Losing Yourself

By Rabbi Joshua (alternatively known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

Rashi points out that the connecting letter vav that opens the first words of the parsha, “Ve’Eileh HaMishpatim” indicates that just as the laws of the Decalogue were given at Sinai, so too those of the parsha of Mishpatim, which focuses on civil law, are sourced in Sinai. This can be taken in a narrow sense, as meaning that both laws between man and God and laws between man and man were given at Sinai, or more broadly that the Decalogue serves as a rubric for all of the mitzvos that are included in the Torah. The first verse of the Decalogue establishes that we are slaves of Hashem who took us out of Egypt and all of the mitzvos should be kept due to our subjugation to Him. All mitzvos, must be kept due to our basic identity as slaves of Hashem.

With this in mind, Rav Shimon Schwab explains the midrash that expounds the reason that the Hebrew slave’s ear must be pierced, because “a person who’s ears heard at Sinai ‘do not steal’ and yet he stole, his ear must be pierced.” There are two major questions on this idea. First, the verse that is quoted from the Decalogue refers to kidnapping, and not stealing money. Second, the stealing took place at the beginning of the six years, before he was sold into slavery. Why, then, is his ear not pierced immediately, if that is when he violated the prohibition of stealing?

Rav Schwab explains, that in truth, the midrash is referring to the violation of kidnapping. When one is kidnapped, his identity is lost. So, too, our identity as Jews is to be free of the yoke of humans, and be subjugated solely to Hashem. The fact that after six years he wants to continue in his slavery to a human illustrates that he has lost his identity as a slave of Hashem, similar to being kidnapped. Therefore, his ear is pierced at this point, when his identity is lost.