February 18, 2012 | 25 Shevat 5772 | Exodus 21:1-24:18; 30:11-16

We only need to turn on the news for a minute to learn about some country going through major turmoil - Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, to name a few. With each situation, there is so often a dictator, one who rules over people without rule of law but rather through their own discretion. These leaders are learning a hard lesson about the power of the people. It goes without saying that they are receiving a bitter pill to swallow. Usually, we use this expression, “a bitter pill to swallow,” to describe a situation whose resolution is going to be difficult but necessary. In the cases of these dictatorial regimes, the pill will hopefully bring a cure for the people but proves terminal for the leadership. This is where we find so many countries today – taking their medication and experiencing the side affects needed to heal after years of tyrannical rule and lawlessness.

The Torah offers an allusion to such medication when it comes to the rule of law and a government made up of rules and regulations. Our parsha begins with the command:

And these are the statutes that you will place (TSim) before you. (Exodus 21:1)

Followed by a litany of rules and regulations to govern the people, these words introduce the first comprehensive legal code for the people Israel, a code which will be added to and expanded throughout the rest of the Books of the Torah.

Rabbeinu Bayhia, the 13th century commentator from Spain focuses on the word, T’Sim – you will place – asking the question, is this placement literal or metaphoric.  Rabbeinu Bayhia understands this word literally explaining that the word T’Sim can actually be understood as Saum – a pill that is swallowed (i.e. medication).  For Rabbenu Bayhia, the laws and regulations passed down throughout the Torah are not simply guiding legislation but have the power to heal and cure a society of its ills, if adhered to.

For us living in the United States, we are fortunate to have a system of government which is beholden to the rule of law. Nobody is above it and all are sworn to uphold it. Failure to do so could land a person in prison which is frankly, a bitter pill to swallow.

Shabbat Shalom.