ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף ירמיהו 17:5

(1) Since the servant's situation comprises lessons applying to all three types of "righteousness," it is the first of the many mitzvot discussed in our Parshah. As a free agent, the servant is able to sell his body's services without reference to a second party. In this way he acts within the framework of his relationship vis a vis himself. The relationship of the servant with his family has to be regulated. His position in society has to be regulated. So we see that in this legislation all aspects of tzedek, righteousness are touched upon. (2) Since the servant is a Jew, the Torah demands that at the end of his service he must be given one of the three kinds of freedom. He can be freed either after six years, or with the advent of the jubilee year, (if this occurs within the six years) or if he has the funds to compensate his master for services expected but not rendered. Another reason why the servant would leave the employ of his master would be the death of his master. His services are not inherited by the master's heirs. He must not be worked too hard. Since he is not the physical property of the employer, he must be given good food. At the time he is released from service, he must be given a financial stake to enable him to establish himself. All this is done from an aspect of tzedek, righteousness. On the other hand, being mated with a female slave girl of non Jewish origin, and not being able to claim either the girl or the children she bore him at the time of his release, already paves the way for such a servant to lose his independence, since he will likely contract to remain with his employer for longer than the initial six years he had contracted. Therefore, he will have his ear pierced to remind him that he has chosen to lose his freedom. The passage clearly indicated the Torah's displeasure with people who try to escape their responsibilities in life by throwing the burden of their livelihood onto an employer, and to escape the financial obligations involved in establishing a home and hearth. Since the servant did not want this responsibility, if he leaves after six years,- he leaves as he came in, without capital. If he had wanted to save a dowry when he received the lump sum payment for his six years service in advance, he does receive a stake, but his wife and children will never be his; they stay with the employer having been the employer's physical property. In order to be able to hang on to his wife and children under such circumstances, the servant has to undergo the procedure of having his ear pierced and become a permanent servant for all practical purposes. This is hardly compatible with what he had had in mind at the outset, i.e. a carefree life on easy street without worries. A person who places more trust in the apparent security provided by a human employer than in G-d’s Providence, needs to be taught this lesson. (1) Similarly, all three aspects of tzedek, righteousness are present in the situation of the girl whose father sells her services. To the extent that her employer ought to marry her when she reaches puberty, that is the second aspect of tzedek. To the extent that the employer fails to marry her or divorces her, her position in society henceforth represents the third aspect of tzedek, and forms the subject of appropriate legislation in our Parshah. (3) The reason that the Torah says the servant must not be sold to "another nation," is to emphasize that a sale to any other person, is considered like a sale to another nation. The compensations are mentioned since wealthy people normally marry wives from well to do families, and therefore the poor servant girl may not long remain the wife of her one time employer, or she may have to compete with another wife from a wealthier background. Her social standing therefore needs bolstering. She must not be disadvantaged because she brought nothing into the marriage. If her employer fails to wed her for himself or for one of his sons, she deserves her freedom immediately, and does not owe any money for the shortened period of service she rendered her employer.

Furthermore, this will be the strongest factor for denying him the object of his trust, as written "cursed is the man who trusts in men,.. and turns his heart away from G-d" (Yirmiya 17:5).

Among them, peace of mind, and trusting in G-d as a servant must trust in his master, because if one does not place his trust in G-d, he will place his trust in something else, and whoever trusts in something other than G-d, the Al-mighty will remove His providence from such a person, and leave him in the hands of the one he trusted, and he will be as it was written: "For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the spring of living waters, to dig for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that do not hold water" (Yirmiya 2:13), "They exchanged their Glory for the likeness of an ox eating grass" (Tehilim 106:20),"Blessed is the man who trusts in the L-ord; the L-ord shall be his refuge" (Yirmiya 17:7), "Praiseworthy is the man who made the L-ord his trust, and did not turn to the haughty and those who turn to falsehood." (Tehilim 40:5), "Cursed is the man who trusts in man, who makes flesh his strength and whose heart turns away from the L-ord" (Yirmiya 17:5).