The laws contained in this week’s Sedrah, Mishpatim, are for the most part civil laws. Civil Laws are the laws regulating everyday life in a “civilized” society. Laws concerning business, property, and family issues are considered civil laws. In our society such laws are part of City, State and Federal Government regulations. In Judaism all these laws are found in the Torah.

The Torah contains laws pertaining to God and the Jewish People as well as law pertaining to human interaction. According to the Torah, how we treat our neighbors is a religious act. To be truly religious we must deal righteously with our friends and neighbors. We must be honest, charitable, treat workers fairly, observe the holidays, as well as pray to God. In fact the great Hillel said that loving our neighbor like ourselves, and doing to others as we would have others do to us, is the most important part of Jewish law.

In this week’s Torah portion Yitro the children of Israel receive the Aseret Dibrot, the 10 utterances or commonly known as the Ten Commandments. The scene is awe inspiring, the Israelites are standing at the bottom of Mt. Sinai, there is thunder and smoke and the voice of God is heard, delivering His message to His people. We recreate this scene in our minds as we hear the words of God as we receive the 10 Commandments once again, as the Torah is chanted during this week’s Torah portion. It is the custom to stand as the 10 Commandments are chanted.

Why do we stand while this Torah portion is chanted? I have two theories. The first is that the children of Israel stood together as they all heard what God wanted of them .They huddled close giving each other strength. They were together facing their challenges. The second theory is that this is the pivotal moment for the Israelites, the time that they became a people doing God’s work. To show respect for that moment and to illustrate their understanding of the monumental responsibility the Jewish People have to bring Torah to the world we rise together. We will chant Yitro this Shabbat, come and be inspired by the words of our tradition.