Deciding on a snow day is hard. I’ve made enough of these difficult calls for Shir Shalom, to sympathize with our local school superintendents every time the weather in January and February gets a little murky. How much ice, how much snow, how cold, how many days have already been lost, are all just pieces of an elaborate mathematical puzzle that often has no clear answers. For me, safety is paramount, if congregants are in any way in danger, I would vote to cancel in a heartbeat. But there are other consequences to take into consideration especially in large school districts where not being in session may mean kids not getting fed that day.
Very few things are black and white. Even things that on the surface appear at first to be. Take the long list of laws listed in this week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim. These laws, according to Rashi in his commentary about the first verse, “should be set before them like a table fully laid before a person with everything ready for eating.” Written in plain language, the Torah appears to outline exactly how all parts of society should be treated and what the punishment should be if the rules are broken. Examples include what should be done if an enslaved person wants to be emancipated, if a pregnant woman is struck in a fight, or if an ox gores a person. Seemingly, at first glance, easy to digest, easy to understand, as Rashi writes “ready for eating.”
But as anyone who has ever read the Talmud understands, these laws are only the start of a conversation. The rabbis knew there are endless possibilities about every scenario the Torah is describing. Just like deciding on a snow day, very few of our decisions are truly black and white, even when we want them to be.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex