"Mishpatim — Part VI — Na’aseh V’nishma: Covenant and Sacred Time"

6.2 — Law, Narrative, and Moral Memory

How Torah fuses story and law into covenant

Parshas Mishpatim opens with a long sequence of detailed civil and social laws: damages, loans, servants, property, justice, and compassion for the vulnerable. At first glance, these laws seem technical and procedural. Yet they appear immediately after the great narrative of the Exodus and the revelation at Sinai.

The Torah does not separate these two worlds. It places them side by side. The story of redemption flows directly into the structure of law.

From Shemos chapters כ״א–כ״ד, the Torah presents:

• The memory of slavery and liberation.
• The revelation at Sinai.
• The detailed civil and social laws of Mishpatim.
• The covenantal declaration of na’aseh v’nishma.

This sequence is deliberate. It teaches that Torah law does not emerge from abstract theory. It emerges from lived experience. Narrative gives law its direction, its tone, and its moral purpose.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: a legal system shaped by memory

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks emphasized that the Torah is unique among ancient law codes because it is embedded in narrative. Other societies produced laws, but they did so as expressions of royal authority or social convenience. The Torah grounds its laws in a story—the story of a people once enslaved and then redeemed.

Again and again, the Torah links law to memory:

• Do not oppress the stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt.
• Give rest on Shabbos, so that your servant may rest as you did.
• Treat workers fairly, remembering your own experience of oppression.

For Rabbi Sacks, this fusion of narrative and law is the essence of covenant. Law without memory becomes cold and technical. Memory without law becomes sentimental and ineffective. The Torah unites them. It creates a legal system guided by a shared story.

This produces what Rabbi Sacks called identity-based ethics. People do not behave morally only because of abstract principles. They behave morally because of who they are—and because of the story they carry.

Rashi: the law grows from Sinai

Rashi notes that Parshas Mishpatim begins with the words:

שמות כ״א:א׳
“וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים…”
“And these are the laws…”

The word “וְאֵלֶּה” (“and these”) connects the civil laws of Mishpatim directly to the revelation at Sinai. Rashi explains that just as the Ten Commandments were given at Sinai, so too these detailed civil laws were given at Sinai.

This teaches that the everyday laws of business, property, and responsibility are not secondary or secular matters. They are part of the covenant itself. The holiness of Sinai flows directly into the marketplace, the home, and the court.

The story of revelation does not end with thunder and fire. It continues in honest weights, fair treatment, and responsible behavior.

Ramban: the covenant expressed through justice

Ramban explains that Mishpatim is not merely a collection of civil regulations. It is the practical expression of the covenant made at Sinai. After hearing the Ten Commandments, the people must now learn how to live as a holy society.

For Ramban, the laws of Mishpatim translate the great principles of the Decalogue into daily life:

• “Do not murder” becomes laws of damages and personal injury.
• “Do not steal” becomes laws of theft and property.
• “Do not bear false witness” becomes rules of honest testimony and courts.
• “Honor your parents” becomes respect for authority and responsibility.

The narrative of Sinai provides the moral vision. The laws of Mishpatim provide the structure that makes that vision real.

Sforno: freedom requires just structure

Sforno explains that the purpose of these laws is to preserve the freedom that Israel gained at the Exodus. Without just social structures, freedom quickly degenerates into chaos or oppression.

The Torah therefore places Mishpatim immediately after Sinai to show that liberation is not enough. A redeemed people must build a society governed by justice, restraint, and responsibility.

For Sforno, the laws of Mishpatim are not merely practical regulations. They are the necessary framework that allows the spiritual vision of Sinai to survive in the real world.

Abarbanel: a society shaped by revelation

Abarbanel emphasizes that the sequence of Mishpatim demonstrates the Torah’s intention to build an entirely new kind of society. The revelation at Sinai was not only about personal faith. It was about forming a nation whose public life would reflect Divine values.

The laws of Mishpatim therefore cover every area of life:

• Economic relationships.
• Judicial procedures.
• Treatment of servants and workers.
• Care for the stranger, widow, and orphan.

Abarbanel explains that this comprehensive legal structure shows that the covenant is not confined to the synagogue or the altar. It shapes the entire social order.

Law guided by story

When law is detached from narrative, it risks becoming mechanical. It may enforce order, but it does not necessarily produce compassion. The Torah avoids this danger by constantly reminding the people of their story.

The memory of Egypt transforms legal obligations into moral responsibilities. It teaches the people not only what to do, but why.

The covenant therefore has two components:

• A shared story: slavery, redemption, revelation.
• A shared structure: laws that shape daily life.

Together, they form a moral community.

Application for Today — identity-based ethics

Modern societies often try to build ethics on abstract principles alone: rights, utility, or social contracts. The Torah offers a different model. It builds ethics on identity and memory.

To live this teaching today means:

• Teaching moral values through shared stories, not only through rules.
• Building communities where laws reflect a common moral vision.
• Remembering personal and collective experiences of vulnerability when shaping policies.
• Letting identity—who we are as a covenantal people—guide how we treat others.

When law grows out of memory, it becomes humane. When narrative shapes legal structure, society becomes moral.

The Torah’s covenant teaches that story and law are not separate realms. They are two halves of the same moral vision—one that transforms a people’s past into the guide for its future.

📖 Sources

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