The Nature of Eved Ivri: Sinai, Responsibility, and the Mitzvah of Shiluach Avadim

The shiur begins with a textual observation: Parshas Mishpatim opens with "V'eileh haMishpatim asher tasim lifneihem" without the usual introductory formula "Vayedaber Hashem (ה׳) el Moshe." This suggests the parsha is a continuation of Shemos 20:19, connecting the civil laws to the prohibition of idolatry at Sinai. Rashi (רש"י)'s comment that going to a non-Jewish court constitutes a form of avodah zarah supports this connection—Mishpatim itself is a detail within the prohibition against idolatry. The primary focus shifts to understanding the opening law: "Ki sikneh eved Ivri" (when you acquire a Hebrew servant). The language is peculiar—one doesn't "buy an eved Ivri"; rather, one buys a person whose purchase makes him into an eved Ivri. With an eved Kenaani (Canaanite servant), you can buy someone already enslaved, but here the transaction creates the status. Rashi offers an alternative reading: "eved of an Ivri" (a servant from a Jew), but rejects it based on other pesukim that clarify the law applies to selling a Jewish person himself, not acquiring someone else's servant.