Parshas Mishpatim immediately follows the account of the giving of the Torah at Sinai, and begins with the laws regarding a thief who was sold into slavery in order to repay the money he stole.
With the law of the thief, the Torah sets the tone for the reality Bnei Yisrael faced after Sinai.
The bedrock of Torah observance is kabbolas ol—submitting ourselves to G-d’s kingship and authority. Once we choose to be His subjects, we serve Him by obeying His commands. At Sinai, however, Bnei Yisrael were shown that “G-d, He is the L-rd: there is none else beside Him,” and as a result, a foundation of free-willed acceptance of G-d’s sovereignty could not be cemented. Under the influence of that awesome G-dly revelation, devotion to G-d was only natural. Genuine, willing submission to His authority became possible only after the revelation was over, when G-d’s presence was no longer apparent.
But with the freedom to submit to G-d’s authority came the freedom to ignore or reject it. The portion immediately following the giving of the Torah therefore begins by warning us about the fate of a thief. The Talmud teaches that a thief, who steals covertly, is worse than a robber, who steals openly. The robber is ashamed of neither man nor G-d. The thief, on the other hand, recognizes his wrongdoing and fears being caught. Nevertheless, he disregards the watchful eye of G-d, whose will he is knowingly transgressing. The thief thus epitomizes the inherent “risk” of the post-Sinai freedom of choice: a person can recognize G-d’s existence, yet freely choose not to submit to His authority.
By warning us about the consequences of thievery immediately after the revelation at Sinai, the Torah seeks to make us aware of the post-Sinai reality: the truth is out in the open, but you don’t automatically feel compelled to live by it. The downside of this freedom? You can end up as disturbingly low as a thief. The upside? You can truly and internally accept G-d’s kingship over you, and commit yourself to His service by your own volition and desire.
—Toras Menachem, vol. 39, pp. 109–112
