Rabbi's Weekly Email

Parshat Mishpatim 

REPRO Shabbat – NCJW 

@Rabbi Lisa Gelber - Congregation Habonim 

Feb. 18, 2023/27 Shvat 5783 

In a house with a newly minted teen, we spend a lot of time examining  rules and discussing their efficacy. So, this week's parsha arrives at the  perfect time, with its focus on how to live in relationship with humanity, with people overall and with a sense of human kindness. The parsha is  known as sefer habrit, the book of the covenant, a how to guide to the  creation and maintenance of a just society. One might find it ironic, then,  that the laws begin with rules of owning and releasing Hebrew slaves.  The Torah sets out rules for how we treat these individuals. As moderns,  we notice that male slaves are treated differently than female slaves.  What else is new. The Torah itself understands the inclusion of these  laws at this time in our development as a people, in the chronology of  the Torah, in response to the exodus. Having just been freed from Egypt,  the people must remember from where they've come, physically,  spiritually, and emotionally. As we are reminded in Exodus 22:20, You  shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the  land of Egypt. We know what it means to be other. We know what it is  like to suffer at the hands of those with more power than we. We know,  in the words of Michelle Obama, when they go low, we have to go high. 

In later developments of Judaism, the crafting of the Judaism we inhabit  today, the rabbis reframe and redefine rules around slavery, responding  to what is unpleasant, unkind, and unrepresentative of a just society. Yet,  they stop short of stating that no one has the right to own and enslave  another human being. This is significant as we examine another of the  critical laws from today's parsha designed to protect those in need and  maintain a fair, just and equitable society. 

This morning we read, When men fight, and one of them pushes a  pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues,  the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband  may exact from him, the payment to be based on reckoning. But if other  damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for  tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound,  bruise for bruise (Exodus 21:22-25).  

If someone accidentally causes a miscarriage to take place, they must  pay financial reparations."Other damage" would be the death of the pregnant person. This is considered murder or manslaughter. The  termination of pregnancy is not, in the Torah, considered murder.  In fact, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi understands that if the fighting results in  the death of the mother (other damage), there shall be a monetary  payment for the life taken. Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth in his mind  does not represent capital punishment. There's no place for additional  death. 

Re: ending a pregnancy/abortion, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the redactor of  the Mishnah, makes clear that the fetus is like the mother's thigh. It is  one and the same with its host. Not an independent being, it is part and  parcel of the mother (Gittin 23b). When it comes to giving birth, the  tradition holds, If a woman is having trouble giving birth, they cut up the  fetus in her womb and bring it forth limb by limb, because her life comes  before the life of [the fetus]. But if the greater part [of the fetus/baby]  has come out [of the person giving birth], one may not touch it, for one  may not set aside one person’s life for that of another (Mishnah Oholot 7:6) Until that baby comes out into the world, the mother's health takes  precedence. The rights of the fetus are secondary to the rights of the  mother until the moment of birth.

Our friend Rashi, of the 11th century, understands life/nefesh, as what  happens at birth, when the head of the baby emerges from the birth  canal. This hearkens back to the opening chapters of Torah where Gd  breathes life into the nostrils of Adam haRishon. At that time, adam  became a living soul (Gen.2:7) 

We understand from these texts of our tradition that abortion is  permissible in Judaism. Not only that, but abortion is required when the  life of the mother is at stake. The Talmud holds that abortion to save a  pregnant woman's life is considered self-defense when the fetus  becomes a rodef/pursuer determined to kill the pregnant woman.  Clearly, Judaism values the physical state of a pregnant person. We also  consider the spiritual, emotional and psychological state of the mother.  Rabbi Jacob Emden of the 18th century maintains, even in the case of a  legitimate fetus there is reason to be lenient if there is a great need, as  long as the fetus has not begun to emerge. Even if the mother's life is not  in jeopardy...so as to save her from woe associated with it that would  cause her great pain.

Lest we think these reflections ceased centuries ago, Rabbi Aharon  Lichtenstein, an influential French/American/Israeli Orthodox rabbi,  wrote in 1991, Here it is clear that saving a life is not the only sanction  for permitting an abortion. It would seem to me that issues such as  kavod ha'briyot (dignity of persons), shalom ha'bayit (domestic peace)  and tza’ar (pain), which all carry significant [Jewish legal] weight in  other contexts, should be considered in making these decisions. In other  words, being created b'tzelem elohim/in the image of Gd means  maintaining autonomy over one's being for myriad reasons. 

Reproductive justice is the right of a human to maintain personal bodily  autonomy. To have children. To choose not to have children. To grow  and nurture children in an environment that is healthy and safe. Our  Torah commands us, tzedek tzedek tirdof, run after what is just, pursue  what is right and fair. To live without judgment of the other whose circumstances we do not know. 

As a community, we are called to reproductive freedom as a Jewish  value, one that requires commitment and responsibility like other values we hold dear, learning, loving, even leaving this world. All values  require decision making and resources - money, time, consideration,  empathy, compassion. As Jews, we live together in community. It is up  to us to see the sacred in each one of us, to appreciate our individual narratives and weave those together into the tapestry of our communal  quilt - a tallit that has weight and substance, a visual guide for healthy  and safe living. 

Earlier I mentioned that "the rabbis" stop short of stating that no one has  the right to own and enslave another human being. The rabbis of today,  and our communities, must do just that. We have no right to enslave  another human being. We are servants only to the holy. We have every  responsibility to cultivate respect, resilience, strength and courage, and  pursue freedom and righteousness, liberty and justice for all. It is on us  to speak up. It is on us to vote. It is on us to talk amongst ourselves. It is  on us to nurture and maintain a sacred space in which people can share  their stories and bring values to life.

On this Shabbat and every day we  pray - keyn y'hi ratzon/so may it be. 

Prayer for Reproductive Freedom – found at your seats