By Rachel Sacks

In this week’s parasha, Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1-24:18), we’re given lots and lots of laws. These laws include treatment of slaves, physical abuse, theft, and more.

In one peula at this past Veida, we came up with lists of Jewish values. A popular one mentioned in my group was “equality.” This struck me. I consider equality to be a value that I hold, but would I characterize it as a Jewish value?

In parashat Mishpatim, we read that:

“When you acquire a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years; in the seventh year he shall go free, without payment. If he came single, he shall leave single; if he had a wife, his wife shall leave with him. If his master gave him a wife, and she has born him children, the wife and her children shall belong to the master, and he shall leave alone. But if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, and my wife and children: I do not wish to go free,’ his master shall take him before G-D. He shall be brought to the door or the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall then remain his slave for life.” (Exodus 21:2-6)

From this we can understand that a male Hebrew slave was eventually freed, and if he himself chose not to be freed, then he was bound to slavery for life. Women, however, were faced with a different situation.

“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not be freed as male slaves are.” (Exodus 21:7)

It’s been generally understood that the role of a female Hebrew slave was to serve as a wife to a male member of her master’s household. Unlike a male who was sold into slavery, she did not at any point have the choice to gain her freedom.

The rights of male and female slaves were absolutely unequal, an example of where I don’t see equality manifested as a Jewish value.

That said, women’s freedoms have altered over time, with Jewish practice reflecting the traditions of general societies where Jews have lived. For example, there is a halakha—Jewish law—which prescribes that a father must teach his son Torah. However, halakha renders women exempt from this ruling. While the text does not indicate that women are forbidden from the study of Torah, some scholars argue that they should be. Rabbi Eliezer, a commentator of the Mishnah, advocated teaching women only “the laws they need to know in order to conduct a proper Jewish life,” a statement that implies that women should know only enough law that lends them knowledge concerning domestic duties. In the medieval Muslim and Christian worlds, women were exposed to limited education, thus Jewish women were exposed to limited Jewish education. For instance, women in Christian Europe supposedly knew only enough to follow hymns in synagogue or lead other women in prayer. Today in North America, women not only receive basic education along with men, but often participate in advanced education as well. In the Jewish world, many Jewish girls attend either Jewish day schools or Jewish secondary schools, and have the opportunity to continue their religious educations, such as through rabbinical programs.

Not all Jewish women follow contemporary trends, but many do. Women have secular educations in North America, so why shouldn’t Jewish women have religious educations as well?

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