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"and your wives will be widows, and your children, orphans": From "and I shall kill you by the sword," do I not know that your wives will be widows, and your children, orphans? Why...
(Exodus 22:24) begins: "Im you lend money to My people." The word "im" typically means "if" — suggesting optionality. But Rabbi Yishmael taught that this is one of the rare cases w...
The Torah states in (Exodus 20:22): "And when you make an altar of stones unto Me." The Mekhilta zeroes in on the Hebrew word "im" — which can mean either "when" or "if" — and asks...
The Torah says, "When you lend money to My people" (Exodus 22:24), using the Hebrew word "im," which normally means "if." This would seem to make lending optional, a generous act y...
"My people": If an Israelite and a gentile stand before you to borrow, "My people" take precedence. A poor man and a rich man—the poor man takes precedence. Your poor (i.e., the po...
The Torah's prohibition against charging interest is one of the most distinctive features of biblical economic law. The Mekhilta examines the verse "Do not impose interest upon him...
The Mekhilta catalogs the multiple transgressions committed by someone who lends money at interest. From the Torah's various prohibitions against usury, the rabbis identified five ...
The Torah uses a peculiar phrase in (Exodus 22:25): "Im chavol tachbol" — literally, "if you bundle, you shall bundle." The verse appears in the context of laws about taking a garm...
The Torah commands that when you take a garment as a pledge for a loan, you must return it to the borrower so they can sleep in it at night. But the Mekhilta noticed a problem: the...
(Exodus 22:26) "for it is his solitary covering": This is his cloak. "it is his garment for his skin"—this is his undergarment. "On what shall he lie?": to include his mat-skin. "a...
(Exodus 22:27) "Elokim you shall not curse": What is the intent of this? From (Leviticus 24:16) "One who utters blasphemously the name of the L–rd shall be put to death" we hear th...
"Elohim you shall not curse" — the Torah prohibits cursing judges. But the Mekhilta asks: why is this verse necessary? From (Exodus 22:27), "and a prince in your people you shall n...
From here they derived: One may speak one thing and be liable for four. (How so?) If the son of a prince curses his father, he is liable for "prince," "father," "judge," and "in yo...
(Exodus 22:28) "Your fullness and your dema (terumah) you shall not delay": "Your fullness"—bikkurim (first-fruits, which are taken from fully ripened grain). "you shall not delay"...
(Exodus 22:29) commands: "Thus shall you do with your ox" — referring to the first-born of animals. The Mekhilta draws a comparison between the first-born of animals and the first-...
(Deuteronomy 12:6) says: "And you shall bring there your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices and the first-born of your herds and flocks." This seems to require bringing the first-...
The Torah requires that the firstborn of both humans and animals be consecrated to God. A firstborn son must be redeemed through a payment to a Kohen (priest). A firstborn kosher a...
"Seven days shall it be with its mother" — the Torah requires a first-born animal to remain with its mother for seven days before it can be given to a Kohen (a priest). But the Mek...
R. Nathan says: The verse "under its mother" comes to be expounded, viz.: "under its mother"—after its mother has died. You say "under its mother"—after its mother, but perhaps it ...
The Mekhilta addresses a practical problem. First-born animals that are consecrated cannot be nursed by their consecrated mothers, because the mother's milk has sacred status. But ...
"On the eighth day shall you give it to Me" — the Torah specifies that a first-born animal becomes eligible for the altar on the eighth day after birth. But the Mekhilta asks: is i...
(Exodus 22:30) "And men of holiness shall you be to me": R. Yishmael says: When you are holy, you are Mine. Issi b. Yehudah says: When the Holy One Blessed be He originates a mitzv...
"And flesh in the field, treifah" — the Torah declares that an animal torn by a predator in the field is forbidden to eat. But the Mekhilta asks: does this apply only in the field,...
"to the dog shall you throw it": "to the dog"—as to the dog (i.e., anything like a dog.) You say this, but perhaps it is to be taken literally? It is, therefore, written (Ibid. 14:...
To teach that a dog is of higher station than a slave, a treifah being relegated to a dog, but only neveilah, to a slave, and to teach that the Holy One Blessed be He does not with...
"Do not place your hand with an evildoer" (Exodus 23:1). The Torah issues this warning in the context of bearing false witness, but the Mekhilta unpacks it with a vivid courtroom s...
"Do not place your hand with an evildoer": This was the practice of the "clean-minded men of Jerusalem." They would not go to a feast until they knew who was going with them, and t...
The Mekhilta explains how a capital case is decided by a court of twenty-three judges. If twelve judges vote to acquit and eleven to convict, the defendant is acquitted — the major...
The Mekhilta addresses one of the most dramatic scenarios in ancient Jewish jurisprudence: a capital case in which the court is perfectly deadlocked. Eleven judges vote to acquit. ...
(Exodus 23:3) commands: "Do not honor a poor man in his quarrel." The Mekhilta asks why this verse is needed when (Leviticus 19:15) already says: "You shall not favor a poor man an...
Abba Chanan said in the name of Rabbi Elazar: "Do not honor a poor man in his quarrel" actually refers to the agricultural gifts owed to the poor — leket (gleanings), shikchah (for...
(Exodus 23:4) commands: "If you encounter the ox of your foe, or his donkey, straying, return shall you return it to him." The Mekhilta asks: does "encounter" mean literal physical...
"The ox of your foe" — who is the "foe" the Torah refers to? The Mekhilta records multiple interpretations. In one reading, the idolators of the nations are called "foes" of Israel...
"return shall you return it to him": (Devarim 22:2) "If your brother is not near you" implies that until now Scripture has been speaking of one who is either near you or far from y...
"And it shall be with you" — the Mekhilta interprets this as meaning "in your domain." When you find a lost animal, it must be kept in your care, under your control, until its owne...
(Exodus 23:5) addresses the obligation to help an enemy's animal that is struggling under its burden: "If you see the donkey of your enemy lying under its burden." The Mekhilta par...
The Mekhilta presents a striking conflict between two obligations. A Kohen — a priest — encounters a lost or struggling animal in a cemetery. Jewish law prohibits a Kohen from ente...
"help shall you help with him": What is the intent of this? From (Devarim 22:4) "Lift up shall you lift up with him" I might think that only loading (is commanded). Whence do I der...
"Help shall you help with him" — the Torah commands assisting someone whose animal is struggling. But the Mekhilta distinguishes between two different types of assistance: unloadin...
(Exodus 23:6) commands: "You shall not incline the judgment of your needy one in his quarrel." The Mekhilta asks why this verse is necessary when (Exodus 23:3) already says: "You s...
The Mekhilta confronts one of the hardest questions in any legal system: what happens when you know the defendant is guilty — not of this particular charge, but in general? The ver...
(Exodus 23:7) says: "And a clean one and a righteous one you shall not kill." The Mekhilta applies this to a specific judicial scenario involving imprecise testimony. Suppose one w...
If they saw him pursuing another to kill him, the knife in his hand, and they said to him: Be it known to you that he is a son of the covenant, and the Torah writes "and a clean on...
Shimon ben Shetach once had a single scheming witness — a zomem, one proven to have conspired to give false testimony — executed. Yehudah ben Tabbai was horrified. He said to Shimo...
Yehudah ben Tabbai once entered a ruin and found a man in his death throes. A knife dripping with blood was in the hand of another man — clearly the murderer. Yehudah turned to the...
The Mekhilta offers a powerful interpretation of the verse "and a clean one and a righteous one you shall not kill," revealing it as a cornerstone of Jewish criminal justice — a pr...
The Mekhilta addresses a critical question in Jewish criminal law: what happens when new incriminating evidence emerges after a defendant has already been acquitted? The Torah stat...
A man stands trial in a human court. The evidence is examined. The witnesses are questioned. And by the strict standards of Torah law, the defendant walks free — acquitted, vindica...
