Our parshah opens with a listing of moral and civil laws, such as the penalties for murder and kidnapping, the compensation for physical assault and damage to personal property.

It's really odd that the awesome revelation on Mt. Sinai should be followed by laws and judgments that anyone could have come up with?

I mean, we’d expect that G-d would take advantage of this special moment to try to introduce super-rational dictates that only the Divine can comprehend and we mortals follow on faith alone. Why begin with the obvious laws that any nation with common sense would follow?

Tune in to this week's Parshah Cast and learn the secret power of the mitzvah!