Torah for Regular Days
Words of Wisdom with Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar
This Dvar Torah was written by Yehudis Smith, Director of CAJE’s Robert Russell Early Childhood Department.
Photo by Andrey K on Unsplash
This week’s parsha, Mishpatim, is one of the longest and most detailed portions in the Torah.
After the dramatic moment of Mount Sinai - thunder, lightning, and the giving of the Ten Commandments - the Torah shifts gears completely.
Parshat Mishpatim is filled with laws about everyday situations:
- Borrowing and returning objects
- Accidentally causing harm
- Interpersonal responsibility
- How people are expected to treat one another when things go wrong
There’s no drama.
No miracles.
Just regular life.
And that shift is intentional.
Right after revelation, the Torah teaches us that holiness doesn’t stay on the mountain.
It moves straight into the ordinary details of human interaction.
Parshat Mishpatim assumes we’re human:
- We misjudge situations
- We bump into each other - literally and figuratively
- We don’t always get it right
And instead of asking for perfection, the Torah asks for attention:
- Pay attention to how your actions land.
- Pay attention to the impact of your words.
- Pay attention to moments that seem small but aren’t.
Judaism isn’t only about big spiritual moments or lofty ideals.
It’s about how we live with one another on regular days - when no one is watching, when nothing dramatic is happening, when it’s just us and the people around us.
Parshat Mishpatim reminds us that holiness lives in awareness… in noticing and in choosing care in the small moments that quietly shape our relationships and our work.
And sometimes, that kind of everyday attentiveness is the most sacred work of all.
