I TORAH PORTION I

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Torah Tried To Humanize
The 'Peculiar Institution'

RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ

Special to The Jewish News

A

braham Lincoln's
memory is recalled
today, his birthday.
Most people recall him free-
ing the slaves. His famous
Emancipation Proclamation
is passionately recalled by
both blacks and whites. It was
a highly controversial state-
ment, both when it was
issued and in later times. Lin-
coln's cabinet was opposed to
it, but Lincoln thought it was
the right tactic for winning
the Civil War.
By a striking coincidence,
our Torah portion this week,

Shabbat Shekelim
Parashat
Mishpatim:
Exodus 21:1-24:18;
30:11-16,
II Kings 11:17-12:17,
I Samuel 20:18-42

"Mishpatim," has a lot to say
about slavery.
Slavery had existed for
thousands of years, long
before Lincoln, long before
the rIbrah was written. What
the Torah did was to
humanize the institution of
slavery, making the slave a
member of the family rather
than an indentured slave,
such as existed in the U.S. in
Lincoln's day.
Our Torah portion describes
the length of servitude of
Hebrew slaves: "When you
acquire a Hebrew slave, he
shall serve six years; in the
seventh year, he shall go free
without payment." Deuteron-
omy 15: 13-14, says further,
"And when you set him free,
do not let him go empty hand-
ed. Furnish him out of the
flock, threshing floor and vat
with which the Lord your God
has blessed you."
Hebrew slaves were one
thing, alien slaves were
another. Alien slaves served
in perpetuity. "An in-
heritance for your children
after you do hold for a posses-
sion of them, ye may make
them a bondsman forever"
(Leviticus 25:46).
The Torah reminds us that
as members of the master's
household, slaves may enjoy
certain benefits, even the par-
taking of Passover. Although
slaves are the master's pro-
perty, in Leviticus 22:11, they

Dr. Hertz is rabbi emeritus of
Temple Beth EL

may acquire and hold proper-
ty of their own. A slave might
even become prosperous
enough to redeem himself.
From a report in Jeremiah
34:8-16, it would appear that
laws relating to the release of
Hebrew slaves afer six years
of service were not always car-
ried out. King Zedekiah said
that every man should let his
slaves go free at the end of
seven years, but hardly had
people released their slaves,
then they brought them back
into subjection. King
Zedekiah denounced this
failure to fulfill the covenant.
Jewish law attempted to
alleviate the lot the slave. The
attitude is summarized by the
Rambam: "It is allowed to
work the slave hard but while
this is the law, ethics and
prudence suggest that a
master should be just and
merciful, not impose to heavy
a burden on his slave and not
press him too hard. He should
give him of all his own food
and drink. A slave may not be
maltreated or offended. The
law destined them for service,
not for humiliation."
Thus, Jewish tradition felt
a certain uneasiness about
the whole subject of slavery.
Obviously, it was a universal
institution in the ancient
world, but some consciences
were troubled by slavery.
Philo in Alexandria bluntly
asserted, "Servants are free
by nature, no man being
naturally a slave."

The Ten Commandments
give the slave the right to rest
on the Sabbath equally with
his master. The slave owner is
penalized for grossly
mistreating his slaves. There
is even some contradiction in
how the Hebrew was to be
treated. Leviticus 25 differs
somewhat from this week's
portion in Exodus 21. One
passage simply states the
Hebrew slave is to be set free
in the jubilee year if he has
not yet been redeemed or
found the means to buy his
own freedom. The law also re-
quires the slave be treated as
an employee, not as a chattel,
with full regard for his
dignity.
It is interesting to note that
as far back as the period of
the Second Temple, there was
an anti-slavery movement
among the Jews.
Thus we see that slavery as
permitted by the Torah was
quite different from the con-
dition of slavery and its cruel
system that was later practic-
ed in the times of Abraham
Lincoln.

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