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The Torah draws a sharp legal distinction between someone who watches your property and someone who borrows it. In (Exodus 22:13), the verse states: "And if a man borrow from his n...
"And it be broken or die" — the Torah lists two outcomes for a borrowed animal: it breaks (is injured by another animal) or it dies (of natural causes). But the Mekhilta asks: what...
The Mekhilta raises one of the most characteristic questions in all of rabbinic literature: if a law can be logically deduced from another law, why does the Torah bother stating it...
The Mekhilta examines a specific scenario in the laws governing borrowed property. If an animal passes from the domain of a lender to that of a borrower, even for a single moment, ...
"If it were hired, it came by its hire" — the Torah introduces a fourth category of guardian: the hirer. Someone who rents an animal occupies a middle ground between the unpaid gua...
Would you say that? There is a crucial difference (between a paid and an unpaid watcher), viz.: Since a paid watcher both derives benefit and gives benefit, and a hirer derives ben...
(Exodus 22:15) introduces the law of seduction: "And if a man entice a virgin." The Mekhilta explains why this verse is needed when the law of the rapist is already stated in (Deut...
The Mekhilta draws a careful legal distinction between two cases that the Torah addresses separately: the ravished girl and the enticed girl. The difference between these two situa...
"Who is not betrothed" — the Torah specifies that the seduction law applies to a virgin who has not been betrothed. The Mekhilta records a disagreement about the scope of this excl...
If Rabbi Akiva is correct that even previously-betrothed women are covered by the seduction law, then why does the Torah bother specifying "who is not betrothed"? The phrase seems ...
"Mahor yimharenah — he shall pay her bride-price to himself as a wife" — the Mekhilta investigates the timing of the seducer's payment. In the rapist case (Deuteronomy 22:29), paym...
"Mahor yimharenah — to himself as a wife" — the Mekhilta asks whether the seducer can take the woman as his wife even if her father objects. Perhaps the Torah's language implies an...
The Torah explicitly states the father's rights regarding the seduced daughter. But what about a daughter who was raped rather than seduced? Does the father have the same power to ...
The Mekhilta strengthens the father's authority over a rapist's marriage through an a fortiori argument. With a seduced woman — where the seducer did not violate the father's will,...
The Torah addresses the case of a father who refuses to allow his daughter's betrothal. The verse uses the phrase "if her father refuse, refuse," repeating the word in a way that i...
Rabbi Yossi Haglili confronted a problem in the Torah's legislation about seduction. The verse states that when a man seduces an unmarried woman, "money shall he pay" (Exodus 22:16...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael examines the phrase "according to the mohar of the virgins" and applies a distinctive rabbinic technique to determine the monetary amount it refers to...
Beloved are the strangers — the converts to Judaism. The Mekhilta emphasizes how many times the Torah exhorts Israel to treat them well. "And a stranger you shall not afflict" (Exo...
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai posed a question that cuts to the heart of the relationship between God and the stranger. He placed two verses side by side and let the contrast speak for i...
(Exodus 22:21) commands: "Every widow and orphan you shall not afflict." The Mekhilta immediately pushes beyond the literal categories. This verse mentions only widows and orphans....
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...
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 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...
"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 22:29) 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-...
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...
"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...
"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:...
"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...
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 23:4) 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...
"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...
"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...
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...
—in Torah. You say, the wise in Torah, but perhaps (the meaning is) "the wise," literally; it is, therefore, written "blinds pikchim"—the bright of mind, who rule clean or unclean ...
"and you shall gather in its produce (11) and the seventh year, etc.": to include (as forbidden) the fruits of the sixth year which enter the seventh year. This tells me only of th...
"And what they leave shall be eaten by the animals of the field" — the Torah establishes that shemitah produce left uneaten by humans may be consumed by wild animals. But the Mekhi...
The Torah commands that animals must rest on the Sabbath, just as humans do. But the Mekhilta raises a sharp question about what "rest" actually means for an animal. The answer rev...
"And there be refreshed the son of your maid-servant" — this verse about Sabbath rest mentions a "maid-servant's son." The Mekhilta identifies this as an uncircumcised Canaanite se...
