Many years ago, a father brought his son before his bar-mitzvah to meet a certain Hassidic Rebbe. The Rebbe, to the boy’s astonishment, turned to him and asked if he was a sports fan. “Sure,” the boy replied. “I follow baseball.” “What team do you root for?” the Rebbe asked. “The Brooklyn Dodgers.” The Rebbe then asked the boy if he ever attended a Dodgers game. “Of course,” the boy said. “Actually, my father took me to a game just a few days ago.” The Rebbe asked what happened in the game. “It was a terrible game,” the boy said. “By the seventh inning, the Dodgers were losing 10-0, so we just left. There was no reason to stay.” “I see,” the Rebbe said. “But what about the Dodgers players? Did they also leave?” The boy giggled. “Of course not. They need to stay and play the whole game. I’m just a fan, so I can leave whenever I want.” The Rebbe smiled. “You’re becoming a bar-mitzvah, which is very exciting,” the Rebbe explained. “Once you become a bar-mitzvah, you’re a member of the team. And you know what that means? It means that you can’t leave during a ‘bad game.’ “Every baseball player knows that not every game is going to be good. It’s not always going to go well. But he has to show up and play his hardest even when his team is losing 10-0 in the seventh inning. And the same is true about being a member of Am Yisrael ’s ‘team.’ We have to stick with it even it’s hard. We can’t just leave and give up when things get difficult or complicated.” Parashat Mishpatim continues the description of the events of Matan Torah , which began in last week’s parashah , Parashat Yitro. Surprisingly, the Torah interrupts the story of Matan Torah with a series of detailed and intricate laws, dealing mainly with situations of civil disputes. We find in this parashah laws regarding theft, damages, accidental murder, fights that break out between people, people who physically assault their parents, items that one borrowed or was asked to watch and which were lost, and helping one’s enemy who is struggling with his cargo. Why does this series of laws interrupt the exciting, dramatic narrative of Matan Torah ? The Rabbis teach that as Beneh Yisrael stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, they were in a state of perfection. They had been fully cleansed of all spiritual impurities. Even physically, they were cured of all illnesses, and healed of all injuries. They were also completely unified, with no fighting or tension between the people. Hashem wanted to teach them that the Torah they were now receiving is binding not only in a state of perfection, but also in a state of imperfection. The Torah governs our lives even when our lives get very complicated and very difficult. It guides us even in unfortunate situations of theft, even when people are in a fight, when property gets damaged, when children rise up against their parents, when things go terribly wrong. I don’t know anyone who isn’t fighting a battle of some kind. Some deal with a medical issue. Some struggle with a child or several children. Some have difficulties in their marriage. Some can’t pay their bills. Some are in a fight with family members, neighbors, business associates, or others. And some are dealing with several of these kinds of problems simultaneously. It is for this reason that the story of Matan Torah is interrupted by the mishpatim , the section of civil laws. The complications of life are an integral part of Torah life. The Torah was not given only for a perfect reality. It was given to empower us to overcome even very imperfect realities, to grow and achieve even when we struggle and face difficult challenges. We must “play” every “inning” and every “game,” even the “games” that aren’t going well. We must never break down or despair when we face challenges. We must firmly believe that Hashem has sent us these challenges for us to overcome, and that He has given us the strength to overcome them. We are privileged to “play” on the greatest “team” in the world, and this requires us to keep going even on bad days. Let us respond to all our struggles with faith and conviction, realizing that Hashem has given us what it takes to meet every challenge that He sends our way.