Parashat Mishpatim

Shabbat Shalom Fourth and Fifth grade families,

Hope this finds you well.  This week in class we learned about Parashat Mishpatim.

Mishpatim are rules and this is our first list of Mitzvot that Moshe is told to teach to the Children of Israel in the desert.

We concentrated on one particular rule which says “Be kind to the convert because you were also strangers in the land of Egypt”.

We read a Midrashic text which said that G-d especially loves the convert because he or she comes from another culture and is doing something quite difficult by becoming part of the Jewish people.  The convert in this text is compared to a deer that tries to join a sheep herd.  Not an easy task to be sure.

Then we read a story about a person who because their own feelings were hurt, lashed out at some converts and embarrassed them in public.

The bottom line here is that it is important to be kind to all people, but to make a special effort to be kind to those who are different from you for whatever reason.

Have a lovely Shabbat,

Morah Donna, Morah Hannah and Morah Yiska