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