Early in my career, after years of teaching, I became a pulpit rabbi. I asked a variety of rabbis how they lead. One was broadly inspirational and philosophical. Another rabbi explained to me that education was the key. At the next lunch, I sat with a rabbi who began, “It is all about the budget. It doesn’t matter what they say they care about or even what they claim to know, just look at how they spend.”

We have just concluded the great revelation at Sinai. Israel is surrounded by the thunder and lightning, the majesty of God’s presence. Now suddenly, we are talking about how to treat donkeys and whether you can charge interest. It feels as though in the midst of an epochal, enthralling saga you’ve stopped to look at a shopping receipt. We went from philosophy to the budget. In the somewhat cynical but not entirely inaccurate words of poet Charles Peguy, “Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics.”

The Torah reminds us that every grand scheme must find reality in the details. How you treat one another, settle disputes, place boundaries and establish economic life should be impelled by and consistent with your spiritual principles. The Talmud explains that the Torah was given with both general laws and specific details (Hagiga 8b).

I often tell people the heart of the ADL is not in public pronouncements but the thousands of incidents they investigate each year and the painstaking tracking and statistical work we do. There is spirituality in prayer, but also in committee meetings. We are a society that treasures grand declarations and clever pronouncements. But life is not lived in generalities; all the Rabbis were correct – you need philosophy, spirituality, education – and a budget.

Mishpatim brings us back down to earth after the thrilling moment of revelation at the mountain. This is the part of the Torah where our great teacher, Moshe Rabbenu, says, in the manner of teachers throughout history: “Show me your work.”