Laws of a Hebrew slave
Hello Rabbi Michael,
After reading this week's Torah portion, I got to thinking about the laws of the Hebrew slave, and especially the law of the Torah reform:
Every Hebrew slave or his Hebrew mother is obligated by the master to make them equal to him in food and drink, in clothing and in clothing, as it is said, "For it is good for him to be with you" (Deuteronomy 15:16): lest you eat clean bread and he eats stale bread, you drink old wine and he drinks new wine, you sleep on a bed of straw and he sleeps on straw, you live in a village and he lives in a village or you live in a village and he lives in a village – as it is said, "And he went out from your house" (Leviticus 25:3). Hence the sages said that anyone who buys a Hebrew slave is like a master buying for himself.
But this is a rule that seems very puzzling to me. In any case, if they were to demand that basic conditions be provided to the slave, it would make sense, but to demand that the slave's owner treat him as an equal and even more than that seems very excessive. Why would anyone want a Hebrew slave at all if he has to give up his room/bed/clothes/good food for him? It would be better for him to give up the slave and manage on his own (or buy a Canaanite slave instead).
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Second, it is difficult to set a minimum standard for proper treatment of a slave, and therefore perhaps one compares it to the master himself. Whoever buys a slave probably has more than one pillow or one clean slice of bread. The slave should be like a family member who receives treatment like everyone else living in the house.
Third, some have suggested that slavery laws should be seen as rehabilitating a thief or someone else who was sold into slavery by having him live in a normative family, and perhaps for this reason he should be accepted as a family member.
Fourth, the verse "Love your neighbor as yourself" has been demanded by some as "like yourself." There is a demand to compare it to you. —————————————————————————————— Asks:
- From the volume of slave laws in the Torah, it seems that it did not come to neuter or completely prohibit Hebrew slavery, but rather to limit it, just as labor laws in the economy limit the employment of workers but do not come to completely prevent their employment (otherwise, why extend it with all sorts of laws when you can simply prohibit everything in one verse).
- If they managed to set a minimum standard of proper treatment for a woman (she should remain covered and her clothes should not be reduced), why would it be so difficult to treat a slave? And why is it possible to treat a slave better than a wife or other members of the household who do not have these obligations?
- Even if he has more than one pillow or one clean sheet, it is still quite common for him to have several bedrooms in the house and one of them is, let's say, the largest and where the master sleeps. It is ridiculous to demand that he vacate his large bedroom for his Hebrew slave. The same applies to a mattress, it is quite common for parents to have a quality mattress, and for children, for example, a simple mattress. There are many more examples that can be given along these lines.
- Even if it's a rehabilitation institution, why should the rehabilitation institution be required in advance to treat its rehabilitators the same way it treats itself? It's enough to give them basic conditions.
- Even if there is a demand to compare him to you, the demand is for everyone equally, and therefore there is no reason for me to treat my Hebrew slave better than a mere friend who is staying with me by virtue of the rule "Love your neighbor as yourself."
- Rabbi Akiva preached a sermon from a verse with a similar structure to our verse ("Because it is good for him to be with you"), from the verse "And may your brother live with you." From this he understood that your life comes first. Perhaps we can say about this that the way your good comes first is for the good of your servant?
- From the context of the verse from which the sermon is derived ("And it shall come to pass, that he shall say unto you, I will not go away from you, because I love you and your house, because it is well with you"), it seems that not all slaves think that they are well with their masters, but only some of them, and they are the ones who apparently seek to be freed. And beyond that, it is not said that he is well with you, but that he is well with you.
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