Mishpatim: bending the law

וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּשִׂ֖ים לִפְנֵיהֶֽם׃

Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.

A set of laws are laid out. These are the Divine rules. Very soon, there are contingencies, questions of exceptions, recognitions of subtlety.  The Jewish lawyer is born.

 

כִּ֤י תִקְנֶה֙ עֶ֣בֶד עִבְרִ֔י שֵׁ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים יַעֲבֹ֑ד וּבַ֨שְּׁבִעִ֔ת יֵצֵ֥א לַֽחָפְשִׁ֖י חִנָּֽם׃

 

When you acquire a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years; in the seventh year he shall go free, without payment.

 

The first issue to be dealt with is slavery. From the  predicate, it is clear that there is a translation problem.  This   eved Ivri  is not the same as the Africans that were brought to North America  for eternal, multigenerational servitude.  The eved Ivri had a discrete term of service, six years,  after which he was to be released, without further ransom. The associations with the word eved, slave, are not what we expect.  The root of the word, evd, connotes   labor, work.  I suppose that it is not translated laborer because of the long-term relationship.  The defined term of release tells me that I do not really understand this relationship.  Since the same word is used to describe the status of the Hebrews in Egypt, I am forced to question my understanding of that situation, as well.  Perhaps the conditions portrayed by Cecil B DeMille: teams of scantily clothed men pulling huge, pyramid-bound cut stones and whipped by Egyptian taskmasters, is not exact.

 

The principle of one person dominating another is certainly an issue that the law must address.  The first rule allows for the legality of such a relationship.  The acquisition (or purchase - another possible translation for thikneh) of one person by another is a legal transaction.  The purchaser and the purchased each have rights.  They are both under the jurisdiction of The Law.  The acquisition of services is for a limited time and includes a limited scope, but the buyer has a right to the work and its products. Even some of the children fathered by this man become slaves born to the master.

 

There is a spectrum from volunteer to slave.  Placement along that spectrum is in the consciousness of the participants, and it is often out of sync.  The boss exaggerates expectations, the worker feels underpaid.  A perfect resolution is not possible.  The law feels arbitrary to both.

Immediately following the law of a limited term of service, the text turns to the slave who does not want to be set free.

וְאִם־אָמֹ֤ר יֹאמַר֙ הָעֶ֔בֶד אָהַ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־אֲדֹנִ֔י אֶת־אִשְׁתִּ֖י וְאֶת־בָּנָ֑י לֹ֥א אֵצֵ֖א חׇפְשִֽׁי׃

But if the slave declares, “I love my master, and my wife and children: I do not wish to go free,”

An exception is recognized. This voluntary eved is brought to the doorpost. He is brought to the place of the lamb’s blood placement in the original Passover story.  He is reminded of the costly liberation of the ancestors from the Egyptian servitude. Is he repeating the sin of descent  into slavery? The organ of listening, the ear, is pierced. All this symbolism; In the end he remains an eved forever.

At the conclusion of the parsha, the Israelites volunteer for servitude to Gd.

 

וַיִּקַּח֙ סֵ֣פֶר הַבְּרִ֔ית וַיִּקְרָ֖א בְּאָזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְ   נַעֲשֶׂ֥ה וְנִשְׁמָֽע׃

 

Then he took the record of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will faithfully do!”

The people have surrendered to the spectacle and the promise of a better life and a greater justice. There is no demand for understanding.  Where does our illusion of understanding come from, anyway? The law has become what can be interpreted from the text.

 

America is filled with news of legal proceedings. A former president is accused of violating the law that limits his term of service. He tried to interfere with the process that replaced him with the candidate who received more votes. These proceedings are taking months.  Every possible small point is argued. Expensive lawyers find ways to delay and obfuscate. In several off the cuff statements, Mr Trump has been clear about his contempt for the law.  Now he is demonstrating it to the glee of his supporters .  Many of those supporters feel that they have been victims of the law which takes on an arbitrary aspect as soon as it is written and becomes difficult to change; a law that fails to recognize special circumstances.

This is our ultimate gift from Gd, from Moses and to humanity: The law, the Torah, the immutable written law, as we have it here… And the oral law, the paradigm of how to bend it.