This Week In The Torah.



Parsha Behar/Bechukosai Vayikra/Leviticus Ch.25-27

Who Is A Slave?
by Rabbi Yechezkel Fox

You shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom throughout the land for all its inhabitants; it shall be the Jubilee Year for you, you shall return each man to hie ancestral heritage, and you shall return each man to his family. (Chapter 25 Verse 10.)

Many will look at this law as the earliest record of the emancipation of slaves in history. And as a great law of social justice, devoted to the welfare of the downtrodden and shackled slave. However, after a brief survey of the halachot (laws) of slaves we will see that this mitzvah is of an entirely different nature.

The Torah is speaking here about an eved Ivri (Jewish slave). He had to sell himself to pay off his debts, or the court sold him to compensate for property he stole. Once purchased, the master has enormous obligations to the eved. He cannot in any way overwork him (see verse 45). Furthermore, he has to try to find employment for him in the eved's craft. When it comes to lifestyle, incredibly, the Torah obligates the master to provide the eved with the same lifestyle as himself. He will eat the same foods and drink the same beverages. So if his master eats steaks and drinks red wine, the eved will be wining and dining quite nicely. If the master sleeps on a mattress, then the eved is entitled to this comfort as well. And what if there is only one pillow in the house? Yes, you guessed it---the eved gets it! The eved is entitled to so much that the Sages say "One who purchases an eved, purchases a master for himself."

The eved is having such a great time that the Torah allows him to stay on longer than his standard six-year contract (see Shemot/Deut. Ch.21 V.5) Once he commits himself, he has to serve his master till the fiftieth year, the Yovel. When the Yovel comes, he must go free whether he likes it or not. But what is the reason? As we have seen above, it is not for the eved's material welfare. Rather, it is for the sake of his spiritual obligations to G-d. While an eved, he cannot manage his own time, so he cannot devote himself to growing in his service to G-d---his real master!

There is a very important lesson to be learned from this law. One can have a good job and a very comfortable lifestyle, but if one doesn't have enough control over one's time to devote it to G-d, one could still be considered no better than a slave.

(This essay was based on the writings of Rabbi Isaac Sher.)

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A Palatable Rebuke

Do not harass one another, and you shall have fear of your Lord; for I am G-d your Lord. Ch.25/17

Rashi explains that this refers to verbal harassment; one should not annoy others with insults, and the like.

There is a mitzvah to rebuke those who sin, providing it is done in such a way that the rebuke will be listened to. For if it is not presented in a manner palatable to the transgressor, he may be offended and refused to heed the rebuke.

How would one rebuke someone that transgressed the prohibition against verbal harassment?

Rav Yehudah HaNassi came up with an original approach: He invited his students to a meal and served them a platter of tongue slices. Some were soft, others were tough. The students began selecting all the soft pieces. At that point, Rav Yehudah HaNassi spoke up and said, "Pay attention, that just as you are selecting the soft tongue and leaving the tough ones, so too make sure your own tongues are soft and not tough!"

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The Hidden World

If you will follow my decrees and observe my commandments and perform them; then I will provide your rains in their time, and the land will give its produce, and the tree of the field will give its fruit. Ch.26/3

The commentators pose the following question: Why does the Torah mention only reward in this world? Why doesn't it tell us about our reward in the "next world"?

Rabbi Aahron Kotler offers a profound answer: Since the Torah is the revelation of G-d's will in this world, whatever He revealed in the Torah is accordingly revealed in the world. Therefore, the reward of the "next world" had to be hidden in the Torah, since G-d designated it only for the "next world." Had it been revealed in the Torah, it would have to be present now in this world.

With this we can understand a perplexing passage in the Talmud. After stating that even the prophets had not an inkling of what the reward will be for Torah scholars in the next world, it nevertheless asks: "What is this reward?" The Talmud's enigmatic response: "The wine that has been preserved in the grapes from the six days of creation."

The Ben Ish Chai explains that grapes (young and fresh) represent the simple understanding of the Torah text; wine (old and strong) represents the secrets of the Torah. The meaning of the Talmud's answer is that the reward for Torah scholars will be that the deepest secrets of the Torah (wine) will be obtainable from the simple reading of the Torah (grapes). Even though this sublime level of Torah comprehension was inaccessible to the prophets, the Sages taught that when the "next world" comes, its delights will be revealed in the Torah. This itself will be the well-earned reward of the Torah scholar---to perceive the deepest mysteries of G-d's will throughout all of history in the plain reading of the Torah.

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Shabbat Shalom

Threshing will overtake vintage for you, and the vintage will last until the sowing; you will eat your bread to satiety and you will dwell securely in your land. I will provide peace in the land, and you will lie down with none to frighten you; I will cause wild beasts to withdraw from the land, and a sword will not cross your land. Ch.26/5-6

Rashi comments on verse 6: "Perhaps you will say, 'Here is food , and here is drink; but if there is no peace, there is nothing.' In answer, the verse says after all this, 'I will provide peace in the land.' From here we see that peace is as weighty as everything. And so it says, 'He makes peace and creates everything.' "

Whenever there is an increase in material benefit, there has to be shalom (peace) to preserve it; otherwise it can backfire and lead to strife. Take, for example, a company that has made bigger profits. Unless there is shalom amongst the directors to allow for a fair distribution of these profits, it will lead to a battle of greed, and everyone will lose.

In a similar vein, after the first six days of creation, when everything was in its place, there was still one thing missing---shalom. Shalom was needed to ensure the continuation of the world. So G-d created Shabbos, and the world carried on.

When we keep Shabbos, we are tapping into those very energies that provided the shalom for the existence of the world. And that allows one to feel a peace and tranquility above all earthly pleasures.

Shabbat Shalom!


Sources:Maharal




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