"Mishpatim — Part V — Compassion as the Heart of Justice"

5.4 — Application: Empathy as Social Architecture

Why a covenantal society is built on compassion

Parshas Mishpatim does not treat compassion as a private emotion or a personal virtue reserved for exceptional individuals. It builds compassion into the legal structure of society. The Torah does not say, “Be kind when you feel like it.” It says: structure your courts, your markets, your homes, and your speech so that the vulnerable are protected.

The Torah states:

שמות כ״ב:כ׳
“וְגֵר לֹא תוֹנֶה וְלֹא תִלְחָצֶנּוּ, כִּי־גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם.”
“You shall not oppress a stranger, nor pressure him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

This command is not framed as a suggestion or a sentiment. It is law. And its justification is memory: you know what it feels like. That memory must become policy.

Empathy written into law

Modern culture often treats empathy as an inner state: a feeling of sympathy, a personal sensitivity, a moral mood. The Torah takes a different approach. It does not rely on emotion alone. It constructs a system that compels empathy through obligation.

In Mishpatim, this structure appears repeatedly:

• Special protections for the stranger, widow, and orphan.
• Prohibitions against verbal oppression and financial exploitation.
• Legal safeguards in court for those without power.
• Obligations to assist even an enemy in distress.

These laws do not wait for the heart to soften. They create conditions in which compassionate behavior becomes the normal, expected outcome of daily life.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: a society shaped by memory

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks taught that the Torah is unique among ancient legal systems in its moral focus. Most societies protected kings, priests, and warriors. The Torah places the vulnerable at the center of its legal concern.

This is not accidental. It is rooted in the national memory of Egypt. A people that remembers oppression must build laws that prevent its return. Memory becomes the foundation of empathy, and empathy becomes the foundation of society.

For Rabbi Sacks, this is the essence of covenantal life. A covenant is not merely a shared belief; it is a shared responsibility. It binds people together in a moral order where power is restrained and vulnerability is protected.

A society built on covenant does not ask, “How strong are our leaders?” It asks, “How safe are our weakest members?”

Rav Avigdor Miller: compassion as character training

Rav Avigdor Miller emphasized that the Torah’s social laws are not only about creating a stable society. They are tools for refining the individual.

When the Torah commands sensitivity to the stranger, it is shaping the heart of the citizen. Each interaction with the vulnerable becomes an opportunity for inner growth. A person learns to speak more gently, to notice another’s distress, and to restrain the instinct to dominate.

In this sense, the Torah’s compassion laws serve a double purpose:

• They protect the vulnerable from harm.
• They protect the powerful from moral corruption.

A society that ignores the weak does not only harm its victims. It damages the character of its citizens. The Torah’s laws prevent that erosion by requiring daily acts of empathy.

Law as the architecture of compassion

The Torah’s vision is both realistic and idealistic. It does not assume that people will always feel compassion. But it does insist that society can be structured so that compassion becomes the default outcome.

This means:

• Courts must protect those without influence.
• Employers must treat workers with dignity.
• Communities must welcome newcomers.
• Speech must be restrained when it wounds the vulnerable.

Empathy is therefore not left to personality. It is embedded in institutions. It becomes the architecture of the social order.

Application for Today — designing compassionate systems

The message of Mishpatim is not only for individual behavior. It is a blueprint for how communities and institutions should be built. Compassion must be designed into the structure of society.

A practical translation of this teaching can include:

• Creating workplace policies that protect those with less status or security.
• Building school and community environments where newcomers feel included and safe.
• Ensuring that legal and financial systems are accessible to those without resources.
• Speaking and writing in ways that preserve dignity, especially for the socially vulnerable.

When empathy becomes part of the system, not just the sentiment, society becomes stable and humane. When compassion depends only on personal mood, the vulnerable are left exposed.

The Torah’s vision is demanding but clear: a covenantal society is not built on strength alone. It is built on compassion that has been turned into law.

📖 Sources

• Full sources available on the Mitzvah Minute Parshas Mishpatim page under insights and commentaries.