Parshat Mishpatim; Exodus 21:1 –24:18 by Rabbi Denise L. Eger
Our Torah portion really is a continuation of the rules of society that were begun with the Ten Commandments. While the Ten Commandments given last week in Parshat Yitro form the core of the law. It is not the whole law. Parshat Mishpatim fills out the responsibilities and legal code of the new nation of the freed Israelites.
A mishpat is a technical term. It means ordinance. Thus the portion’s name Mishpatim clearly tells us that these rules are the legal regulations that will govern their lives and their society.
These ordinances clearly come not just from Moses but also from God. As our opening line states: “These are the regulations that you shall set before them.” (Ex 21:1) The context is God talking to Moses. Thus these are divine revelation every bit as much as the Ten Commandments inscribed in stone by the finger of God. This portion is really a continuation of the dialogue between God and Moses on Mt. Sinai as God continues to reveal not just the Ten Commandments but also the whole of Torah and indeed, the halacha- the Law.
The opening lines however, of this portion bear examination. Because of all the things that one might begin a law code with the rules for slaves and serfs is not usually at the beginning. What was it like for these former Egyptian slaves to hear these rules of slave ownership? Could they even imagine themselves in a position to own slaves or have servants? They would certainly remember how they were treated in Egypt. Would they take that as the model or would they by nature remember how they felt and thus treat their “slaves” better or? But human beings by nature don’t always treat others as they themselves wish to be treated. Thus it makes sense that to imagine the future of this Israelite nation—the people had to imagine themselves as something other than slaves. To build their nation they had to be able to envision a time when even they could have slaves and servants.
And so, Mishpatim opens with rules that apply when one has a Hebrew slave. The Torah assumes that slavery and servitude were a fact of life. Rather than ban it altogether it is interesting that the Torah makes it a kind of indentured service or serfdom. “When you acquire a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years; in the seventh year he shall go free without payment.”(Exodus 21:2). These laws modify the institution of slavery.
Thus the time of service is limited unless of course that person freely elects to remain a slave beyond the seven years. There is a dignity that is given to the individual to decide for himself his own fate. Again the torah presents a reshaping of the institution of slavery because it recognizes the innate ability of an individual to make personal decisions that affect his own life. And yet, when it comes to the wife of the slave and the children they do not have the individual dignity to decide for themselves. So the Torah isn’t prepared yet, to see the inherent humanity of women and children in this case.
The Hebrew slave could not work on Shabbat as God’s law surely superceded the individual master. The rabbis also taught that even if a slave decides to stay beyond the seven years –that at the Jubilee year, the fiftieth year, all slaves and servants go free. So it really isn’t for life.
Thus our portion opens with these laws, teaching us that Torah can transform even the oldest institutions into new ones and open up our eyes to the possibility that even as the law binds us to God and one another in community, the law brings a certain kind of freedom to the individual and in renewing our sensibilities.
Posted by Lee at February 20, 2006 09:48 AM
