Cursing and Criticism

 Mishpatim

Ex. 21:1 - 24:18

Précis: Having received the Ten Commandments (in the previous parasha), Moses now reveals ordinances (mishpatim) needed to implement a comprehensive system of laws. The first group of commandments (mitzvot) relate to the rights of servants (slaves), followed by rules about murder, crimes against parents, personal injury law, offenses against property, and bailment. A list of moral offenses follows, including seduction, witchcraft, sexual perversion, polytheism, and oppression of the “widow, the orphan, and the stranger among you.” The parasha also includes the command to observe a sabbatical year, the Shabbat, and then lists the requirements for the observance of the pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot). The command not to boil a kid in its mothers’ milk (a key proof text for the laws of kashrut) is mentioned, and at the conclusion of the parasha, we find a ceremony where the People, represented by Moses and 70 elders, have an encounter with the Divine Presence and accept the laws and the Covenant.

 

Ex. 22:2 “You shall not revile God, nor curse a leader among your people.” 

            Rabbi Neal J. Loevinger, writing in MyJewishLearning.com (2/2/16), notes that Chapter 22 contains a wide mix of laws, including civil liability to sexual prohibitions to dietary laws. He believes that in this context, this particular law is related to the other laws “in that everybody accepts some restrictions on their freedom in order that society may function.”

            Of course, the commandment not to curse a leader is conditional, and the Bible is replete with examples of leaders who are criticized, including Moses himself. We also have the famous incident of Natan’s critique to King David about Bathsheba.

            Why then do we have a commandment which goes often unfulfilled or violated? There is an important difference between cursing and criticism. If only the American People could understand this difference, then perhaps we might once again enter into an age when the idea of compromise is not viewed as a violation of patriotism. Cursing, Maimonides tells us, is a form of anger. Criticism is an attempt to find a better way of doing things.

            As Loevinger points out, Torah demands holding leaders accountable: none are above the law. To merely curse them without involvement serves no one and helps no one.