Mothers, Mercy and Mishpatim

The name of this week’s parsha is much more indicative of its contents than is true of most parshiot.  A parsha’s ‘name’ is usually one or two key words taken from the beginning of the parsha and it is not necessarily descriptive of all the main ideas or stories in it.

The week’s parsha, Mishpatim, or Laws, contains many laws that may be seen as a continuation of the ten Big Ones (ie Commandments) given in the previous parsha.  In contrast to that pomp and circumstance at Mount Sinai, the 53 laws of this section are listed in a perfunctory manner.  Most relate to laws of damages and property but some are also related to religious ritual.

Traditionally, God is referred to as having two main attributes, Midat haDin (Justice) and Midat haRachamim (Mercy).  It would be appropriate to associate this legalistic parsha with God’s sense of justice.  However, there are a few non-legal verses at the end of this parsha that are often overshadowed by its long list of laws.  These, in contrast, may be understood as exemplary of God’s mercy.  This is especially true when they are seen in light of a midrash.  

The midrash (Pirke DeRabbi Eliezer Chp. 48) tells the story of the Israelite slaves who were doing the hard work of mixing straw into mud in order to make bricks.  This was painfully done by treading the hard mixture with their feet.  The midrash names one of these slaves who was pregnant, Rachel the granddaughter of Shuthelach.  While she was treading she gave birth to the baby and it tragically got mixed in with the mud and was lost.  Her emotional cry as a result of this horror reached the heavens and the angel Michael was dispatched to retrieve the dead baby, now encased in a brick, and to bring it to God.  These details are expanded in a version of the story told in Targum Yonatan to Ex. 24:10. In this version, the angel is Gabriel and the brick encased baby is brought to God to serve as the footstool for the Throne of Glory.

This Throne of Glory, a biblical, anthropomorphic and yet mystical depiction of God, though not often discussed, is found in the end of parshat Mishpatim.  After the listing of all of the laws, there is a ceremony involving Moses and the other leaders that appears to be the ceremonial completion of the covenant at Sinai.  As part of it, it is written that “they saw the God of Israel—under whose feet was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity” (Ex. 24:10).  The midrash and targum described above associate the space under the ‘feet’ of God with this entombed baby. This tragic footstool came into being as the mourning mother cried out in despair.  The midrash also explains that it was this mother’s cry, and the reason for it, that convinced God that the time had come to finally redeem Israel from its Egyptian enslavement.  God’s mercy was evoked due to this mother’s cry.  This Divine attribute of mercy can now be seen as taking its place in the story of parshat Mishpatim; it begins with Justice but it ends with Mercy. 

The mother’s name in the midrash is Rachel.  Neither her name nor her story appear in the bible itself.  However, the midrash names her and her lineage (granddaughter of Shuthelach), thereby connecting her to the tribe of Ephraim.  The same Ephraim whose grandmother Rachel is known for her cry for her children,

A cry is heard in Ramah—

Wailing, bitter weeping—

Rachel weeping for her children… (Jer. 31:15)

Both of these Rachels felt pain through the suffering of their children.  Rachel the Matriarch’s cry is poetically utilized by the prophet Jeremiah to express the anguish of exile and Rachel the Slave’s cry describes the anguish of a bereaved mother.  Both are in need of mercy and the cries of both mothers are believed to evoke the actions of the Merciful One.

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Note: Some versions of this midrash identify this Rachel as the granddaughter of Metushelach, the biblical character famous for his longevity.  It does not seem possible that this name is correct, as he is believed to have died along with the generation of the Flood.  Since his name is more well known than Shuthelach’s, there is a chance that the two were confused at one point due to scribal error.  Additionally immediately before this story in Pirke DeRabbi Eliezer, there is an accounting of the midrashic story of Serach bat Asher who is purported to have never died.  It would not be surprising if a scribe recording the story of Serach bat Asher, was reminded of Metushelach, further compounding any confusion.

Note that even if the Rachel of the midrash was the descendant of Metushelalch, and therefore not uniquely descended from Rachel the Matriarch, my conclusions would still stand as both women shared a name and are known to cry out to God for their children, regardless of any blood relationship.