This sheet on Exodus 21 was written by Marc Gitler for 929 and can also be found here
Some Biblical rules like slavery don’t stand the test of time, thus it is no surprise that many rabbinic sermons also fail.
On Friday January 4th 1861, Rabbi Morris Raphall ascended his pulpit in the second oldest synagogue in New York, B’nai Jeshurun. Just days earlier President James Buchanan had proclaimed the day as one of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer,” because the country was “threatened with alarming and immediate danger,” due to slavery. Buchanan implored Americans “with deep contrition and penitent sorrow, [to] unite in humbling ourselves before the Most High, in confessing our individual and national sins,” Raphall disagreed.
In a lengthy sermon, later published in a forty plus page pamphlet, Raphall argued that slavery has existed since earliest times, and is “an integral part of the social structure.” Not only is it not a sin, but “slave property is expressly placed under the protection of the Ten Commandments.” He called Noah’s cursing of his grandson Ham a bitter curse that “to this day remains a fact… the unfortunate negro is indeed the meanest of slaves.”
Raphall’s views were met with “fiery attacks and declamations,” but he insisted that facts are facts, and wrote in the preface to the publication that his “discourse will not fall, for it embodies the word of our God, which standeth good forever.”
Of course, there were other voices. David Einhorn, a German born Rabbi and the leader of Reform Judaism in America, disputed Raphall’s arguments. He reasoned that our history as slaves in Egypt should make us more sensitive to the predicament of slaves. He dismissed the assertion that the ten commandments defined slaves as property, and argued that biblical precedent could not justify slavery, just as it couldn’t defend bigamy, even though Abraham had two wives.
Sometimes the rabbis are spot on, but the congregants fail miserably.
Einhorn delivered his response when he was the rabbi of the oldest continual Reform congregation in America, Har Sinai Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland. Lying south of the Mason-Dixon line, Maryland was a slave state. On April 19th, 1861, just a week after the Civil War officially began, a riot broke out and Einhorn was forced to flee his home. Nearly two decades later, a New York Times obituary described how “the night before he left Baltimore a number of his friends had to surround his house to prevent his enemies from mobbing him.” He relocated to Philadelphia, a city that lacked both slaves and mob "justice."
On Friday January 4th 1861, Rabbi Morris Raphall ascended his pulpit in the second oldest synagogue in New York, B’nai Jeshurun. Just days earlier President James Buchanan had proclaimed the day as one of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer,” because the country was “threatened with alarming and immediate danger,” due to slavery. Buchanan implored Americans “with deep contrition and penitent sorrow, [to] unite in humbling ourselves before the Most High, in confessing our individual and national sins,” Raphall disagreed.
In a lengthy sermon, later published in a forty plus page pamphlet, Raphall argued that slavery has existed since earliest times, and is “an integral part of the social structure.” Not only is it not a sin, but “slave property is expressly placed under the protection of the Ten Commandments.” He called Noah’s cursing of his grandson Ham a bitter curse that “to this day remains a fact… the unfortunate negro is indeed the meanest of slaves.”
Raphall’s views were met with “fiery attacks and declamations,” but he insisted that facts are facts, and wrote in the preface to the publication that his “discourse will not fall, for it embodies the word of our God, which standeth good forever.”
Of course, there were other voices. David Einhorn, a German born Rabbi and the leader of Reform Judaism in America, disputed Raphall’s arguments. He reasoned that our history as slaves in Egypt should make us more sensitive to the predicament of slaves. He dismissed the assertion that the ten commandments defined slaves as property, and argued that biblical precedent could not justify slavery, just as it couldn’t defend bigamy, even though Abraham had two wives.
Sometimes the rabbis are spot on, but the congregants fail miserably.
Einhorn delivered his response when he was the rabbi of the oldest continual Reform congregation in America, Har Sinai Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland. Lying south of the Mason-Dixon line, Maryland was a slave state. On April 19th, 1861, just a week after the Civil War officially began, a riot broke out and Einhorn was forced to flee his home. Nearly two decades later, a New York Times obituary described how “the night before he left Baltimore a number of his friends had to surround his house to prevent his enemies from mobbing him.” He relocated to Philadelphia, a city that lacked both slaves and mob "justice."
(ב) כִּ֤י תִקְנֶה֙ עֶ֣בֶד עִבְרִ֔י שֵׁ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים יַעֲבֹ֑ד וּבַ֨שְּׁבִעִ֔ת יֵצֵ֥א לַֽחָפְשִׁ֖י חִנָּֽם׃
(2) When you acquire a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years; in the seventh year he shall go free, without payment.
Rabbi Marc Gitler works for 929 North America
929 is the number of chapters in the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, the formative text of the Jewish heritage. It is also the name of a cutting-edge project dedicated to creating a global Jewish conversation anchored in the Hebrew Bible. 929 English invites Jews everywhere to read and study Tanakh, one chapter a day, Sunday through Thursday together with a website with creative readings and pluralistic interpretations, including audio and video, by a wide range of writers, artists, rabbis, educators, scholars, students and more. As an outgrowth of the web-based platform, 929 English also offers classes, pop-up lectures, events and across North America. We invite you to learn along with us and be part of our dynamic community.
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