Whose Slave are You?
Mishpatim
Parshas Mishpatim begins with the laws of the Eved Ivri, the Jewish slave. The Eved Ivri is to work for 6 years and goes free in the 7th year. If the Eved loves his master and does not wish to go free in the 7th year, his master must take him to a door or doorpost and bore a hole into his ear.
Why is the Eved punished for choosing to remain with his master? And why is the punishment connected specifically to the ear?
Rashi explains; At Har Sinai Hashem declared that the Jewish people are My slaves. When the Eved chooses to remain a slave in the custody of his master, we pierce the ear that heard Hashem’s declaration, and nonetheless went and acquired a master for himself other than Hashem.
If this is the reason we pierce the slave’s ear, we should do so at the start of the 6 years when he first sells himself and acquires another master. Why do we only do it at the end of the 6 years and only when he chooses to remain with his master?
A person may only sell themselves as a slave in desperate circumstances, when they are poor and have no way to repay their debts.
Whilst taking another master even in these circumstances is still wrong, his actions, driven by desperation are nonetheless understandable. Our sages teach that poverty can cause a person to act in a way that is against the will of Hashem, even doing things that they would never otherwise do.
Such a slave does not treat his sale lightly. He values and appreciates the fact that he is Hashem’s slave alone and does not really want to acquire a master for himself other than Hashem. He just feels that he has no other choice.
With this perspective, as soon as the 6 years are over and they are able to go free, they will jump at the opportunity to be free and once again be exclusively a servant of Hashem - fulltime.
By choosing to remain a slave even when they have the opportunity to go free (and no longer having financial pressures), the slave demonstrates that they have a different attitude altogether.
Voluntarily choosing to remain in the service of an earthly master shows that they do not truly value being a slave to Hashem alone and are not bothered to have another master. Post-facto we see that even their initial sale was tainted by this perspective.
This is why the ear pierced only at this point in time and only when they choose to remain in servitude.
Whilst the laws of slaves are no longer practically observed, they teach us a lessons in our personal Avodas Hashem.
As servants of Hashem, our primary occupation should be to serve Him through the study of Torah and the fulfilment of the Mitzvos.
But we can’t do this fulltime. Even according to Torah, we need to work to earn a livelihood. But it should not be in a manner that it detracts from our servitude to Hashem. Our pursuit of parnasa and involvement in worldliness, even when required, should not become a master - a Balabos - over us.
How do we know if we have the proper perspective? The test is on Shabbos.
The 6 days of the week when we are pursuing our parnasa, parallel the 6 years of the slave’s service.
When Shabbos comes, like the slave in the 7th year, we have the opportunity to ‘go free’ and be liberated from our ‘service’ of the week. On Shabbos when we no longer have the responsibility of parnasa, we can devote ourselves as servants of Hashem alone; forgetting about our businesses and immersing ourselves in Torah, Tefillah and Avodah.
But if a person is enslaved to worldly matters, even when the Shabbos brings the opportunity to be free, they will choose to remain enslaved; thinking about their businesses and materialism instead of devoting the day to Torah and Avodah. They are effectively saying “I love my master and will not go free’ even when they have the opportunity to.
The true servant of Hashem knows that even though we need to work for a living, this is not because we are subservient to it. Hashem is the one who provides our parnasa and our work is merely making the Keili. As soon as Shabbos comes, they relish the opportunity to liberate themselves and devote themselves to completely to serving their real Master.
Why is the Eved punished for choosing to remain with his master? And why is the punishment connected specifically to the ear?
Rashi explains; At Har Sinai Hashem declared that the Jewish people are My slaves. When the Eved chooses to remain a slave in the custody of his master, we pierce the ear that heard Hashem’s declaration, and nonetheless went and acquired a master for himself other than Hashem.
If this is the reason we pierce the slave’s ear, we should do so at the start of the 6 years when he first sells himself and acquires another master. Why do we only do it at the end of the 6 years and only when he chooses to remain with his master?
A person may only sell themselves as a slave in desperate circumstances, when they are poor and have no way to repay their debts.
Whilst taking another master even in these circumstances is still wrong, his actions, driven by desperation are nonetheless understandable. Our sages teach that poverty can cause a person to act in a way that is against the will of Hashem, even doing things that they would never otherwise do.
Such a slave does not treat his sale lightly. He values and appreciates the fact that he is Hashem’s slave alone and does not really want to acquire a master for himself other than Hashem. He just feels that he has no other choice.
With this perspective, as soon as the 6 years are over and they are able to go free, they will jump at the opportunity to be free and once again be exclusively a servant of Hashem - fulltime.
By choosing to remain a slave even when they have the opportunity to go free (and no longer having financial pressures), the slave demonstrates that they have a different attitude altogether.
Voluntarily choosing to remain in the service of an earthly master shows that they do not truly value being a slave to Hashem alone and are not bothered to have another master. Post-facto we see that even their initial sale was tainted by this perspective.
This is why the ear pierced only at this point in time and only when they choose to remain in servitude.
Whilst the laws of slaves are no longer practically observed, they teach us a lessons in our personal Avodas Hashem.
As servants of Hashem, our primary occupation should be to serve Him through the study of Torah and the fulfilment of the Mitzvos.
But we can’t do this fulltime. Even according to Torah, we need to work to earn a livelihood. But it should not be in a manner that it detracts from our servitude to Hashem. Our pursuit of parnasa and involvement in worldliness, even when required, should not become a master - a Balabos - over us.
How do we know if we have the proper perspective? The test is on Shabbos.
The 6 days of the week when we are pursuing our parnasa, parallel the 6 years of the slave’s service.
When Shabbos comes, like the slave in the 7th year, we have the opportunity to ‘go free’ and be liberated from our ‘service’ of the week. On Shabbos when we no longer have the responsibility of parnasa, we can devote ourselves as servants of Hashem alone; forgetting about our businesses and immersing ourselves in Torah, Tefillah and Avodah.
But if a person is enslaved to worldly matters, even when the Shabbos brings the opportunity to be free, they will choose to remain enslaved; thinking about their businesses and materialism instead of devoting the day to Torah and Avodah. They are effectively saying “I love my master and will not go free’ even when they have the opportunity to.
The true servant of Hashem knows that even though we need to work for a living, this is not because we are subservient to it. Hashem is the one who provides our parnasa and our work is merely making the Keili. As soon as Shabbos comes, they relish the opportunity to liberate themselves and devote themselves to completely to serving their real Master.