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Feb. 1st, 2008
Two panels of Exodus – the Book’s liberation narrative, and its legal material – are separated by a barrier of water, marking the passage from slavery to freedom (Alter). Our reading begins the “Covenant Code,” a set of ancient tribal laws. Here are rules about Hebrew male slavery (really indentured service), female slavery (really debt concubinage), murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, cursing parents, assault, property damage, theft and burglary. As in the Ten Commandments, a first set of rules starts by addressing slavery and a second starts by addressing murder. The “eye for an eye” principle is established. ¶Critical to the religious debate over abortion is 21:6, which states that if a pregnant woman miscarries as a result of men fighting, the perpetrator must pay damages for loss of the fetus, while if the woman is injured, the penalty is criminal. Rashi’s conclusion, lav nefesh hu (the fetus “is not a person”), is the basis of a liberal halachic approach to abortion. A Greek mistranslation of the word ason (“injury”) in this verse, as “formed” (i.e. an embryo), is the origin of the Christian belief that abortion is homicide. (by Larry Magarik)
Haftarah Notes: : The Torah reading limits the duration of Hebrew slavery to six years, but the Haftarah reveals that this limit was not obeyed. When Babylonia laid siege to Jerusalem in 589 BCE, Judah’s king ordered the slave-owners to win God’s favor by liberating their slaves. When the siege was temporarily lifted, the masters reasoned that the reprieve was due not to God, but to the advance of the Egyptian army, and they returned their slaves to bondage. Jeremiah, advocating emancipation and opposing an alliance with Egypt (the ancestral “house of bondage”), attacked this breach of covenant. Ancient contracts were concluded by cutting an animal in half, and Jeremiah predicted that God would punish Judah for its breach of covenant by cutting her king and masters in half. ¶Like Jeremiah, Abraham Lincoln reasoned that the sin of slavery results in bloodshed. (by Larry Magarik)
Larry Magarik is a lawyer and member of Park Slope Jewish Center.
Haftarah Notes: : The Torah reading limits the duration of Hebrew slavery to six years, but the Haftarah reveals that this limit was not obeyed. When Babylonia laid siege to Jerusalem in 589 BCE, Judah’s king ordered the slave-owners to win God’s favor by liberating their slaves. When the siege was temporarily lifted, the masters reasoned that the reprieve was due not to God, but to the advance of the Egyptian army, and they returned their slaves to bondage. Jeremiah, advocating emancipation and opposing an alliance with Egypt (the ancestral “house of bondage”), attacked this breach of covenant. Ancient contracts were concluded by cutting an animal in half, and Jeremiah predicted that God would punish Judah for its breach of covenant by cutting her king and masters in half. ¶Like Jeremiah, Abraham Lincoln reasoned that the sin of slavery results in bloodshed. (by Larry Magarik)
Larry Magarik is a lawyer and member of Park Slope Jewish Center.
Two panels of Exodus – the Book’s liberation narrative, and its legal material – are separated by a barrier of water, marking the passage from slavery to freedom (Alter). Our reading begins the “Covenant Code,” a set of ancient tribal laws. Here are rules about Hebrew male slavery (really indentured service), female slavery (really debt concubinage), murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, cursing parents, assault, property damage, theft and burglary. As in the Ten Commandments, a first set of rules starts by addressing slavery and a second starts by addressing murder. The “eye for an eye” principle is established. ¶Critical to the religious debate over abortion is 21:6, which states that if a pregnant woman miscarries as a result of men fighting, the perpetrator must pay damages for loss of the fetus, while if the woman is injured, the penalty is criminal. Rashi’s conclusion, lav nefesh hu (the fetus “is not a person”), is the basis of a liberal halachic approach to abortion. A Greek mistranslation of the word ason (“injury”) in this verse, as “formed” (i.e. an embryo), is the origin of the Christian belief that abortion is homicide. (by Larry Magarik)
Haftarah Notes: : The Torah reading limits the duration of Hebrew slavery to six years, but the Haftarah reveals that this limit was not obeyed. When Babylonia laid siege to Jerusalem in 589 BCE, Judah’s king ordered the slave-owners to win God’s favor by liberating their slaves. When the siege was temporarily lifted, the masters reasoned that the reprieve was due not to God, but to the advance of the Egyptian army, and they returned their slaves to bondage. Jeremiah, advocating emancipation and opposing an alliance with Egypt (the ancestral “house of bondage”), attacked this breach of covenant. Ancient contracts were concluded by cutting an animal in half, and Jeremiah predicted that God would punish Judah for its breach of covenant by cutting her king and masters in half. ¶Like Jeremiah, Abraham Lincoln reasoned that the sin of slavery results in bloodshed. (by Larry Magarik)
Larry Magarik is a lawyer and member of Park Slope Jewish Center.
Haftarah Notes: : The Torah reading limits the duration of Hebrew slavery to six years, but the Haftarah reveals that this limit was not obeyed. When Babylonia laid siege to Jerusalem in 589 BCE, Judah’s king ordered the slave-owners to win God’s favor by liberating their slaves. When the siege was temporarily lifted, the masters reasoned that the reprieve was due not to God, but to the advance of the Egyptian army, and they returned their slaves to bondage. Jeremiah, advocating emancipation and opposing an alliance with Egypt (the ancestral “house of bondage”), attacked this breach of covenant. Ancient contracts were concluded by cutting an animal in half, and Jeremiah predicted that God would punish Judah for its breach of covenant by cutting her king and masters in half. ¶Like Jeremiah, Abraham Lincoln reasoned that the sin of slavery results in bloodshed. (by Larry Magarik)
Larry Magarik is a lawyer and member of Park Slope Jewish Center.