P

arshat Behar is just a single chapter,
but it transformed the social struc-
ture of ancient Israel and provided
a unique solution to the seemingly unsolv-
able conflict between two fundamental ide-
als: freedom and equality. Much of human
history has illustrated the fact
that you can have freedom
without equality (capitalism/
laissez-faire economics) or
equality without freedom
(communism, socialism), but
not both.
The powerful insight of the
Torah is that you can have
both, but not at the same time. Therefore,
time itself has to become part of the solu-
tion, in the form of the seventh year and,
after seven sabbatical cycles, the Jubilee
year. These function as periodic correc-
tions to the inequalities caused by the free
market that allow some to become rich
while others suffer the loss of land, home
and even freedom. Through the periodic
liberation of slaves, release of debts and
restoration of ancestral lands, the Torah
provides an inspiring alternative to indi-
vidualism on the one hand, collectivism on
the other.

THE CORE IDEA
Behar sets out a revolutionary model for
a society of justice, freedom and human
dignity. At its core is the idea of the Jubilee
(the 50th year). One aspect of the Jubilee
is the release of slaves (Vayikra 25:39-42).
The Torah’s message there is clear. Slavery is
wrong. To be “in the image of God” means to
have the right to a life of freedom. The very
idea of the sovereignty of God means that He
alone has claim to the service
of humankind. Those who
are God’s servants may not be
slaves to anyone else.
This is a radical idea that
overturned the very founda-
tions of religion in ancient
times. The early civilizations
— Mesopotamia, Egypt —
were based on hierarchies of
power which seemed to be
seen in the very nature of the
cosmos. Just as there were (so it was believed)
ranks among the heavenly bodies, so there
were on Earth. The great religious rituals and
monuments were designed to mirror and
support these hierarchies.
At the heart of the Jewish story was an idea
almost unthinkable to the ancient mind: that

God acts in history to liberate slaves — that
the supreme Power is on the side of the pow-
erless. It is no accident that Israel was born
as a nation under conditions of slavery. It
has carried throughout history the memory
of those years — the bread of affliction and
the bitter herbs of servitude — because the
people of Israel serves as an eternal reminder
to itself and the world of the moral need for
all people to be free in society. The free God
desires the free worship of free human beings.
Yet the Torah does not abolish slavery. That
is the paradox at the heart of Behar. It was
limited and humanized. Every Shabbat, slaves
were granted rest and a taste of freedom.
In the seventh year, Israelite slaves were set
free, and if they chose to remain, then they
had to be released in the Jubilee year. While
they were slaves they had to be treated like
employees, with no back-breaking or spir-
it-crushing labor. Yet slavery itself was not
banned. Why not? If it was wrong, it should
have been outlawed.
Why did the Torah allow slavery to
exist? Rambam in The Guide for the Perplexed
explains the need for time in social transfor-
mation. All processes in nature, he argues,
are gradual. The fetus develops slowly in
the womb. Stage by stage, a child becomes
mature. And what applies to individuals
applies to nations and civilizations: “It is
impossible to go suddenly from one extreme
to the other. It is therefore, according to the
nature of man, impossible for him suddenly
to discontinue everything to which he has
been accustomed.
”
But surely God can do anything, including
changing human nature. Why then did He
not simply transform the Israelites, making
them capable immediately of the highest
values? Rambam gives a sim-
ple answer. In miracles, God
changes physical nature but
never human nature. Were He
to do so, the entire project of
the Torah — the free worship
of free human beings — would
have been pointless. There is
no greatness in programming
a million computers to obey
instructions. God’s greatness is
in taking the risk of creating a
being, humans, capable of choice
and responsibility and, therefore, of freely
obeying God.

The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the

chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the

Commonwealth, 1991-2013. This was written in 2018.

SPIRIT

A WORD OF TORAH

Rabbi Lord
Jonathan
Sacks

QUESTIONS TO
PONDER
1. Is slavery wrong?
2. Do you agree with
Rambam’s assessment of
human nature?
3. Does slavery still exist
today? Do you think
humanity has finally
learned the lesson?

Evolution or
Revolution?

46 | MAY 19 • 2022