One of the oldest known code of laws is the Code of Ur-Nammu. Composed in Sumeria in the time of Abraham and Sarah, sometime in the early 2000s BCE, over four thousand years ago, this precious artifact of the ancient world serves as a basis for all other codes that came after it. Surprisingly the 57 laws archaeologists have been able to decipher, are much more humane than you would expect. Unlike Hammurabi’s Code there is no Lex Talionis, or an “eye for an eye”, in this version of law. All injuries or abuses are dealt with by fines. So, what changed in the several hundred years between the two codices?
The answer is the world expanded from a localized society to a globalized one. When the people around you are family or friends, the trust level is very high. When your world includes distant strangers, as ancient Babylonia did, distrust grows exponentially.
The laws we find in this week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim, from the book of Exodus, attempt to bridge that gap. While fines exist, capital punishment does as well. The Hebrew slaves who escaped Egypt were both members of the same tribe and a mixed multitude. Here, as they begin their journey, they are still trying to find familiarity with one another.
In a way, all of us living in the 21st Century are trying to bridge this same gap. There was a time in the not too distant past where everything was localized. News from beyond our borders was scant, as were the products and people who lived there. The clash of cultures and ideologies can be confusing and can easily lead to cruelty. Hopefully, like our Biblical ancestors before us, we will find a balance between loving the stranger and protecting ourselves from the outside world. As our Torah continues to teach us, we are perpetually on a journey, rarely reaching the Promised Land, no matter how tantalizingly close it can often appear.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex