What does the Torah have to do with social contracts? What does the Torah have to do with relativistic moral laws that are dependent upon the social structure within which a community operates? I
Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them. If you buy a Hebrew slave, six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If his master has given him a wife and she has born him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if the slave shall plainly say, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free.” Then his master shall bring him to the judges; he shall also bring him to the door or to the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever. (Shemot 21:1-7)
In this shiur, we will note a particular anomaly in the phrasing of a number of the mishpatim in our parasha. We will also consider the appearance of the word elohim/Elokim and attempt to understand its significance.
We will bring many indicators that the peshat of "an eye for an eye" refers to monetary compensation, as opposed to actual removal of the eye, and we will further analyze why the Torah wrote the instruction in this manner.
