The justification for many of the laws of Mishpatim derives from Israel's own experience of slavery in Egypt. "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Israel's sense of social justice emerges from her own identification with the alienated and the oppressed. The civil legislation of Israel, delineated in the Torah selection of Mishpatim derives from Israel's personal experience. Israel must create a nation based upon the pillars of justice and mercy. The primary focus of the religion of Israel has been and always shall be the pursuit of the just society. The call of Israel as a religious people is rooted in the memory of Egypt. Israel must pursue the creation of an ethical nation because that is her very reason for being.

Let us examine several of the cases of Mishpatim and the way in which they built upon the memory of Egypt. The captive female slave taken, as a wife must not be deprived of three basic rights: the right to food, the right to shelter, and the right to physical gratification in her marriage. In Judaism, these rights were extended to all brides. The dignity of women in marriage was stipulated in a document, the ketubah. Our sages built upon this structure by asserting that in the case of her husband's death or divorce, the wife was entitled to monetary compensation. The dignity of each and every life, male and female, derived from the experience of Egypt. Even a slave wife was entitled to some humane treatment. The sages built upon the laws of the Torah to establish marriage as kiddushin, as a sacred relationship of trust based upon the dignity of man and woman.

The law of compensation, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", is motivated by that same call to justice. An individual must be compensated in an appropriate fashion for loss. Judaism never interpreted the law of compensation as a passage or vengeance. For when one seeks revenge, he or she does not want an eye for an eye. A person seeking revenge wants ten eyes for an eye. "An eye for an eye" calls for equity in compensation. "An eye for an eye" is a great principle of justice. Personally, I detest it when this profound and beautiful Biblical phrase is used in a pejorative sense - especially when it is applied to the State of Israel today. It has often been said that "an eye for an eye" leaves both parties blind. However, ignoring and dismissing the blind eye leaves the wounded party open to further attack.

The State of Israel does not seek vengeance. It seeks justice for its citizens. It seeks an end to the ruthless and brutal murder of its citizens. It seeks the protection of its sons and daughters, which is its right as a sovereign state. Often, we hear that Israel seeks "an eye for an eye" in contrast to the ethic of Christianity, "Turn the other cheek". "An eye for an eye" is a demand for justice. "Turn the other cheek" leaves the brutalized individuals with two beaten cheeks, if not a beaten body and a beaten soul. To ignore terrorism and brutality is not a moral response; it is acquiescence to evil. An absolute ethic that does not permit response to the destruction of an eye will be indifferent to the evils of the world.

In Judaism, there is no distinction between ritual and ethical commands. They flow one to another and enrich one another. The teaching of the Sabbatical year implements the ideals of justice of the Torah. The prohibition of agriculture during the Sabbatical year teaches that the earth is a gift from G-d. The Sabbatical year shows that we are all equal as the land returns to G-d who is the Source of our material well-being. Interestingly, the Torah teaches the prohibition upon cooking the kid in the milk of its mother. Compassion for animals is also part of the sense of the justice of Israel. This simple law is the source of the separation of meat and dairy products in kashrut. The way of holiness is enacted in Jewish ritual. The way of holiness is expressed in Jewish behavior.