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BEGIN WITH A GRIN

It is said that the Chassidic badchan, R’ Yankel Miller, once attended the wedding of one of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky’s grandsons. As one of his many jokes, he turned to Rabbi Kanievsky with a question about ‘married life.’

“What’s the halacha if the kalla stands and lights Shabbos candles in front of a mirror? After she lights one candle, we already see two – does she need to light another candle, or is that enough?”

Rabbi Kanievsky replied (tongue in cheek), “If she’s standing in front of the mirror, then there are two women there, so four candles are needed…”

PREPARE TO SERVE

This week’s parsha, Mishpatim, begins with the laws of the Eved Ivri (Hebrew slave). The Torah’s discussion of slaves and slavery seems disconnected from our reality. The word ‘slavery’ in our modern world is viewed as a despicable and wretched concept belonging to the Middle Ages or an ancient, almost prehistoric era. There is hardly any place in the world today where slavery is still permitted, and the very thought that people just like us would stand and serve us like robots can send shivers down our spine.

Interestingly, these mitzvos related to slavery laws (such as acquiring a Hebrew slave or the redemption and/or betrothal of a Hebrew maidservant) receive extensive attention in Chassidic teachings. There are entire, lengthy maamarim from all seven generations of Chabad leaders discussing Jewish slavery and its connection to the true and complete Geula.

Let’s start with the first generation of Chabad leaders – the Alter Rebbe. There is a maamar by the Alter Rebbe (printed in Torah Ohr) explaining the three types of slaves mentioned in our portion: the Eved Caanani, the Eved Ivri, and the Ama Ivriya, and their significance in the service of Hashem. Each of these types of slaves symbolizes a different level in serving God, with the Canaanite slave representing the lowest level and the Hebrew maidservant representing the highest level. His grandson, the Tzemach Tzedek, refers to this maamar saying: “It is a very important drush,” and in many places in his writings, he elaborates on the spiritual levels these different slaves hint at and their significance to us in our personal service of Hashem.

Let’s summarize the matters in simple terms, without getting into excessive detail. According to the Tzemach Tzedek, the three types of servants symbolize three levels in the service of Hashem according to the Tanya:

The first and lowest level is that of the Canaanite slave – who is essentially wicked, and as the Talmud describes: “he prefers lawlessness.” He is a person who seeks hefkerus, i.e. he wants to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, without being accountable to anyone, not even to G-d. That’s what he would like to do, but what can he do… he’s a slave, he must work, must obey G-d’s instructions against his will, because if not, it will cost him dearly… He fears the master’s rod, he’s afraid of the whip that the master holds and threatens him with.

On the spiritual level, this refers to a person who serves Hashem out of fear of punishment, out of fear that if he doesn’t obey, he’ll get hit! He has no internal attraction to the master, no spiritual connection to G-d, he doesn’t fulfill commandments out of love, he doesn’t even fulfill them with any desire at all, but rather out of coercion and necessity.

In contrast, the second level in this ‘spiritual servitude’ we’re discussing is the level of the Eved Ivri – who is essentially a “beinoni” (intermediate person), and not just any beinoni, but a beinoni according to the Tanya. That is, a person who “has never transgressed and will never transgress,” he is careful in thought, speech, and action, precise in minor and major matters, to such an extent that committing a sin is completely inconceivable to him. His inner will is the master’s will, his pleasure is in serving G-d, he fulfills mitzvos with love and fear, from an inner feeling, and this is what he lives from. However, he still hasn’t refined his character traits completely, he hasn’t yet completely eliminated the evil within his soul, and therefore he is considered a “beinoni.”

The third level is that of the Hebrew maidservant, symbolizing the tzaddik, someone who has already completed the work of refining their character traits and has completely eliminated the evil within their soul. He has caused a transformation in his soul, where even the evil within him has been converted to absolute good.

BE PREPARED

One might think that the ‘Ama Ivriya’ – the tzaddik – has completed their spiritual work, that they are perfect. What more could be asked of such a person?

The Torah reveals to us that even the ‘Ama Ivriya’ – the tzaddik – hasn’t completed his service. There are two more mitzvos associated with the ‘Ama Ivriya’ – the mitzvos of ‘designation’ and redemption. In simple terms: the master must ‘designate,’ meaning betroth the Ama Ivriya to himself or his son for marriage. And if he doesn’t wish to marry her, then he must help her ‘redeem’ herself from him.

What is the spiritual significance of these matters? What is the message about the service of Hashem is hinted at in this mitzva?

The perfect tzaddik suffers from one thing – from being perfect! His perfect existence can cause a feeling of ‘self-importance,’ as he hasn’t completely nullified himself to the Master, he hasn’t completely surrendered his existence, intellect, and emotions to the Creator. He still feels himself, and while this is indeed a holy existence, even a holy existence is a limitation. Therefore, the solution is: ‘designation.’ In marriage, the chassan and kalla become one unified reality; so too in designated marriage, the master and maidservant unite into one reality. And on the spiritual level, the tzaddik completely nullifies himself to the Master (G-d) and they become one perfect reality.

And what is the message in this regarding Geula?

There is a halacha (Rambam, Laws of Slaves 4:11) that “an Ama Ivriya can only be sold to someone who can potentially marry her or whose son can marry her, so that she would be eligible for designated marriage.” This means that you can’t sell the Ama Ivriya to just anyone, but only to someone who can marry her. This halacha teaches us an important message in our spiritual work. As mentioned above, the three types of slaves represent a kind of “spiritual ladder” of elevation in divine service. Every person begins life as a ‘Canaanite slave,’ forced and compelled to fulfill the will of the Creator, and we hope they will rise higher and higher in their service and reach the level of the Eved Ivri, and perhaps even the level of the Ama Ivriya. But what is the purpose? What is the final goal? What should we be aiming for?

The above halacha teaches us that we should aim for designation – marriage. From here we learn that the purpose of all levels in our service of Hashem (Canaanite slave, Eved Ivri, and Hebrew maidservant) is to reach a state where we are ‘designated’ to G-d. This means that all our actions and service, at whatever level they may be, are only conditional and in order to reach the marriage between G-d (the Master) and the Jewish people (the Hebrew maidservant).

This marriage will occur in Yemos HaMoshiach, in a state where we will unite with G-d in complete unity, while our current work, during the exile, is solely a condition and in order to bring about immediately the longed-for ‘designation’!

TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY

And we’ll end with a Chassidishe story about how connected a Jew should be to service of Hashem with every fiber of their being. Once, at a Simchas Torah gathering in 5682/1922, the Rayatz Rebbe told a story about how a Jew’s entire essence is service of Hashem.

He described how a Jew gets up from bed knowing they need to say brachos, put on tallis and tefillin, and daven, and only afterward can they begin their business. Once, one of the residents of Lubavitch got up from his bed, prepared for prayer, put on tallis and tefillin, and davened. After davening, he went to the neighboring village and bought an animal to slaughter, when suddenly he realized it was still night…!

The moon was shining in full glory, and he hadn’t noticed at all, because in his mind it was simply understood that immediately upon rising from sleep, he must engage in service of Hashem and daven!

Good Shabbos!

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