Torah and Jewish Idea > Torah and Jewish Idea
Video Study for Parsha Mishpatim : Mitzvot & More Mitzvot
muman613:
Here is expressed the idea concerning the treatment of the Eved Ivri, the Hebrew slave, and the Talmud discussion regarding who gets the 'only pillow'...
--- Quote ---http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5761/mishpatim.html
The Torah is telling us how one must treat another human being. Which human being does the Torah choose to illustrate this point? The thief! The mere word conjures up the image of a despicable character. This person, who in other societies is thrown into jail to rot away, is not to be so treated in a Jewish society. He, too, is a human being whose respect we must maintain. Our Sages tell us that when one acquires an indentured servant, it is like he has acquired a master for himself (based on the restrictions and obligations imposed on the owner).
The Talmud [Kiddushin 20a] says that if a person only has one pillow, he must give the pillow to his servant rather than take it for himself. If the Torah goes so far in the treatment of a thief to preserve his dignity and self-image, then how must we treat someone who is not a thief but rather is our peer, our equal, our next door neighbor?
The tone for the very infrastructure of the laws governing our inter-societal behavior is set with the laws of the indentured servant. If we can learn to appreciate that even the thief was created in the Image of G-d, then we can quickly understand why we must not cheat or insult or cause pain to or take advantage of anyone in society.
--- End quote ---
muman613:
http://www.aish.com/tp/b/lp/48943051.html
The Jewish Servant: A Jew stole money and cannot repay it. Instead of a debtor's prison where there is no option to repay, the court may sell him as an indentured servant and the money is used to pay his debt. He works for 6 years and then goes free.
If he desires to remain beyond the 6 years, the court pierces his ear against a doorpost, implying that he didn't listen at Sinai when God proclaimed that we are His servants and no longer slaves to any human. (The doorpost symbolizes the blood of the Passover offering put on the doorpost.) When he was first sold, he had no choice - but now he can have freedom and yet chooses to be a slave! He now remains a servant "forever," which means until the Jubilee year (see Leviticus 25:41).
This servitude, however, is not like anything we're familiar with. In Judaism, the master must treat his servant as an equal or better. If the master eats steak, so does the servant. If the master has a soft mattress and pillow, so does the servant. But - if there is only one steak (or one pillow, etc.) available, then the servant gets it!!
Furthermore, the master must take pains not to embarrass the servant in any way, and must also support the servant's wife and children. These rules are so much in favor of the servant that the Talmud declares: "Whoever acquires a servant, is as if he has acquired a master!"
muman613:
Here is Rabbi Trugman of BeThereIsrael talking about Mishpatim for about an hour...
muman613:
And another from the always interesting Rabbi Richman.
muman613:
From Los Angeles, Rabbi Yehuda Moses and TorahAnyTime.
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