Mishpatim
What reminders can we set for our freedom?
Reflection by Or HaLev teacher Avigail Be'eri-Harel:
“This week, we encounter the laws of the Hebrew slave, a Jew who sold himself into bondage to avoid the harsh living conditions of poverty. Slavery, as echoed in the verses, offers a certain security: a steady wage, someone else concerned with one's future, another deciding how each hour of one's day unfolds. Sounds familiar in a sense, doesn't it?
While the Torah acknowledges humanity's need for economic and nutritional security, it sanctifies freedom. The seventh year presents an opportunity for awakening and liberation. Every seven years, slaves must be set free, Mirroring Shabbat, which takes place every seven days, this Shmita cycle enables renewal and detachment from the routine cycle of labor. Yet, it seems that not everyone seizes this opportunity. If the servant decides he loves what he has received in his master's house, or even loves the master himself, he may forever forfeit his freedom. In such cases, the Torah warns, the master must pierce the servant's ear at the doorstep. How might we understand this symbolic act?
The Midrash offers a creative response – the servant's pierced ear is the same ear that heard at Mount Sinai that the children of Israel are completely freed from all worldly bondage save their servitude to God alone. The door where the servant is pierced recalls the door that God passed over on the night of the Exodus, proclaiming `For unto Me the children of Israel are servants` (Leviticus 25:55). We are to be servants to God, not to any person or other entity. The symbolism of piercing the ear at doorstep teaches us a profound lesson: every element in our lives – even the simplest – can serve as a reminder of our fundamental freedom. The Midrash connects this to Israel's collective experience at Mount Sinai, a moment of elevation and awakening to spiritual freedom.
From this Midrash, we learn that true freedom is not the absence of commitment, but rather the ability to choose what we devote ourselves to. At any given moment, we are free to choose anew and listen. To listen to our inner voice, to awaken from automatic habits, and to direct our lives toward what is genuine and beneficial for ourselves and others. In our noisy and demanding world, in our reality now and always, we must set reminders of our freedom. Opening our ears midday to truly hear those speaking to us, or the distant birdsong, or even the murmur of our hearts, the life stirring within us, this might be a way to begin the journey toward the freedom that exists here and now."