What are the guidelines for interpreting Torah and Jewish law for modern times? Are we originalists or can we interpret Torah in accordance with our times? Does an individual have the right to interpret Torah or is that reserved for authorities or majorities?
Mishpatim (the laws) characterizes and labels this parsha but the verses are not mundane. We are given tantalizing looks at an ideal world and assuring guidance for a world in need of repair.
Ishmael, the wild-ass bowman, may have been far more decent than the rabbis described. He sets an example for us of how to behave with family at critical times.
Within Yoma we have the seeds of caring more for the neshama than the halakhah. The later Babylonian rabbis recognized that legal authority must in some cases be limited, its expansive and controlling nature contained, and the law limited to make room for a certain degree of individual
autonomy.