D'var Torah Ki Tetzei: Slavery in the Bible and in America

Torah Reading:  Deuteronomy 21:10 to 25:19
Haftarah:  Isaiah 54: 1-10 (5th of 7 Haftarahs of consolation)

This week's parshah is the last of three weeks of parshahs that enumerate the laws that Moses gave shortly before his death, and this week's parshah contains more laws than any other parshah in the Torah.  However, I am going to focus on just one of these laws contained in a mere two sentences.

Last May I wrote the D'var Torah diary for the end of Leviticus, commenting on the remarkable social legislation contained in chapter 25 of Leviticus:  

Every 50 years all land is restored to its original owners, and those who have sold themselves into a form of slavery to pay off their debts are freed.  Those buying and selling land do not buy and sell in perpetuity, rather, the land is merely leased until the next Jubilee year, with the price adjusted accordingly.  We are commanded to lend money to the needy to provide for their basic necessities, and not to charge them interest.  These debts are forgiven every seven years.

And I discussed several rabbinical sources, including from Leviticus Rabbah:  

God will punish those who have money who ask the needy, "Why don't you go out and find a job, make some money, and put your own bread on your table?" Or who say, "Look at those hips, look at those legs, look at that fat body.  This person can work.  Let him work and take care of himself." These people who mock the poor will bring evil on themselves, because they do not honor others who likewise are made in the image of God.

But the first comment made after the tip jar was:  

Verses 44 - 46 are pretty hard to take. (6+ / 0-)
44 “‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

And my response:  

Agreed (8+ / 0-)
Hence the need for later authorities to smooth out these rough edges.  These verses were used during the Civil War by some Southern rabbis, and even one northern one, to justify slavery.

I have regretted my response ever since, and now is the chance to provide the response I should have given last May!