"Mishpatim — Part III — The Hebrew Servant"

3.1 — Why the Torah Begins with a Slave

The First Civil Law

After the thunder of Sinai and the proclamation of the Aseres HaDibros, one might expect the Torah to begin its civil legislation with courts, contracts, or crimes. Instead, Parshas Mishpatim opens with an unexpected subject:

כִּי תִקְנֶה עֶבֶד עִבְרִי
“When you acquire a Hebrew servant…” (Shemos 21:2)

The first detailed civil law of the Torah concerns a slave.

This choice is not accidental. The Ramban explains that the order of the Torah is always meaningful. The mishpatim follow directly from the revelation at Sinai, and the first subject they address is the Hebrew servant. The Torah begins civil law with this topic because it reflects the deepest memory of the nation: Egypt.

Before Israel became a people of law, they were a people of slaves. The memory of bondage is therefore the foundation of their legal system.

Law Shaped by Memory

The Torah does not build society on abstract philosophy alone. It builds society on historical memory. The experience of Egypt is not only a story of the past. It is a moral compass for the future.

The Ramban explains that the laws of the Hebrew servant constantly remind Israel of their own redemption. The servant must be treated with dignity, limited in time, and ultimately released. His condition is not permanent, and his humanity is never erased.

The Torah is teaching a principle:
A nation that remembers slavery must build a society of dignity.

This is why the first civil law is not about punishment, property, or procedure. It is about a human being who has lost his freedom. The legal system begins with the question of human dignity.

The Ralbag: A Moral Foundation for Society

The Ralbag explains that the Torah arranges its laws in a pedagogical order. It begins with the Hebrew servant because this case expresses the most fundamental moral idea: the value of human freedom.

A servant represents a person at the lowest point of independence. By placing this law first, the Torah declares that the legal system must protect even the most vulnerable. The servant is not a disposable laborer, nor a permanent object of ownership, nor a person without hope of freedom. Instead, he is a brother, temporarily bound by circumstance. His servitude is limited, structured, and ultimately reversed.

This structure teaches that the Torah’s legal system is built not on power, but on dignity.

The Echo of Egypt

Throughout the Torah, the memory of Egypt appears again and again. The people are commanded to protect the stranger, the widow, and the orphan because they themselves were strangers in Egypt. They are told not to oppress workers because they remember the cruelty of forced labor.

The law of the Hebrew servant is the first and clearest echo of that memory.

When a Hebrew servant works for six years and is freed in the seventh, the cycle reflects the national story:

• Israel served in Egypt
• Hashem redeemed them
• Their freedom became the foundation of the covenant

The servant’s release reenacts that redemption on a smaller scale. Every cycle of servitude and freedom becomes a reminder of the Exodus.

Freedom as a National Identity

The Torah does not define Israel primarily by territory, language, or political structure. It defines them by a story: they were slaves, and Hashem freed them. This identity shapes their laws.

A society that remembers slavery cannot tolerate permanent oppression. A nation redeemed by Hashem cannot treat its members as objects. The legal system must reflect the dignity that comes from redemption.

The law of the Hebrew servant therefore teaches several foundational ideas:

• Freedom is the natural state of a Jew
• Servitude is temporary and conditional
• Human dignity must be preserved even in hardship
• Law must reflect the moral lessons of history

These principles shape the entire structure of Mishpatim.

The Moral Architecture of the Covenant

The Ramban sees Parshas Mishpatim as the continuation of the Aseres HaDibros. The spiritual truths of Sinai become the social structures of society.

Within this framework, the law of the Hebrew servant plays a crucial role. It translates the memory of redemption into legal form.

Just as the Aseres HaDibros begin with:

אָנֹכִי ה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם
“I am Hashem your G-d, who took you out of the land of Egypt” (Shemos 20:2),

so too the civil law begins with a reminder of slavery and release.

The covenant begins with redemption, and the legal system begins with the memory of that redemption. The structure is deliberate and symmetrical.

A Legal System Rooted in Compassion

Many legal systems begin with the protection of property or the punishment of crime. The Torah begins with the protection of a person’s dignity. This reveals the spirit behind the mishpatim. The Torah is not only concerned with order and enforcement. It is concerned with compassion.

By beginning with the Hebrew servant, the Torah teaches that justice must protect the vulnerable, that power must be restrained by memory, and that law must reflect moral experience. The first case is not about authority, but about responsibility.

Application for Today — Societies Built on Moral Memory

Modern societies often base their laws on abstract ideals such as equality, rights, or economic efficiency. The Torah offers a different model. It builds law on memory. Israel’s laws are shaped by the experience of Egypt, and that history becomes their moral compass.

In our own lives and communities, this principle still applies. A healthy society remembers its moments of suffering and uses them to shape its values.

This means building communities that:

• Protect the dignity of workers and the vulnerable
• Limit the concentration of power
• Create systems that allow people to recover from failure
• Treat every individual as a bearer of Divine dignity

Moral memory is not meant to produce bitterness. It is meant to produce responsibility.

The Torah begins its civil law with a servant to teach a timeless lesson:
A society that remembers slavery will build freedom.
A society that forgets suffering will eventually recreate it.

📖 Sources

• Full sources available on the Mitzvah Minute Parshas Mishpatim page under insights and commentaries.