Parshas Mishpatim: Jewish Slavery and the Principle of Personal Responsibility

Rabbi Zweig opens by noting several structural anomalies in Parshas Mishpatim. The Torah (תורה) begins its social-justice legislation with the laws of a Jewish slave (eved ivri), a topic that seems both obscure and temporally distant—these laws wouldn't apply until the Jewish people conquered and settled the Land of Israel. More puzzling still, the laws of theft that create the conditions for slavery appear 40 verses later. The logical structure would be: first present the law of theft, then explain that an insolvent thief is sold as a slave, and finally detail the laws governing such slavery. Instead, the Torah presents these in reverse order. Even more striking is the Torah's language: "Ki tikneh eved ivri"—"When you acquire a Jewish slave." Rashi (רש"י) spends ten lines proving this refers to a Jewish slave rather than a non-Jewish slave owned by a Jew, because the phrase is fundamentally ambiguous. Rabbi Zweig asks: Why not simply say "Ki tikneh ivri"—"When you acquire a Jew"? That would be both clearer and more accurate, since you're not actually buying someone who is already a slave—you're buying a Jew who then becomes your slave through the transaction. The addition of the word "eved" (slave) creates confusion and seems grammatically incorrect.