Netvort Mishpatim 5772:         WHERE DO I BELONG?

By Rabbi Joshua (transiently known as the Hoffer) Hoffman

The first of the series of laws presented in parshas Mishpatim, with the exception of laws of judgment derived from the very first verse of the parsha, are those of the Hebrew slave, referred to in the Torah as “eved Ivri”. The Talmud in Kiddushin tells us that this section of laws deals with the person who was sold into slavery by the court, or Beis Din, because he incurred a debt through stealing and was unable to pay it off. His term of servitude is a maximum of six years, ending in the beginning of Shmitah year. If, when that time arrives, he wishes to remain with his master, he must make a declaration to that fact in Bais Din and have his ear pierced on a door that has a door post. He then continues to serve until the arrival of the Yovel, which is the fiftieth year of the agricultural cycle, when everyone is obligated to free their slaves (Shemos 21:2-6).

Several questions can be asked in regard to the Torah’s presentation of these laws. First, why is the Jewish slave referred to with the term of Ivri? As Rav Yonasan Eibeischutz points out, in his Tiferes Yehonasan, the term Ivri is seldom used in reference to the Jewish people after the redemption from Egypt and the giving of the Torah, when the Bnei Yisroel became a nation. Until then, they were referred to in the Torah as Ivrim, Hebrews, meaning that they originated from the land across the river. After the formation of Bnei Yisroel at Sinai, we find the term Ivri only in regard to the eved Ivri and in regard to the navi Yonah ben Amitai, who, fleeing from his duties as a prophet, tells the non-Jewish sailors on the ship that he is an Ivri.

Secondly, why is the Beis Din that pierces the ear of the servant, referred to “Elokim,” which is also used as a name of G-d. It is true, as the Ramban writes, that the Talmud teaches that Beis Din is called “Elokim,” because G-d is present among the judges of the court and is really the One who really renders the final judgment. Still, Beis Din is not always referred to in this way. In fact, less than twenty verses later, the judges are referred to as “plilim” (Shemos 21:22). Why, then, in contrast to this later verse, is the term “Elokim” specifically used to refer to the Beis Din that pierces the servant? Finally, why, as the Talmud teaches, is the institution of the Hebrew slave applicable only in Eretz Yisroel? What connection is there between slavery and Eretz Yisroel (in this week’s article on Mishpatim, by Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb at YUTORAH.org some answers to this last question are offered)?

To answer our questions it would be helpful to look back at another instance in which slavery, the terms Ivri, “Elokim”, as well as Eretz Yisroel, all appear together. That is the Torah’s account of Yosef’s slavery in Egypt, which was, in fact, the setting of the stage for the Jewish people’s enslavement there. After interpreting the butler’s dream, while in prison, Yosef tells him that he was kidnapped from “Eretz HaIvriim,” the land of the Hebrews (Bereishis 40:15), meaning Eretz Yisroel. The Midrash Rabbah on parshas Vaeschanan tells us that the reason that Yosef merited to be buried in Eretz Yisroel is that he identified himself with Eretz Yisroel, as reflected in this verse. Later, when the butler tells Pharaoh about Yosef’s dream interpretations, he refers to him as a “na’ar Ivri, ” a Hebrew youth, albeit in a pejorative sense. Yosef does not deny this identification, but tells Pharaoh that it is really G-d - Elokim - Who interprets dreams. He then interprets Pharaoh’s dream and repeatedly refers to Elokim as directing the events there. Yosef’s youth and acceptance of the term Ivri, reflected the fact that, as someone who came from beyond the river, he was in a transient state in Egypt and his real place, in which he centered his self-identity, was Eretz Yisroel, where G-d’s providence is most evident and intense.

The eved Ivri, by stealing and thereby transgressing G-d’s law, actually lost his self-identity as a servant of G-d. The Talmud tells us that slave’s ear is pierced because he heard, at Sinai, G-d's command not to steal, but nevertheless proceeded to do so. These laws also apply to a person who sells himself into slavery, and in that case, the Talmud explains, that the ear that heard Hashem's words that Bnei Yisroel are His servants, that went and placed a different human master over himself, should be pierced. This second reason, of course, should equally apply in a case of the person who stole and was sold by Beis Din as a Hebrew servant. In any case, one may ask why, according to both explanations, is the piercing delayed until the slave decides to continue in that state at the end of six years?  Why isn’t his ear pierced in the beginning of his servitude. Perhaps the reason is that the process of his slavery is a means of bringing him back to his sense of self-identity. He is called Ivri to indicate that he should view his current state as a transient one, just as Yosef did when he was a slave in Egypt. The ultimate goal is to view himself, again, as a servant of G-d and to acknowledge the role of G-d in his life.  If, at the end of his term of servitude he wants to continue to be a slave to a human being, he has not yet absorbed the intended message, and must be given a permanent mark on his body to remind him of his true identity. That identity will emerge with the arrival of Yovel.

On a wider scale, the institution of eved Ivri can be viewed as the Torah’s way of incarcerating a criminal, as I once heard from Rabbi Chaim Dovid HaLevi, zt”l. Instead of treating the person who stole in a brutal way and thereby hardening him, as is done in other penal systems, the Torah directs us to treat him kindly, so that he will eventually return to his proper place in society. In this way, the institution of eved Ivri becomes part of the charge which G-d gave the Jewish nation at Sinai, to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” As we have often mentioned in the name of Rav Kook, this implies the creation of a fully functioning society, including all the attending economic, social, political, and scientific aspects that it entails, and to do so in a holy fashion. In this way the Jewish people will demonstrate to all the nations of the world that holiness is not something limited to mystics who live on a mountain top, but is relevant to all people and to all aspects of life. Eretz Yisroel, says Rav Kook, is the place where this kind of society is to be developed. Perhaps it is for this reason that the institution of eved Ivri, with its unique way of treating wayward members of society, applies only there.