PARASHAT MISHPATIM

THE HEBREW MAIDSERVANT

"And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant. "(Shemot 21:7) The laws of Jewish slaves are difficult to deal with, especially for women. We wonder how can it be fair that a father has the right to sell his daughter to become a maidservant? Which transgression made her deserve such a degrading position? It is, however, an unfortunate fact of life, that the social position of parents affects their children.
Nevertheless, Rambam explains that the father is not permitted to sell his daughter unless he becomes so destitute that he loses all his possessions, including the shirt off his back. Ralbag agrees that a man is not allowed to sell his daughter unless he has absolutely no other way to support himself. Although he sold her because of desperate poverty, Rambam holds that the father should be forced to redeem her, and avoid a blemish on the family. Regarding the end of the next verse: "seeing that he has dealt deceitfully with her," which according to the simple meaning refers to the master who neglected his moral obligation to marry his maidservant is explained by Rashi to refer to the father, as well. The father dealt deceitfully with her by selling her to a man, who was unwilling to marry her, when she reached maturity. Therefore, the father is not permitted to sell her again. Meam Loez holds that the father behaved in an extremely cruel way. He should rather be a stone carrier to avoid selling his daughter. The Mincha Belula notes that our verse calls the father "a man" because he does not deserve the title "father", since he had no mercy on his daughter. He treated her as a stranger, and not as expected of a father.

A PROTECTION FOR THE DAUGHTER

We might ask, if selling one's daughter as a maidservant is such an act of cruelty, then why does the Torah permit it in the first place? It is possible that the laws of the maidservant are intended to protect the daughter. When a father is not in the position to support her, he has the opportunity to hand over her care to another man, who will provide for her. When she reaches maturity, the man who took her in as a maidservant, is expected to either marry her himself, or marry her off to his son. Upon marriage, the Torah makes clear that she receives the exact same rights as a free woman: "And if he has betrothed her unto his son, he shall do unto her after the manner of daughters." (Shemot 21:9) Let us imagine what would happen to the poor girl without this social institution. She might have either died of starvation, or have had to degrade herself searching the next door garbage can for potato peels. Who would ever want to marry this sullen eyed girl in rags, without a dowry? Becoming a maidservant protects her from having to sleep on hard straw-mats and wash toilet seats until the end of her life. The laws of slaves ensure that the master treats her exactly as his own daughter, providing her with the same standard of beds, clothing and food. The master is also not allowed to make her do degrading kinds of work such as tying his shoes. Upon her marriage, the master is even obligated to provide her with a dowry.

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