tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post1285499969223160942..comments2024-03-27T16:27:03.093+02:00Comments on Shiloh Musings: Parshat Shavua Mishpatim, עבד "Evved," Slave or Just Employee?Batyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402874037427009327noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-81894769407268202502022-01-30T19:20:30.650+02:002022-01-30T19:20:30.650+02:00Leah, thanks so much for the extra explanation. Leah, thanks so much for the extra explanation. Batyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09402874037427009327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040911.post-25354254456629438702022-01-30T18:39:09.957+02:002022-01-30T18:39:09.957+02:00good article. the evved ivri was what we would cal...good article. the evved ivri was what we would call an "indentured servant" in English - the arrangement was popular in American colonial times, when people who wanted to come to America but couldn't afford a ticket, would hire themselves out for a 24/7 job for a certain number of years. but it is also different because during that time the indentured servant was attached to the job and couldn't quit, no matter how bad the working conditions. and many of them were abused.<br /><br />the way I would describe evved ivri is: a person who is so desperately in debt that his only way to get out of it is to sign a contract for a 24/7 job for 7 years, receiving the whole payment in advance. but he can get out of the contract afterwards if he or maybe his relatives can raise the money to pay back the amount he received, pro rata relative to the number of years left on his contract; or he goes free completely with no payment at the end of 7 years. <br /><br />the Torah and Talmud put severe limits on the working conditions and what the employer is allowed to demand. I'm sure you're familiar with all that, but for any readers who are not familiar - if the employee is injured in any way, he goes free without completing the rest of his contract. if there is only one pillow in the house for sleeping, the employee gets it and not the employer. etc. the employer cannot "sell" him to anyone else. and then the Torah prescribes generous severance pay at the end of the 7 years so he will have a good start and not go into debt again right away.<br /><br />so I really think it is inaccurate to describe it as "slavery". it is nothing like the chattel slavery of the US South prior to the Civil War; or the Roman or Greek slavery where a slave was considered an "animated tool" and could be worked to death, or beaten or executed for no reason at the master's whim.Leah Snoreply@blogger.com