Musar su Esodo 21:6

The first of the משפטים deals with the Jewish servant, both male and female, and is hinted at already in the first of the Ten Commandments. G–d had liberated Israel from bondage to become exclusively His servants. We know from Leviticus 25,55, that כי לי בני ישראל עבדים, that "the children of Israel are My slaves." Rashi refers to this when explaining why the servant who chooses to remain in service has his ear pierced with an awl (Exodus 21,6).

Just as the six days of creation being "G–d's days," are viewed as the equivalent of one thousand years each, so the Kabbalists view this as a reference to the six thousand years this physical world will exist before a period of one thousand years of ruin, i.e. a period without creative activity, ישבות. This process is supposed to repeat itself seven times until the year fifty thousand, which is the סוד, secret of the יובל, ultimate freedom. The Exodus is to be viewed as a branch of the tree which represents universal history. This idea was hinted at already at the time of the Exodus, when Israel escaped the power (limitations imposed on all creatures) of the fifty levels of בינה, insight. This is the deeper meaning of וחמושים עלו בני ישראל in Exodus 13,18, i.e. that the target of the ascent was "fifty." The idea is that when attaining the fiftieth level, one has achieved more than merely escaping a branch of the fifty levels of בינה. [These 50 gates of בינה are perhaps identical with the 50 gates of טומאה that we are all familiar with from Midrashic literature. At any rate, they represent different levels of restraint, exposure to the pull of the material universe. Ed.] The fact that יציאת מצרים is mentioned in the Torah exactly fifty times may further reinforce the idea that after reaching level fifty freedom becomes absolute. The author suggests that the average lifespan of man of seventy years is a further reminder of this concept, allowing for the fact that man is not judged by Heaven for misdemeanours committed during the first twenty years of his life. Even the male Jewish servant who has his ear pierced, must go free not later than in the fiftieth year, יובל, which is the meaning of Exodus 21,6, "he shall serve לעולם."

All of these ideas are alluded to in the blessing that Jacob took from Esau. Since Isaac personified the מדת הדין here on earth, he loved Esau who צד ציד, i.e. hunted people, acted as Satan does. Esau's other name אדום alludes to something red, i.e. blood. Isaac, on the other hand, represented the redness of the wine which is still preserved inside the grapes. There was an affinity between Isaac and Esau which is symbolized by wine and blood respectively. Jacob prepared delicacies for his father in Heaven at the advice of his mother who symbolized כנסת ישראל, the concept of the Jewish people. Jacob realized that all of his father's desire was concentrated on the delicacies he had prepared. He therefore prepared them with a mixture of sweet water and rooted himself in holiness in the mystical dimension of the birthright [having acquired this from Esau]. By doing this, he forced the wicked Esau out of occupying a higher spiritual plateau than that of himself, and he caused Esau to separate himself from Jacob and to go to his own country and his own people. He would forthwith not be able to act as accuser, but would be turned into a perennial slave, just as the slave in Exodus 21,6 who has his ear pierced as evidence that he belongs to his master permanently. Isaac explained all this to Esau when he said to him: הן גביר שמתיו לך, "Here I have made him senior to you." At that point, Isaac's former name קצחי was changed to יצחק.