Thursday, February 08, 2018

MISHPATIM

"If a someone borrows something from another person and it is injured or dies while he's not there with it, he must make complete restitution." - Shmot 22:14
The one exception to the halacha stated in this pasuk, that a borrower is completely responsible for damage done to the thing he borrowed is "בּעלו עמו," if the owner is there with him. Rav Simcha Bunim of Peshischa explains how this applies to us and to our souls. Our souls are given to us on loan and we are responsible for any injury our souls suffer. But if we fulfill שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד - striving to keep 'ה close to us then we are not fully responsible, because it's a situation of בּעלו עמו - the owner was present while we had what we borrowed.
The meaning of אחת שׁאלתי may be (not one thing I ask, but) "one thing I borrowed from 'ה." And how can I make it that 'ה will not judge me harshly for the mistakes I've made with my soul, the one thing I've borrowed? I can achieve this through fulfilling שׁבתי בּבית ה׳, cleaving to ה׳ all my life. If the owner is there with the borrower then it's clear that he shares ownership and responsibility for the borrowed object. If I keep G-d close, strive always for connection to Him, then as I live (and when I pass forward from this world) G-d will mitigate and share the responsibility for the soul that He lent to me.
- Via Rabbi Shmuel Silber

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