Freedom, Murder and Monotheism
After the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, that exalted moment that the entire Jewish people had a united prophecy of G-d, the narrative moves to the unexpected tangent of the EVED IVRI - the Hebrew Slave who is indentured to his master for six years and in the seventh year goes free. We are told that
“If the servant should say I love my master, my wife and my children, I will not go free. The master will then bring him close to the Judge, and he will bring him close to the door or to the lintel, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever.”
The question which bothers all the commentators is how these verses follow on from the giving of the 10 commandments on Sinai. Each commentary provides a different interpretation, and the Abarbanel has his interpretation of the connection between the laws mentioned here and the giving of the Torah. He states:
The Torah continues the discussion it had at the end of the 10 commandments which are between man and man, and then goes into greater detail concerning them. Therefore when the 10 commandments state: “Do not murder”, the Torah now goes into greater detail as to the extrapolations of the law of murder” as including the law of the Jewish slave. They are both part of the law “do not murder” because they include within them the whole life of a servant. It is as if the verse is telling that if we do not let them go in the 7th year as we should, it is akin to murdering them while they are still alive…These laws are specifically stated “in front of them” - the Bnei Yisrael, because the Torah was given specifically to them (the commandment not to murder is part of the 7 Noahite Laws, and is thus something that all humanity were commanded. Therefore, when the Torah explains the law of murder to include the laws relating to the Jewish slave, those commandments are for them specifically).
The Abarbanel brings an interesting proof for this idea. When it comes to giving charity to the stranger in your midst, the language used for charity is “life”, for the verse says “Your brother shall live with you” - meaning that you need to support him financially. Forcing a person into servitude is the opposite of charity (presumably because if you had been charitable to the person, his or her debts would have been paid off, instead of going into slavery). If charity is described as “life”, then its opposite - being an indentured servant for life is death! The Abarbanel also explains that slavery is abhorrent not only because it is an extension of death. He also asserts:
The commandment is an extension of the first of the 10 commandments: “I am the Lord your G-d who took you out of Egypt from the house of slaves.”G-d took the Bnei Yisrael from Egypt, and through that they merited to be his servants. It is therefore no fitting that any Jew should subjugate another. The subjection that is allowed is only 6 years, after which a person should return to their family.
Even though the laws related to the Hebrew slave are connected to the meta law of murder, it also connects to the first commandment, and therefore receives pride of place at the beginning of the laws of this Parasha. It would appear that the Abarbanel has solved this quandary. However, I believe that more is occurring in the subterranean depths of his great mind than a useful solution. The Abarbanel is pushing the first commandment - “I am the Lord your G-d who took you out of Egypt” together with the sixth commandment “Thou Shalt not murder” together. This is more than just a whim.
The 10 commandments were given on two tablets, because they have 2 different themes. The first tablet begins from “Belief in G-d until respecting Parents are commandments between man and G-d, and the second tablet, from “you shall not murder until “Do not covet”, relate to commandments between man and man. The Abarbanel quotes the Mechilta, which deepens this explanation:
Why were the 10 commandments given 5 on one tablet and one on the other? It states “I am the Lord your G-d”, and parallel to that (on the second tablet) “Do not murder”, because anyone who sheds blood is as if he has limited G-d’s image in this world….[1]”
The Abarbanel takes this interpretation in the Mechilta to heart in his explanation of the 10 commandments. There is, therefore every connection between murder and belief in G-d. Any prescribed acts against another person is essentially limiting G-d’s image.
Let us return to the Abarbanel’s interpretation of the Hebrew Slave, and why slavery is so severe. He states that eternal slavery is “killing them while they are still alive”. Killing a person is bad enough, but killing them while they are alive, that is so much worse, because the torture does not last for a moment and then cease as with murder, but continues from the moment the slave is first indentured until his death could be many years hence.
[1]Here is the full Mechilta as quoted in the Abarbanel
כיצד נתנו עשרת הדברות חמש על לוח זה וה׳ על לוח זה. כתיב אנכי ה׳ אלהיך וכנגדו לא תרצח שכל מי ששופך דמים כאלו ממעט את הדמות. כתיב לא יהיה לך וכנגדו לא תנאף מגיד שכל מי שעובד עבודת אלילים מעלה עליו כאלו מנאף אחר המקום כתי׳ לא תשא וכנגדו כתיב לא תגנוב מגיד שכל מי שהוא גנב סופו לבוא אל שבועת שוא שנא׳ הגנב רצח ונאף וגו׳ וכתיב אלה וכחש וגו׳. כתיב זכור את יום השבת וכנגדו כתיב לא תענה ברעך עד שקר. מגיד הכתוב שכל מי שהוא מחלל את השבת מעיד לפני מי שאמר והיה העולם שלא נח בשביעי וכל מי ששומר את השבת מעיד בבריאת העולם שנאמר ואתם עדי נאם ה׳. כתיב כבד את אביך וכנגדו כתיב לא תחמוד מגיד שכל מי שהוא חומד לסוף מוליד בן שהוא מקלל אביו ומכבד למי שאינו אביו לכך נתנו עשרת הדברות ה׳ על לוח אחד וה׳ על לוח שני שנאמר את הדברים האלה דבר ה׳ ויכתבם דברי ר׳ חנניא בן גמליאל