nothing wrong? The husband receives his punishment through death; the ongoing suffering of the wife and children appears unjust. The shiur develops a revolutionary reading of the pasuk. Rabbi Zweig argues that the Torah (תורה) is not describing a cruel person who actively tortures widows and orphans, but rather an ordinary individual who lacks sensitivity to vulnerable people. The same joke or casual remark that a secure person would brush off can devastate someone who has lost a parent or spouse. The question becomes: why is a person held responsible for not recognizing this heightened sensitivity?
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Shemos 22:21-23 (Parshas Mishpatim)
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