Re: Slavery
Isaac A Zlochower (zlochoia@ix.netcom.com)
Wed, 18 Sep 1996 22:34:28 -0700
A posting asking for the justification of slavery in the Torah was raised
recently. we can venture an answer by first posing a more general
question. Why is the Torah so involved with issues and institutions that
have long since disappeared? Not only is slavery permitted, but a father
is granted the power to sell his minor daughter as a maid. Polygamy and
concubinage are, apparently, acceptable, and were, in fact, customary for
the biblical kings. All of the above are objectionable from a moral
standpoint. Why, then, did the Torah permit them? It would seem that the
Torah must deal primarily with issues and institutions that were current at
the time that the Torah was given. The Torah had to be understood and
accepted by that generation and those following it. The Torah sets out
general rules and principles that are eternally valid, but must take into
consideration the culture of the time. Thus, the Torah states the
principle (Genesis 2:24) that a new family is created through the loving
union of a man and a woman, who thereby become one body. This principle is
inconsistent with the idea of a family situation involving a man and
several women. Polygamy was still allowed, however, because it was a
venerable institution. Jacob, after all, did have 2 wives and 2 concubines.
When conditions and outlook changed in the early middle ages, polygamy and
concubinage were outlawed, and the original Torah principle became the
enshrined in legal practise. Similarly, the idea of Jewish slaves was
considered to be in conflict with the exodus from Egypt. Jews were to be
only servants of G_D, not of man. Nevertheless, it was not prohibited
since it served to provide a livelihood and a home for some unfortunates,
and as a means of an impoverished criminal repaying his debts. It was
heavily legislated, however, to help insure that it would be more like a
job than enslavement. A father was only permitted to sell his underage
daughter as a maid in order to prevent a greater tragedy, the eviction of
that daughter from her father's house and into the streets. Her "master"
was required to take the girl as a wife for himself or a son, or else allow
her to buy her freedom by subtracting the years of her service from her
"purchase' price, or to free her when she reached puberty. The Torah,
thereby sought to make the best of a miserable situation. With the demise
of the patriarchal society, it was no longer necessary to accomodate to the
supposed perogatives of the head of the family. Hence, such behavior on the
part of a father is no longer countenanced.
Concerning gentile slaves that the posting referenced, the idea of
perpetual slavery was either allowed (Rabbi Ishmael) or enjoined (Rabbi
Akiva, Talmud Bavli, Gitin, 38b). However, even according to the viewpoint
of Rabbi Akiva, one could free a gentile slave for a reason. The slave,
moreover, could not be physically abused, and a runaway slave from abroad
could not be returned to his "master". The object was to insure that the
remaining native peoples in the Holy Land, were under the rule of the Jews,
and would not serve as guides and models for a pagan way of life. No one,
of course, is contemplating reinstituting slavery after its demise many
centuries ago, moreover, the Muslim population of the Holy Land already
fulfills the Noachian laws, and would not be a "bad" influence on the Jews
there. They just have to come to the idea, somehow (miraculously, no
doubt), of the special role that the Jews have to play in the Holy Land.
Yitzchok Zlochower