[Avodah] Slavery

[Chaim Moskowiz]

Quoting Zev Sero:

 

“But that doesn't change the way authentic Torah Jews think -- by which I mean Jews who didn't grow up absorbing USAn culture and values and learning to idolise people like Washington and Lincoln.  Believe it or not, such people still exist.  The fact that we regard slavery as unthinkable doesn't mean we're morally superior, it means that we have been so infected with goyishe values that they have become part of us; that's

nothing to be proud of.”

 

I don’t think that there is a single  approach to these issues. Some benefit from the direct approach: “ our values, and thinking are warped” ; others do not.  The goal is the same either way:  to deepen one’s conviction and understanding  that  Hashem is the ultimate source of mercy, and that his laws are perfect. 

 

Regarding this, and similar questions regarding Torah and 21st  century ethics(I’m, thinking of at least five other  cases), I prefer to acknowledge a good question, and a clash in values. There is a psychological benefit to this, because acknowledging a question rather than repressing it(not that I think that you are doing that if it works  for yourself),  reduces  it’s intensity. It doesn’t work for me to say, “I’m infected with goyish values, and my thinking is warped”. To the contrary, I think that  my thinking(at least at times) is perfectly normal, and that  not all “goyishe values” are inherently bad. 

 

 Similarly, someone who is thinking about the mitzvah of mechiyas Amaleik can say,”the reason I have trouble understanding it is because I’m affected by goyish values”. Or he can say that “I’m following human logic and emotion, which in many cases  is a perfectly rational and  logical thing to do, but I need to understand the Torah’s values”. 

 

 

In  the specific case of slavery, it is certainly a very rational  and normal   thought, and not just a “goyish” one, to say that  “rational and enlightened  ethics” tell us that it is unjust for one human being to have an ownership of another(yes, those claiming to follow “rational and enlightened   ethics” can create concentration camps, but that doesn’t destroy the concept entirely). Certainly,  no one can honestly say that every  person  would want to be owned by another person, rather than being an exploited worker(see below). But our belief that the Torah is Divine, tells us that this halacha is ethical. Just as one should imitate Hashem’s kindness and avoid avodas perech by an eved k’nani(see Rambam in Hilchos Avodim,  ninth perek), so too , I believe that the whole concept of human ownership is ultimately not a contradiction to the concept that Hashem

 created the world out of goodness(Ramchal in Daas Tevunos), and that even the halacha of permitting  avodas perech by eved k’naani(m’ikkar hadin)  is part of a merciful Torah. 

 

 

One can minimize the question by saying that slaves are better off than exploited miners or those in sweatshops (I have seen this quoted in the name of   Rav Kook,  Igrot HaRaaya ,  vol.1 no.89), but I still don’t think it completely, rationally,  answers the question, as some would prefer the latter, and in any event, not every slave would have been born to an exploited life. Although slavery is not a chok like parah adumah, one can still attempt to give a rational basis for the Torah law, but at the same time  say that the ultimate understanding eludes us at the current time. As I said above, I have no problem saying our problem is “we have been so infected with goyishe values”, but at the same time, if a different approach yields the same goal, then I see no need to  use your approach exclusively.

 
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