A vort from the Rebbe on this week's parashah, Parashat Mishpatim. In Parashat Mishpatim, Rashi brings the klal of דיבר הכתוב בהווה four times. דיבר הכתוב בהווה means that the Torah talks about the present, which means about common cases. Sometimes, when the Torah gives us a situation and gives us a din, it doesn't mean davka the din only in that specific situation. Torah just gives an example of thing which is common. For instance, just to use one example, the Torah, Rashi brings this four times, but I'll just use one example. When the Torah says כי יגח שור, if a ox will gore and kill another animal, or cause damage, etc., etc., the din is the owner has to pay, etc., etc. So Rashi says that it doesn't mean only if an ox gores. Any other animal does it, it's the same din. But דיבר הכתוב בהווה, the Torah talks about the situation, mentions a situation which is common. And the expression is דיבר הכתוב בהווה. The pasuk talks about הווה, about the present, which means which is common. This is the simple peshat in this klal, in this rule of דיבר הכתוב בהווה.

But the Rebbe explains this also בדרך הרמז, in ruchniyut. And this is what it means: when things happen out of the ordinary, then it's easier to feel that this all comes from Hashem, because it's not normal, it's not regular, something different, something special, so we could get the feeling that this comes from Hashem. But when things go normal, regular things that happen in daily life, so then the way people think is that this is nature, this comes from mother nature, this is normal. Even though we know that if someone will contemplate and think about it, he will come to realize that this all comes from Hashem, but you got to think about it. But when you look at it simply, it doesn't look like it comes from Hashem specifically, not unlike things which are out of the ordinary. And that's what Rashi says, דיבר הכתוב בהווה, that even when it comes to הווה, to things which are common, which things which are normal, natural, also is because of what the pasuk, what the Torah says, also comes from the Torah. Which part of the Torah does it mean?

We learn in the Torah that בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם. The Gemara tells us this, that the world was created with ten statements. As we look in the Torah, in Chumash, we see the עשרה מאמרות by the בריאת העולם, by the creation of the world. So even the nature was also created with the עשרה מאמרות which the Torah talks about. And this is not something that happened 5,783 years ago. Every second Hashem repeats the creation. המחדש בטובו בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית. Every day, constantly, the Eibershter renews it. So anything that happens is from the עשרה מאמרות that the Torah talks about. And this is what Rashi says, דיבר הכתוב בהווה, that even the הווה, things which are normal, natural, present, things which are common, we also have to remember that it's דיבר הכתוב, it all comes because of what the Torah says, that the Eibershter created the world with עשרה מאמרות, so every second He recreates it, so whatever happens, even in a natural way, comes from the Eibershter. And this is written in Rashi. Rashi, we know, is written even for a small child who just starts learning Chumash, a בן חמש למקרא. Even to him, Rashi says, you should realize that everything is from Hashem, everything is hashgachah pratis. And it's not only the things which are out of the ordinary. And this is written in Parashat Mishpatim. In Parashat Mishpatim, we learn about natural things. In Parashat Mishpatim, we learn about these rules, these halachot that have to do between man and man, which is common things, things which are part of the nature of the world. And that's why in Parashat Mishpatim the Torah tells us that דיבר הכתוב בהווה, we have to remember that all the regular gashmiyusdige things, natural things, also are there only because the Eibershter makes it happen, as it says in the Torah that בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם, the Eibershter created the world and keeps on creating it, so anything that happens is all because the Eibershter makes it happen.