6. Mishpatim I WENT IN WITH AN ESCAPE PLAN. IT DIDN’T WORK. The Case For Going All -In What does the Torah say about keeping an eye on the long term vs focusing on the short term as long as it works out? כִי תִקנֶה עֶבֶד עִבְרי, Should you buy a Hebrew“ שֵש שָנִים יַעֲבדׄ, slave, he must work [for] six TEXT years, and in the seventh [year], ובַשְבִיעִית יֵצֵא he will be liberated without לַחָפְשִי חִנָם: ...... charge 1 וְאִם אָמר יאֹמַר But if the slave says, “I love my“ הָעֶבֶד, אָהַבְתִי אֶת master, my wife, and my אֲדנִֹי, אֶת אִשְתִי וְאֶת ”,children. I will not go free “His master will bring him בָנָי, לא אצֵאֵ חפָשְִי: before the judges and bring him וְהִגִישו אֲדנָֹיו אֶל ,to the door or to the doorpost הָאֱלהִים, וְהִגִישו אֶל and his master will bore his ear SHEMOT with an awl, and he will then הַדלֶת או אֶל ,EXODUS) 21:2) הַמְזוזָה, וְרצַע אֲדנָֹיו ”.serve him forever 6–5 אֶת אָזְנו בַמַרצֵעַ, וַעֲבָדו לְעלָם: After miraculously freeing the Jews, and dramatically giving the Torah, G-d teaches Moshe the Torah beginning with the laws of a Jewish slave. ובְנֵי יִשְראֵל עָשו And the Children of Israel“ כִדבַר מׄשֶה וַיִשְאֲלו fulfilled Moses’s instruction and borrowed from the Egyptians , מִמִצְריִם כְלֵי כֶסֶף , silver objects, golden objects TEXT וכְלֵי זָהָב ושְמָלת: .and garments 2 G-d gave the people favor in וַה' נָתַן אֶת חֵן the eyes of the Egyptians, and הָעָם בְעֵינֵי מִצְריִם, the [Egyptians] lent them, and the [Jews] emptied out Egypt. וַיַשְאִלום, וַיְנַצְלו אֶת מִצְריִם:
SHEMOT (EXODUS) 12:35–36 בשעה שיצאו ישראל When the Jewish people left“ ממצרים יצא פרעה לרדוף . .Egypt, Pharaoh pursued them . . [Pharaoh] adorned his army’s , אותם . . . עמד וקישט כל horses with diamonds and TEXT אותם הסוסים באבנים gems. When they reached the 3 Red Sea and drowned, all the טובות ומרגליות. כשבאו diamonds and gems rose to the לים וטבען הקדוש ברוך surface and washed up on הוא היו צפין על שפת shore, where they lay abandoned. For days, the Jews , הים כל אותן אבנים made their way to shore and טובות ומרגליות, והיו ”.collected the valuables מושלכים. והיו ישראל MIDRASH יורדין בכל יום ונוטלין ,TANCHUMA מהם. BESHALACH 16 אמר רב שמואל Rabbi Shmuel, the son of Rabbi“ אמר רב יצחק: Yitzchak, said, “Which commandment TEXT does the passage refer to when it "וידבר ה' אל reads, ‘And G-d spoke to Moses and משה ואל אהרן, Aaron and instructed them about the 4 ויצום אל בני ”?’Children of Israel ישראל". על מה It was about the mitzvah to liberate“ their slaves. ציוום? על שילוח עבדים.
JERUSALEM TALMUD TRACTATE ROSH HASHANAH, 17A וַיְהִי דבַר ה׳ אֶל The word of G-d came to“ יִרמְיָהו, מֵאֵת ה׳ ,Jeremiah, saying “So says the G-d of Israel: I לֵאמר TEXT made a covenant with your : כֹה אָמַר ה׳ אֱלקי fathers on the day that I 5 יִשְראֵל, אָנכִֹי כָרתִי brought them out of the בְרית אֶת אֲבותֵיכֶם, land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves, saying, בְיום הוצִאִי אותָם Every man, at the end of‘“ מֵאֶרץ מִצְריִם מִבֵית seven years, release your עֲבָדים, לֵאמר: Jewish brother who has מִקץ שֶבַע שָנִים, been sold to you; when he YIRMIYAHU has served you for six years, תְשַלְחו אִיש אֶת אָחִיו (JEREMIAH) give him his freedom.’” הָעִבְרי אֲשֶר יִמָכֵר לְָ 14–34:12 וַעֲבָדָ שֵש שָניִם, ושְִלחַתְו חפָשְִי מעֵמְִָ: Why was this chosen as the first law? Was it not A) Too sensitive post- Egypt, B) Irrelevant as they were wealthy, and C) already known? How is this relevant today and for all times? התחיל המשפט הראשון The Torah begins with the“ בעבד עברי, מפני שיש commandment concerning the Jewish slave because the slave’s liberation in the בשילוח העבד בשנה seventh year is reminiscent of our השביעית זכר ליציאת liberation from Egypt, mentioned in the מצרים, הנזכר בדיבור first of the Ten Commandments. . . . It is TEXT also reminiscent of Creation, as is the הראשון . . . ויש בה עוד Sabbath, since the slave’s seventh year is 6 זכר למעשה בראשית like a Sabbath of sorts—it is when he is freed from serving his master. The slave כשבת, כי השנה has an additional liberation date in the השביעית לעבד — שבתון Jubilee (the year that follows the seventh set of seven years) because the seventh ממלאכת אדוניו, כיום was selected by G-d to represent השביעי. ויש בה עוד freedom in terms of days, years, and the Jubilee. Thus, because of their distinction שביעי בשנים שהוא and because the laws of slavery parallel היובל, כי השביעי נבחר NACHMANIDES, important themes of Creation, they were EXODUS 21:2 בימים, בשנים וביובל, ”.chosen as the introductory mitzvah והכל לענין אחד . . . ולכן המצוה הזאת ראויה ואין לאדם There is nothing more“ difficult in the human יותר קשה experience than to be TEXT עליו, מהיותו bonded to a fellow 7 human; therefore, the ברשות אדם Torah begins with the כמוהו. על כן ”.laws of slavery החל משפט העבד.
RABBI ABRAHAM IBN EZRA, EXODUS 21:2 הקדוש ברוך הוא השמיע לעמו G-d gave his nation ten brief“ commandments, but since they were עשרת הדיברות מאמרים unable to hear the subsets of these קצרים, וכאשר ישראל לא רצו commandments . . . G-d had to instruct לשמוע מפי הגבורה התולדות . . . Moses to teach them these laws TEXT which are clear subsets of the Ten ותולדות התולדות מהדיבורים Commandments. He therefore opened ההם . . . הוצרך יתברך לצוות with the words “and these are the laws 8 את משה שישים לפניהם אלה that you should place before them.” And implies that these laws are [a המשפטים . . . כי הם באמת continuation of the Ten Commandments ציוויים נכללים because they are] included in those בעשרתהדיברות. ולזה אמר commandments. . . . A wise person knows that all these laws and more are ״ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים .contained in the commandments לפניהם״ בוא"ו העטוף, כלומר: However, G-d illustrated His point with RABBI DON ISAAC these laws and left the wise person to שים לפניהם הדברים שנכללו ABARBANEL, infer that the same applies to all the בדיברות אשר שמעו . . . כי הנה EXODUS 21:2 laws that the Torah would eventually החכם יודע כי כל המשפטים ”.elucidate האלו נכללו בדיברות ההם, Commandment Sub- Law Rationale
Murder Slavery Slavery is like a living death.
Injuring a Parent Inflicting an open wound on a parent is the equivalent of murder.
Cursing a Parent Committing murder with words.
Kidnapping Deprives the victim’s parents of life.
Killing a Slave Is an actual murder.
Your Ox Gores a Person Your possessions caused the ? murder of a fellow human. A) Slavery is linked to Creation and to the Exodus. B) Slavery is abhorrent to humans and had to be dealt with first. And, C) It is part of a broader theme to show the subsets of law in the commandments. Our questions remain; How could introducing slavery at this point be A) sensitive, B) necessary, and C) practical. And, how to relate to this mitzvah in the modern era. רבן יוחנן בן זכאי היה Rabban Jochanan ben Zakkai“ דורש את המקרא הזה would interpret this verse in a beautiful manner. Why was the כמין חומר: מה נשתנה ear singled out from all the TEXT אוזן מכל איברים שבגוף? limbs in the body? G-d said, on 9 Mount Sinai, “The ear heard אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא: me proclaim, ‘For the Children אוזן ששמעה קולי על הר of Israel are My slaves,’ not סיני בשעה שאמרתי כי slaves of slaves. Then this person went and acquired a " : לי בני ישראל master for himself? Let his ear עבדים" (ויקרא כה, נה), ”.be pierced ולא עבדים לעבדים, והלך זה וקנה אדון לעצמו — TALMUD TRACTATE יירצע. KIDUSHIN, 22B Is a blasé observance of Judaism acceptable? The mitzvah of slavery tells us that we can’t belong to anyone because we are already invested in G-d. בא אנדערע מצות געפינט מען ניט אז The Torah does not usually emphasize a link“ די תורה זאל מדגיש זיין די שייכות פון between the reward of a mitzvah and the דעם שכר מצוה צו דער מצוה. mitzvah. For example, the reward for honoring a parent is longevity, but there is no ובדוגמא: די מצוה פון כיבוד אב ואם, obvious link between longevity and honoring וואס איר שכר איז "למען יאריכון . a parent. The same is true of sins TEXT ימיך" (שמות כא, ה) . . . איז אין דעם We don’t see specific links between the sins“ מהות השכר ניט קענטיק די שייכות צו .and the punishments that they incur 10 דער מצוה דוקא. The laws of slavery are different. In this“ instance, the Torah links the punishment with ועל דרך זה ביי עונשים אויף עבירות, what caused it. The ear is pierced because it זעט מען ניט אין דעם עונש . . . א is the limb that heard G-d say on Mount Sinai באזונדערע שייכות צו די עבירות, וואס .that Jews can only be enslaved to G-d זיינען מחייב די עונשין. This helps us understand why the laws of“ slavery were the first to be taught after G-d ביי עבד עברי אבער פארבינדט די gave us the Torah on Mount Sinai. In [the תורה דעם עונש מיט זיין סיבה: ״ורצע THE REBBE, punishment for] this law, we see a clear and וגו׳ את אזנו״ קומט דערפאר וואס LIKUTEI SICHOT obvious link [one that is manifested in the ״אוזן ששמעה על הר סיני כו'״ ... P. 256 physical body] between the law and Mount ,16 דערמיט איז מבואר וואס "כי תקנה ”.Sinai עבד עברי" (שמות כא, א) איז דער ערשטער פון די משפטים וואס די תורה We are a part of Judaism. It is a part of us. If we break away from G-d to take on a new master, it has an immediate impact. The ear that heard that we belong to G- d is pierced. A) You can never be a slave while invested in G-d, was sensitive. B) This is a necessary new law rooted in our commitment to G-d. And, C) We practically belong to G-d therefore we must give ourselves over to the Torah, and let it become a part of us. When it comes to Judaism, the Torah demands that we buy in completely. Sometimes, you just have to take the plunge with no parachute. And it is at those times that you will find the ultimate success.