Q&A: Slavery as the Practice of Egypt
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This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Slavery as the Practice of Egypt
Question
Hello to Rabbi Michael Abraham, may he live long and well. After the Exodus from Egypt, the Holy One, blessed be He, warns several times not to return to being like corrupt Egypt. But strangely, the very main thing for which Egypt was punished—the height of their corruption, namely their cruel slavery—this is דווקא what the Torah permits?
Answer
Who said slavery was their primary corruption? When the Torah speaks about “Do not do like the practice of the land of Egypt,” it is not speaking about slavery. Beyond that, there is non-cruel slavery, which even by your view is not like the practice of the land of Egypt.