Mishpatim | Rabbi Baruch Taub | February 12th 2026

Okay, good morning everybody. Um, I just want to say the sponsors for today's shar are the Jewish Legacy Foundation of Toronto as well as uh the shear is dedicated uh for the uh by Mina Mueller in memory of her mother's yurtsite on the 26th of uh Rabbitson Esther Nama Bas Harav alter Shm hakohhane and she should have a liken and in the of our learning uh she should continue to be a meita yashara for her whole family and there should only be simas in the Mueller family. Okay. Um I have a piece that I we're doing three pieces today. The first one is uh from uh the moral. We're going to get to moral and the arier and it um it it sweeps through a number of parios the last you have something from last week's partial the end of last week's partial here but you'll see that there's a theme here it's an interesting theme okay in fact I have this in the first safer in English on the para it's called when if is not an if okay so you can look if you want to look it up but here's here's the Um, what's going on here? Okay, you have in the parha em. By the way, anyone have sheets? If you want sheets, you don't have to get them. They're they're out there. If you want sheets, they're on the Okay. There's Josh, are you going to be here when I'm finished? I want to mention something. Will you be here? >> Uh, >> okay. I don't want to keep you. I just Okay. Um so immal ami um when you when you lend money to a Jew uh you don't first of all you don't you don't take interest and you don't force the guy you see you if you see him walking down the street make you he hasn't paid you back yet get out of his Hey, don't you know don't force don't. But here's the question. It says, now and what does usually mean? If but here it's used as when. Right. There are two other times that this is done. And Rashi writes here number two. Rashi comments. Every time you have e in the Torah, it is optional. The word if, right, except for three. And this is one of them. So, we're going to look at the other two and we're going to try to discover why in fact the Torah does that. What's the There's a message here, right? Um, next one is in number three. You have that's right at the end of last week's para. If you make a mean uh to me. So don't use metal on it because metal is a sword. You make the misbeh for the mikdash for the mishkan. Don't use metal. That's also but it means when when you do it but it's still when you when you build a b mikdash when you build the miz and when you lend money. And the third one is when you bring the corbin omer uh when you're celebrating the first fruits that you have and it's on the 16th of Nissan you bring you bring a special corbin which allows us to eat the the new fruit right that's also im okay so here's the moral in the gur number four and he's going to explain what this is all about to us is being used here is to be like when right but Why? Why is it written? Why does the Torah write? What's what's the message the Torah is giving us by writing? Even though these are obligatories, not it's not it's not, you know, volunteer to be a volunteer to give stucker, right? We have a famous volunteer here. Mrs. Jennisov was the volunteer of the year many years ago in Harshaw in Toronto. the um it's not volunteerism. You have a mitzvah to give stucker. It's not a volunteerism to build a m to bring a corbin, right? It's a it's an obligation. It's obligatory. So why? So he writes like this gets right down to the business. If you do things because you're forced to, you do because I have to do it, right? That doesn't make God happy. He doesn't want us to do mitzvah because I have to do the mitzvah, right? And it's like we learned I think we learned last week that um the you know said don't be like a worker who works for his boss to get his check his paycheck. You're not working for the paycheck but be for like someone who works works for his boss. Shalom almanat I love my work right who works better who's the better worker in in any business or any any trade or any profession is the person who loves their work the guy who's there you know because of the money that's what he's there it's not you know his work is not going to be and it's not it's not what the boss wants it's not what anybody wants and it's certainly not what the wants so that's the first point he makes here with the goal of doing mitzvot is to do it because I want to do it. Right? There's a mitzvah to love God. I love God. I have to love him. And we have to develop a sense of love of God. The Rambam tells us how to to we have to look at all the things he gives us in this world and develop a sense of love. But he wants us to, right? It has to be from our heart. don't know that if a person does a mitzvah from his heart because he wants to right it it it is it is going to be accepted by the an act which is obl obligatory you don't have to look for a reason I'm doing I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing That's my that's my job. My job uh you know uh uh thing these three things are kind of um headline mitzvah that represent three different areas. So for these three mitzvah if you do so these three mitzvah that we're talking about if you do it because it's right that's on your resume right that's not that's not what he wants for example if you build a to offer a sacrifice to bonus this is a hashem to serve to give a corbin or to build a shul right this this kind of a thing if I only do this because I have to do it I have to bring the carbon that's not service of hashem right in fact the many times the Torah here in vikra speaks about a corbin right it should have a pleasant fragrance right so generally speaking it means people think it means you know it's like a barbecue you know your neighbors making steaks on the barbecue. You go out and you sit on your porch just to get the but the cababala meglinberg brilliant comment he makes that is not talking about the corban it's talking about the bala corbin the person who's giving the corbin right he should have that fragrance he's doing it he's doing it for the right reasons right that's right so so here serving god means it has to be from your your desire Now you're called you're really a religious person. You're you're work for right. But if he's obligated, he's not a he's not an Hashem. If you lend money to somebody, right? And sometimes it's a challenge. You know, somebody comes knocking on your door and you know, I got to write them a check. You know, I got to give a check to no one wants money, right? And uh you know as a Muslim you know that if somebody knocks on your door for money ask him if he need wants a drink. Did he have a coffee right? What does it what does it cost you to give him a cup? It can be instant coffee. Doesn't have to be from your fancy coffee. Right? So um a mitzvah that's that's not a mitzvah even if you write the check out. Right? It's it's not a it's not a mitzvah. Right? Um in fact let me interject something here. You know, we say that um we say in we said this morning in Ding in the of right you say Abraham but how do you end it abra blessed is God the shield of Abraham what what's what happened to what happened to to Yitzk and and Yakov so again a beautiful interpretation of this um that uh that rebel roof says um he said I think the kotkar also mentions this um you know that each of the avat represented a certain mida right um was right taught us um is a dvening right he was the the corbin Right. And give dvening service to Hashem. And um Yakov is uh Torah is learning Torah. Yakov was uh right. Right. So, but the point is this. Each one of these mitzvah have to be done with, you know, there's a big difference if you learn Torah for yourself and the Gmoran says what what's mit to is to teach somebody else to learn with somebody else to support Torah, right? and uh and dvening also you know I don't know if you duskar but if you in a nusukar sitter I also don't duskar I dusk but invar sitter at the beginning of dvening in chakras in the morning it says we say hurry I want to ready to do um the mitzvah of of what to do I'm going to dven now the mitzvah of what does that I'm going to do the mitzvah of loving every Jew. I'm going to do everything we say is in plural. We do in plural, right? We're doving not just for ourselves. We're so also has to be right and also has to be done with not just to write that check. So everything so the shield of for all of these three qualities of Jacob is the shield of right. So this is what he's saying here. When you give a loan to money or give a loan to somebody, it has to be with a good heart. Okay, he gives the okay your heart should not be you know stingy evil and also giving a corbin right you cannot eat the new crop until you bring that corbin right it's a we're grateful to the right explain God brings The clouds brings down the rain gives us dew on the ground and the ground brings forth a beautiful and this is what we give kind of payback to the and it has to be because we love him we appreciate what he's done for us otherwise it's meaningless everything comes comes from the everything comes from the and this is going to dubtail with the last piece we're going to get to and this requires a heart something from admission from the heart not like an earthly king that so many so many of the laws that a a king makes and is that just to respect him and to serve serve him and so on that's not how the operates service of the heart. God gave us everything. But if he does it because he has to so that you just failed in the whole the whole business. You have to do it as if it's rash as if it is if if you give. Even though you're obligated to give, but it should be given as an if. I don't have to give it. I want to. Right. The last paragraph. These three mitzvah, they are obligations without a doubt. The Torah does not present them as an obligation. leave that mitzvah is in another place in the Torah that we have an obligation to build a right here and but you shouldn't build it with metal right the main thing is you know not to be not to be stingy not to be mean and also a sham That's not the real mitzvah. Okay. So that's the point he makes here. Now I want to add something to that. The word right in Hebrew the word what what is a mother? >> Aim. >> Aim is a mother. Why is the Hebrew lashen kesh is holy? That's why it's called lushen kesh. Right. I kaya by the way is is a close cousin. Modern Hebrew is a close cousin to lashon to lash kesh but it's not lashen kesh right zopair you know is not in is not in the tanak anywhere right so but in len kesh everything has a meaning so a mother is called an aim why because a mother also doesn't do things and raising children motherhood is not I have to raise my children right it's I want to raise my children. It's it's it's a labor of love, right? So, the word aim is also the word em. It's it's a it's it's uh I want to do it. Right. Okay. Just an added thought. Okay. Let's leave the next piece. We're not going to do go over the page and um how we doing for time. I just don't want to miss this third piece. So, but we'll go to the second piece. Okay. Can't see the time here. >> Okay. Um this is from the Dorash Morai on the right hand column. Dorsh Morai was Morai um was a great mid uh in Jerusalem. Uh actually I I saw recently that his forum are now being this Dish Morai is now translated into English. Everything it's unbelievable what's happening to Torah today. Everything is available for everyone. Right. Um so form. This is a very famous in the Torah. When the Jewish people accepted the Torah, they said, "We will do it." Sight unseen. We'll do it. And then we'll learn what it's all about, right? Tremendous, tremendous thing. Israel and they received tremendous praise from because of this this what they did what they said that's rabbi taught when the Jewish people put will do before we'll learn about it we'll understand it before we understand it 600,000 angels Okay. Every Jew got two crowns on his head. Right. One for I'll do it and the other for I'll then learn it. Right. Israel. When the Jews when the Jews put NASA before Nishma, who taught my children this great secret that only the angels know, right? Angels are perfect beings, right? Angels know this. But where did they learn this, right? Tremendous, right? Gibbor. O devaro. This is how angels are described. The bless they do it first, right? O they do my will and then they they learn about it. Okay, that's how angels are described. Now it's very nice. It's very poetic. It's beautiful. But he's going to tear it down now. Right. There's a medish in our para. The Jews lied. The Jewish people lied with their mouths. When we were standing by the They wanted to deceive the geneva's das, right? Geneva stealing is not just in material things but also to you can deceive a person uh by lying to him right we wanted to lie the Jewish people wanted to deceive the when they said we're going to do everything without understanding it or accepting the whole Torah sight unseen and then we'll learn Right. So that's what we did. That's what the Medish says. We're going to go into the rest of the Medish, but this is how the Medish, the rabbi and the Medish says this is what we were doing. This was a fake, right? It was impossible. Rabbi says, "This is unbelievable." On the one hand, the rabbis, they praise the Jewish people to the heights for this phenomenal thing of saying angels. And on the other side of the coin, they wanted to deceive their deceiving. They couldn't mean it. Torah, they really didn't accept to do the whole Torah. So, what was the praise? If they're deceiving the by the by the he says you can't lie to the he knows everything right you can't deceive the he knows what's in our hearts he knows what's in our hearts he knows what's in our kidneys right and if their heart was not in this Right? So why did he praise us? Why were we praised if in fact we really could not have meant it. Now he explains and he brings an explanation from the kadushim. Kadusha was was one of the gerbas and he says beautifully gives a mshall simple mush. What can this be compared to? A child is begging his father to buy him something special, a computer, a 13-speed bicycle, whatever. You know, he's dying for this thing, right? Right. And the father, he was deliberating. Does he deserve it? Does he not deserve it? Right? This is asking for something very special, right? A scooter, right? Electric scooter, whatever, right? The kids are asking for it today, right? And it's dangerous. Is he going to be safe? Does he deserve it? Right? And the the child, the boy swears up and down just proverbial on this proverbial stack of Bibles. Even though we're not supposed to do that, it's just an expression, right? He's going to he's going to be a good boy. He's going to help at home with the parents. He's going to get a he's going to bring an A+ report card. I'm going to d every day properly. I'll get up early in the morning to do to go to school, etc., etc. Unbelievable commitment this kid makes to his father. Right. This father knows good and well. Did he mean it? He meant it. Yeah, I want I'm going to do it. But father knows. He's not going to do it. He can't. Right. But he wants to give him the present. He wants to encourage him. that he sees the desire of this child that he's he's making these commitments. He's going to do everything right. How can I deny him? So that means I'm calling him a liar even though I know he's not a liar, but I know it just ain't going to happen. Right? So is when he's supposed to after four days he'll clean his room and make his bed, but after that that's the end. Right? What do I do? What what do I do? But he wants to give him, right? And he gives him he gives him the present. Right? This is what happened in we we wanted with all our hearts to to get the Torah. We said, "We're going to do everything. We're going to do every single mitzvah in your Torah, right? Knows full and well our hearts and our kidneys. He knows it's not not it's not going to happen. I mean, we are the proof in the pudding, right? Then it doesn't happen, right? We don't do everything, right? So, good and well, we couldn't we wouldn't be able to keep this this tremendously heavy commitment. in a certain sense they're deceiving God, right? Uh but not they don't mean it, right? Who but God looks away because God knows who knows everything, right? He could not reject the tremendous desire and drive to accept the Torah that they presented to him at that moment. So he gave us the Torah and you know whatever happened afterwards continues to happen. Right? So now let's go to the next piece. Now, last week we spoke about we spoke about this also last week, right? No, wait a minute. Let's go to the next No, no, the next piece doesn't talk about this, I don't think. No, remember last week we did we did this in contrast to um that God put the mountain on us metaphorically. He like a barrel and trapped us. If you accept the Torah of good and well, if you don't accept the Torah, you're toast, right? You're going to die here, right? So, we discussed this last week from Rabbi of Kaminski and from the moral and we discussed what do you need both for and how could you do that? We said NASA and why is it? So, you need both. You need to to do something out of love. But love's not enough, right? You can't survive on love alone. You need a sense of fear. You need a sense of of reticence also and respect and reticence. You need you need both, right? That I'm not going to go into it in detail, but we can you can see the video if you weren't here last week that he mentioned Josh mentioned. Okay, so now let's go to the next piece. And I say this is going to is going to take us back to the to the first piece um and um this is from Ryak Kabanetski who we have quoted many times. Ryakov on the Torah is safe for Ms. Leakov. Um Rabyakov um for those of you who have not heard of Ryakov before um he he was um one of the Israel. It was a great the Russ of Torvidas in in New York. Um he was a just interesting he was a RV in Toronto for five or six years came from Euras in Toronto before he came to to Vadas. And when he came to Vidaz you know he wasn't accepted so quickly from the the students because he gave a shir and gamorrah it was gammor rashtos he didn't say all the rishonium and all the aonium and all the commentaries on the gamorrah rabbi you know he's a rabbi from Toronto he's going to you know one day should give you a god of he that's how you have to learn gamorra by the way that's how he held so he came in and he learned to go he gave the shir and he quoted every single conceivable rishon and aan on the page and the boys were flying and they went over to him and said Remy this is unbelievable what happened why did you decide to give the she like this so he said I can I can even imitate how he spoke but I'm not going to do it he said I'll tell you the truth he said I had a wedding last night and I got home late and I didn't have time to prepare this year so I opened the gamor and I just gave you you It was a tremendous lesson for them. You know, everybody wants to see this and that, but understand the Gomorrah, understand Rashi. You know, we we don't realize what Rashi is until Rashi came along. The the Talmud was one-on-one sentence for I don't know how many thousands of pages. No commas, no periods, no question marks, no exclamation marks. The Talmud was a one long gone on sentence. Rashi came and opened up the Talmud the Torish about Pra. So Rashi himself Rashi himself is a purish that is has so much there's so much there. You know there are a number of times that Rashi says mazamo I'm not sure what the Torah is trying to tell us. Now there are different sources. Some say 25 pace, some say 60, 70 places he said this. You can bet your bottom dollar if Rashi says right, there's a minefield there. I'm going to get what Rashi didn't get. If Rashi says he doesn't know what what the what the Gomorra is telling us, there's a minefield there. Right? Anyway, so that's what that was common. Now they they published on Ryakov on Nak also on Na'vi and here's it's in volume two. I don't think they came out with a volume one yet. They first did a volume two. And here is on on Draayim. Okay, I'm doing this. I want to bring a misa at the bottom in the footnote from a beautiful misa which is going to dovetail with what we say everything god knows everything right everything comes from him right so but he's he's talking in in the says in right at the top of the page they were giving money for the misbeh for the mishkan right goes back to what we were talking about before Israel in the time of David they were giving money for the for the Mishka for the for the Bikdash, right? And they gave they gave with their full heart to Hashem and David was was full of what was who am I? And who is our people to have the power, the strength to give this kind of money? We're not giving it. It's your money. Right. We recognize that's the here. We recognize that everything is yours. Why should I keep my money and not build? Right. Everything is in your hands, not everything. We are like strangers when it comes to you. right? Everything you're you're everything right now. What is he saying? The the the level of that Israel felt by David Malik Israel giving money to the Bikdash. Hello here. The was it's not coming from us and we understand that right this is a basic point a very basic point in hash in in in Jewish thought in that we have to understand Abraham Ainu it comes from Abrainu heir the famous medish he's quot he's quoting here and I left out a lot of of this piece here but famous medishu shal that his money is not his eloh bal habira right the medish says when did when did Abraham discovered god he saw the world fantastic it was and he said there's no bal there's got to be a bal habira here right who created this who did all of this there has to somehavil wizard behind the curtain there's a rabonto right he realized that we didn't do I didn't do anything how did this happen right so we got this from right when a person realizes that it's not my money whatever I bonam gave me this the privilege of earning this m it's not my money I have to give and I have to give Right. Next column. Now he's going to bring something from our para to drive this home in Harim. What was the first? It's fascinating. Right after the Torah was given, we go to para Mishbatim. Last week Torah was given. This week is Mishbatim. And in fact, it's it's out of order kind of. There's a a repeat of Moshe getting the Torah again, right? But what's the first Mishbatim? What's Mishbatim? civil laws, right? Um, right? Your car banged into my car, right? These are these are these are in the in theorish, right? In in parasim all of these things of damages and so on, right? There are in fact there are more pages of gamorrah in the shas in Talmud from from this para in Mishbatim than anywhere else in shas right these right. So he's going to ask a question. If you look at it, this the the whole idea of civil laws is at at the source of the creation of the world. As the Ramban says, he's quoting a Ramb heor. The first para that's given after the Torah was given is the laws of civil laws, right? The the civil laws, right? He who he shall um what's the first one? Evy, a s a Jew who who owes money and he doesn't have money to pay. He has to sell himself as a slave but only for six years. The seventh year he goes free. Kashabas the Ramban says this is a hint to the this is why the world was created for these kind of mitzvah. This is the hint to it because you see a hint of shabas here just like there's a thing called and Israel has to rest on the seventh year. So to like Shabbat, so to the Evan, he can't stay that long. He has to go out, right? This is the source of these laws go back to the creation of the world. They're fundamental to the world, right? Okay. Like Shabas, right? What's the what's the what's the comes out of this? He has to remember the creation of the world. Why was the world created? Right? I'm an Evid forever. It's not my world. I've got it good. You know, I has it very good. An i is not a cleaning milk lady or a butler. Right? You have to treat him as good as you. If you only have one pillow, you give it to him, right? That's how an ev has to be treated. Right? Ke the whole idea is to rehabilitate him back to society to get to get his selfworth back. Right? Hashem created the world in six days. He rested on the seventh. The same thing with the with the he can't be sold forever. Right. You're my servant. You don't work for anybody else. You're not in charge. Evid. You're not in charge. The party's over now. You go back to real life right now. Okay. you everything you have he says it's a gift whatever you have is a gift from me right so now listen to this ma okayenu one time this again remember this is written postumously so this is the the editor writes a footnote one time riyakov told um first of all he spoke about right after Torah we have the parish right damages the laws of damages this is the area of right I would think that right after the Torah is given teach the laws of dvening of of making bra of shab of right not monetary obligations. This is going to bring us closer to the raon or that area all the these things that that's not there but that's what he means saying is right and right this brings us closer to vena and said but this is the uniqueness of Torah Torah as opposed to every religion in the world and every culture in the world without exception. In the inter in the world in the international world of every single nation, right? Every religion, every culture has uh religious obligations, right? praying, right? This kind of stuff, right? Holidays with teasim or special days or from to remember their history, right? Just like we do, right? We have, right? Every culture has that. That's their religion. That's their culture. But when it comes to my to damages to financial to court cases of damages and civil laws this has nothing there's a court system. It has nothing to do with their religion. It's not part of religion. It's a question of the state. It's secular. Has nothing to do with religion. Right? That's the uniqueness of kalisrael that for us religion is shabas kashras doing staka and your car hit my car and you've got to pay who's going to who's in charge who pay who owes money on this on this deal right that's why this has to be taught in fact once said he was asked why when boys start learning gamorrah right why do they start learning Um they actually we just heard from a a grandson of ours that he they finished their first Ahmad of Gomorrah and they made a a whole party and in school uh they finished their first Ahmed of Gomorrah. But uh why why when when children are taught gamorrah they start learning the laws of um of damages right why not brahas the me of brahas so said no they have to understand about property that there you have to be responsible not just for yourself you have to be responsible for somebody else right a limit is the first thing they learn the first paragraph usually has learned is when you find a lost article what do you do with it? How do you give it back? Right? So, um that's what he says. Same idea with the holy Torah all civil laws. That's part of religion. That's our religion. We have a religious obligation not to steal, not and to pay back. It's right. It's not this is given. That's the first thing given after after we got the Torah. We go right into these right to right after the ten commandments. We go to parishim the laws of who stole or he couldn't afford to pay right. Now here's the shalom. He learned this from a misa shah ado when he was a young man. When he was a young man, he was learning in in Lithuanian in the Slobaki Shiva and the Russka was Mosha Morai abstini was also the RV of Sabbodka Torah after the the Bezden the court of the court was in the same building as the yeshiva right. So people were coming out of court was completed. A case a case was finished at and right this. So the litigants came out. They came out from the the courtroom. One guy was screaming that he lost his money. He lost the real estate, this piece of land. It was obviously about a piece of land. Who owns the land? And he said it was his land and he lost it. It was his land, right? And he said the was not proper, right? The of this the final decision of this case, this real estate case is based on in our Torah inb didn't understand it doesn't make sense right he took him by his hand he said the following as a young man saw this, right? You think that we just spent four hours in court going over a case to determine whether this land belongs to you or belongs to the other guy, right? At Are you making a mistake? The land doesn't belong to him and it doesn't belong to you. Taking you back to our first piece this morning, right? It belongs to God. And through the Torah that he gave us, he tells us shalomi lat who to give it to, right? The land belongs to me and the Torah tells you who to give it to that who I want who really is the right person to take take my property and be the official owner in this world. Right? Soak said when he heard this this line right he said he said he said he he reminded himself every year when he learned parishim of this conversation that Epstein had with the litigants, right? After God gave us the Torah and he's the owner, the is what the coin the phrase that he coined the right. The owner of the of the palace of the world. This money is going to you this money is going to you right? So the sooner I realize it, I'm going to give more starker. And the sooner sooner you realize it, the m that you lost the case. You lost the case. It's a beautiful piece. That mice is a beautiful mice and it dovetailes with the first piece we saw also. Okay. Thank you all for your patience. Have a wonderful week and a wonderful Shabas. Okay.