Jewish Views on Slavery
“To Americans: That some desperate wretches should be willing to steal and enslave men by violence and murder for gain, is rather lamentable than strange. But that many civilized, nay, Christianized people should approve, and be concerned in the savage practice, is surprising; and still persist, though it has been so often proved contrary to the light of nature, to every principle of Justice and Humanity, and even good policy, by a succession of eminent men, and several late publications.”
This paragraph opens a 1775 essay called “African Slavery in America,” published anonymously but was believed to be written by English-born American founding father, French revisionist and political philosopher Thomas Paine. (1737-1809)
When one attempts to trace the beginning of the classical political divide between conservative and progressive views, you usually goes back to the French Revolution and its aftermath.
In fact, the terms that we use this very day to describe our place on the political spectrum- left and right, originate in the French National Assembly seating arrangement. The seats on the right happened to be for the defenders of the king, church, aristocracy, and tradition, and the seats on the left were where the advocates of equality, republicanism, secularism, and reform set.
Two prominent writers of the era Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine would also forever be associated with the two movements, Burke as the defender of tradition and Paine the advocate of progress.
In his lifetime, Paine advocated not only for the abolition of slavery, which was then a provocative view, but also for women’s rights, suffrage in general, independence from Britain and gave a fierce critique of institutional religion.
I’d like to focus on his anti-slavery essay in which he referenced biblical texts, also to also to challenge some of his writings.
When Paine used the phrase “contrary to the light of nature” to describe slavery he was referring to the creation description in Genesis:
"וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃
‘‘And God created humankind in the divine image, creating it in the image of God—creating them male and female.”
As all men and women were created in the image of God, no-one has the right to enslave another. Paine even stated his shock by those who dared to find permission in scripture to enslave others.
“Most shocking of all is alleging the sacred scriptures to favour this wicked practice….”
However, at the end of this paragraph Paine writes: “But some say, “the practice was permitted to the Jews.” To which may be replied: The example of the Jews, in many things, may not be imitated by us…”
Here he proceeds to explain that there were many examples of Jewish savagery described in the Torah that Christians don’t follow, but he also mentioned that the Torah forbade the Jews to enslave prisoners of war.
What does our tradition have to say about slavery?
Our Torah, while acknowledging the existence of slavery in society, puts clear limitations on the practice and does not view the slave as a tradable commodity, but rather as a human being who deserves rights and protections. Some of those include the limiting of the enslavement period to no more than six years, severe punishment for psychological or physical abuse, a dignified release and equality of benefits (such as rest on Shabbat.)
Our prophets viewed the release of slaves as a messianic promise, and our later texts such as the Talmud viewed slavery so harshly and their laws were aimed at the eventual abolishment of the practice.
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: ״כִּי טוֹב לוֹ עִמָּךְ״ – עִמְּךָ בַּמַּאֲכָל, עִמְּךָ בַּמִּשְׁתֶּה. שֶׁלֹּא תְּהֵא אַתָּה אוֹכֵל פַּת נְקִיָּה וְהוּא אוֹכֵל פַּת קִיבָּר, אַתָּה שׁוֹתֶה יַיִן יָשָׁן וְהוּא שׁוֹתֶה יַיִן חָדָשׁ, אַתָּה יָשֵׁן עַל גַּבֵּי מוֹכִין וְהוּא יָשֵׁן עַל גַּבֵּי תֶּבֶן. מִכָּאן אָמְרוּ: כׇּל הַקּוֹנֶה עֶבֶד עִבְרִי – כְּקוֹנֶה אָדוֹן לְעַצְמוֹ.
The Sages taught: “Because he (the slave) fares well with you,” with you, in food, with you in drink. That there shall not be a situation in which you eat fine bread and he eats inferior bread, you drink aged wine and he drinks new wine. You sleep on soft sheets and he sleeps on straw. From here it is stated: Anyone who acquires a Hebrew slave is like one who acquires a master for himself. (Kiddushin 22a)
In the end of our portion this week, Vayigash, after the drama between Joseph and his brothers has ended and after Joseph’s family has settled in Egypt, the portion details Joseph's leadership and management of the famine.
After the money in Egypt had run out, the people came to Joseph to beg for their life (Gen. 47:15) Joseph suggested that he could buy their cattle since they have run out of money (47:16) that deal sustained the people for a whole year (47:17).
In the second year of the famine, the people came again to beg for their lives. Now since they had nothing else to sell, they offered their lands and… themselves. (47:18-19)
Joseph bought their land but did not enslave them, instead he spread them among the now purchased lands, gave them means to work those lands and as payment proposed a twenty percent tax to be paid to the king. (47:20-24)
The important thing here was that while the people offered themselves as slaves, Joseph did not accept.
The next verse goes as follows:
"וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ הֶחֱיִתָ֑נוּ נִמְצָא־חֵן֙ בְּעֵינֵ֣י אֲדֹנִ֔י וְהָיִ֥ינוּ עֲבָדִ֖ים לְפַרְעֹֽה׃’’
And they said, “You have saved our lives! We are grateful to my lord, and we shall be serfs to Pharaoh.”
On that Hanatziv in Ha’amek Davar interpreted:
החיתנו. חיים של חירות. והיא טובה מצד זה. אבל נמצא חן בעיני אדני. יותר מבוקשנו למצוא חן:
Hanatziv - Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (1816–1893) interprets the word Hechyetanu, translated here to “saved our lives” to “gave us a life of freedom.”
On the end of the verse he says:
והיינו עבדים לפרעה. אז הי׳ מספיק צרכינו אם עשה השדה מעט או הרבה. אבל יוסף לא נתרצה לדבריהם:
“The people were worried that if they were left to work the lands themselves and pay taxes they may have good and bad years and that they preferred to just become the king’s slaves, but Joseph did not listen to them, did not accept their offer.”
It is ironic that generations later it would be the Israelites, the descendants of Joseph and his family, who would end up as slaves to the king.
The beginning of the book of Exodus tells us that the king who enslaved the Israelites “did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). Perhaps the meaning was that the new king did not know how leaders even in the harshest times refused to enslave the people, even when they continuously asked for it.
Thomas Paine was not a knowledgeable Torah scholar and may not have portrayed Jewish approach to slavery in a fair way, but his groundbreaking essay helped inspire the founding of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, the first abolitionist society in America, and the rest as they say, is history.
