18 Mishpatim: Day 2 (Monday)
Today's reading is Exodus 21:20 to 22:3.
This is the link to Daily Chumash with Rashi at Chabad.
This is the link to Daily Wisdom with the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
On 9 February 2026 at 7:43 AM EST, Jonathan focused on the first verse of today's reading, Exodus 21:20, as translated and explained by Bible Hub and further expanded upon by D.T. Lancaster at p. 670 in Depths of the Torah from First Fruits of Zion.
Jonathan writes:
Shalom Rabbi Elliot Klayman! Shalom Rabbi Michael Hillel! Thank you and MJTI for helping me get this far in my Torah studies. I don't expect to be able to publish an entry on every day's portion, but I can do my reasonable best moving forward.
Regarding Exodus 21:20, "If a man strikes his male or female slave with rod and the slave dies at the man's hand, the man shall be punished."
I don't know if you have ever seen these particular features of a Bible Hub page before, but if you look under this verse at the sections titled "Teaching Points," "Bible Study Questions and Answers," and "What Does Exodus 21:20 Mean," I think you will see that they are really quite good.
Here is the summary statement from the third section noted above, by way of example:
"Exodus 21:20 insists that masters are not above the law. Striking a servant so severely that death follows is treated as murder, carrying the same penalty God assigned from the beginning. The verse elevates the dignity of the lowliest worker, affirms the sanctity of human life, and models a society where justice reaches every level without partiality."
Good as it is, two things are missing from this Bible Hub page. We don't have a reference to the 613 mitzvot, and we don't have a Messianic Jewish discussion.
According to Lancaster, this verse is the source of Positive Mitzvah 226, and it requires the Sanhedrin presiding over the land of Israel - when in control of civil authority - to decapitate a slave-owner for intentionally killing a slave.
In 613 Mitzvot, Eisenberg addresses Positive Mitzvot 226-230 under the heading of "Capital Punishment," noting that rabbis are generally opposed to the practice, and that only one man, Adolf Eichmann, has ever been killed by capital punishment in the modern state of Israel.
Should MJTI or a sister organization think about creating a wiki of some kind where Messianic Jewish rabbis and their students can help maintain and grow an organized historical record of their commentary on the daily Torah portions and the 613 mitzvot? This "Torah with Jonathan" blogspot account is just a steppingstone. I'd like to earn the right to comment on a proper community wiki someday. Maybe it could eventually fold into a Kesher subscription.
There will be many expert rabbinic opinions on just what this mitzvah (P226) means for contemporary Torah students. Should we extrapolate that today's Torah students should endorse capital punishment laws that avenge and deter capital crimes, including capital crimes committed by the more powerful against the less powerful, or should we extrapolate that Messiah Yeshua forbids his Jewish and Gentile disciples from politically supporting this practice, because now a greater law than that of Moses applies, and this greater law is the mercy of the forgiving Christ?
Perhaps I should say "Black" Christ in this context because I am intrigued by Cone's black liberation theology and want to highlight that we are now in Black History month here in America.
The question of capital punishment in the case of Exodus 21:20 is further complicated by a striking contemporary factor. According to President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and his supporters at the International Court of Justice, Prime Minister Netanyahu is responsible for genocide against modern-day Palestinian "slaves" trapped under Israeli apartheid in Gaza. However, it must be said that South Africa's case has not yet been proven and may ultimately fail. If it does end up as a genocide trial at the International Criminal Court, perhaps after President Trump's second term, the Rome Statute does not authorize the death penalty. Neither does the Roman Catholic Church.
I've included the Unpacked video Did Jews Run the Slave Trade? at the top of this entry to help debunk an antisemitic libel that some may read into this Torah portion. Below is a good additional reference video: Everything Candace got Wrong about the Talmud, Jews and Slave Trade | Rabbi Rowe Reacts:
Comments
Post a Comment