Parashat Behar - Sixth Aliyah
Read the biblical text and try to understand it on your own, before reading the commentary.
The aliyah addresses a difficult question: what happens when a person from Israel is sold to a fellow Jew. The Torah does not ignore this reality, but sets clear boundaries that distinguish between subjugation and employment.
Not the work of a slave. “Vechi yamukh achikha imakh venimkar lakh lo ta’avod bo avodat aved” (verse 39). The opening is deliberate: your brother. Even when sold, he is still a brother. And his status is clear: “Kesakhir ketoshav yihyeh imakh” (verse 40). A hired worker, not a slave. A resident, not property. The difference is not semantic but practical: it is forbidden to give him degrading work, and it is forbidden to treat him as a possession.
Release at the Jubilee. “Veyatza me’imakh hu uvanav imo veshav el mishpachto ve’el achuzat avotav yashuv” (verse 41). The Jubilee restores everything. Not only him, but also his children. He returns to his family and to his ancestral inheritance. The sale is temporary, not a determination of identity.
The reason. “Ki avadai hem asher hotzeti otam me’eretz Mitzrayim lo yimakhru mimkeret aved” (verse 42). This is the central reason: the children of Israel are servants of God, and therefore they cannot be sold as slaves to flesh and blood. The Exodus did not merely free them from Pharaoh; it established a new ownership. One who belongs to the Sovereign of the universe cannot be ruled by a human being.
The prohibition of harsh labor. “Lo tirdeh vo befrekh veyareta me’Elohekha” (verse 43). Harsh labor (parekh) is work that serves no purpose, designed to break a person. The Torah prohibits it and adds “and you shall fear your God,” because there are things that cannot be verified from the outside. Only the one assigning the work knows whether it serves a need or is meant to oppress.
The distinction. “Uve’acheikhem bnei Yisra’el ish be’achiv lo tirdeh vo befrekh” (verse 46). The Torah repeats the prohibition at the end of the aliyah. The emphasis is double: each person with their brother. Not because the brother is weak, but because they are a brother. The familial bond of the people of Israel is the foundation, not economic status or power.