Issued in 1865, the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution officially ended slavery in America. A person may wonder, “what’s so bad about slavery anyway? The Torah allows slavery.” Anyone who thinks the slavery mentioned in the Torah is the same as the type of slaves that are permitted by the Torah is greatly mistaken. This week’s parsha begins by discussing two types of slaves: an “eved Ivri” and an “ama Ivria”.

The most common way a person becomes an “eved Ivri” is a man gets caught stealing something and cannot pay back the item. He is then sold to be a slave. When he is a slave, he cannot be abused nor be told to do meaningless work. The slave is to be put to work in the field for six years. After the six years are completed, he is set free, but he does not leave empty-handed. The owner needs to pay him a salary for the work he did and buy him clothes. The reason he goes out this way is because the Torah wants us to teach this man a lesson: he does not need to steal. The Torah makes the man work for six years and earn money by working. It is to teach him to get a job to get what he wants instead of getting what he desires by stealing. Furthermore, the Torah wants to help the man get his first job by providing him with nice clothing for the first interview he goes on. Plus, he also has six years experience on his resume. The reason the man is sold to be a slave is not only to punish him, but to drive home a lesson that will change him.

The most common way a woman becomes an “ama Ivria” is for her father to sell her while she is still a minor to a wealthy man. The type of father that would do this is one that is extremely poor. The same as with an “eved Ivri”, she cannot be abused nor be told to do meaningless work. When the girl turns 12, either the owner or his son must marry this woman, or the owner needs to find another worthy man to marry this poor girl. The reason this is done is because if this girl stays with her family, she has no future. Her poor father cannot provide her money for her wedding and very few men will want to marry this poor girl. Therefore, she is sold as a slave to make her future brighter. She can now show how great of a person she is when she is in her master’s house and will be able to marry a fine man. Her whole future will now change.

If our Sages lived in America in the 1800s, they would have certainly agreed with the 13th Amendment. The type of slavery that occurred in America was disgusting and extremely anti-Torah. The slavery that is mentioned in the Torah is to raise people up and to give them a positive future. Unfortunately, that is not what happened in America. Baruch Hashem, slavery in America is now over. And although we no longer have slavery in Judaism, the concepts from this slavery must not be forgotten. We should work hard to raise people up to give them brighter futures.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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