Community Torah Corner, Feb. 21, 2025

This week’s parsha is Parshat Mishpatim. In this parsha, God gives the Israelites a series of laws they must follow. In total, God provided the Israelites with 53 mitzvot, 23 imperative commandments and 30 prohibitions, which consisted of different penalties for misdeeds, how to celebrate certain holidays, specific kashrut practices, and much more. After God recites these laws, Moshe goes over them with the community, ensuring they actively follow God’s words. 

Later, God tells Moses to come to Mount Sinai so he can wait to receive the Ten Commandments. While he was gone, Moses chose Aaron and Hur to lead the Israelites, saying, “Wait here for us until we return to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you; let anyone with a legal matter approach them.”

This reminds us of the system at GOA. We have Rabbi Nevins and Mr. Huseman - representing God - giving us all of the rules and regulations. Then, we have the faculty - Moshe - who implements those rules and holds us accountable. And then, we have our student council and other student leaders in the school. Just like Aaron and Hur, the student council’s job is to help any student with a problem they have and be strong advocates for the collective need. 

We learn from this portion that it is important to have all different kinds of leaders. 

God, Moshe, Aaron, and Hur are all leaders of the Israelites, but they make individual impacts and are involved in different things.

Mr. Huseman is a different kind of leader than Mr. Langer, who is a different kind of leader than the student council. However, each leadership position is equally important in how they help the school succeed. 

And it's not just the student council; every person here has the potential to be a leader. It doesn't have to be standing up and giving a speech. It can be simply sitting quietly and listening while someone is speaking, helping someone when they have a bad day, or reading their hand in class when no one else is. The act of inspiring, respecting, and uplifting others is leadership. 

It is also important to mention that after hearing God recite the rules and regulations, the Israelites say:

"כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֛ים אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה נַעֲשֶֽׂה”

“All the things that יהוה has commanded we will do!”

We have already learned from this parsha how important it is to have people protecting and caring for a community. The Israelite's response, however, reminds us that a good leader is only as good as the people he leads. 

We know that it is all of our duties to be strong leaders in the school no matter how we display said leadership. Along with that, we also need to be mindful of our role as members of the greater community.