Slave owners of the wrold - unite!

I do not own slaves. Hubby and my kids may beg to differ (especially around Pesach time) but the truth is I could not even hang on to a cleaning lady when I was very pregnant and in desperate need of one. I just find it very uncomfortable to have people do for me what I am fully capable of doing myself and, even more, I cannot tolerate the idea that someone will see themselves as under my power. Which is weird for someone who revels in ordering people around.

This week's parasha starts with the issue of how to treat slaves and even when other laws intervene, there is usually an insert regarding the special case of slaves for each law. Slavery is very distasteful to us. Not just because we are modern people or because we live in the land of the free, but because we are Jews and we remember a time when we were slaves ourselves and how terrible that was. 

For much of history, slavery was totally acceptable; which is why the Torah sees fit to deal with this instead of just saying "Don't own slaves." People were gonna own slaves anyway. It was the reality of those times and the Torah chose, wisely, to limit the harm instead of fighting a lost cause.

What's so bad about slavery? Let's say the master is sort of OK-ish so you don't really get beaten much, you have enough food to survive, you're allowed a wife and kids and your work is not too unbearable. How is that different from how most of the world lives even today? So what's the problem?

When you're a slave, you are not truly seen as a human. Because you lose the right to exercise free will. It's true that a poor person or a homeless person or an abused person have very few options, but they are (in a civilized society) allowed to chose what (if anything) to do about their situation. The tragedy of slavery is that you can no longer change your circumstances. At best, you might be able to somewhat improve them. When you are a slave, it doesn't matter how hard you work; it would not get you the freedom you want. It doesn't matter what your hopes and dreams are; you are never going to achieve them unless another person will feel like giving you the chance. And that person has the power to take it away if he so wishes. And if that person dies, you are at the mercy of his heirs. You are property, not a person.

But, we no longer own slaves, do we? True, there are places in the world where slavery is still alive and well, and we all hope that someone is doing something about it, but we, personally, do not own anyone. So we're good.

Are we? One does not need to physically own another human in order to enslave them. Every time we treat a person as less than human, we are enslaving them. My aunt Tziporah taught me this lesson. She took me out to lunch soon after my wedding and bought me a set of ceramic pots and bowls. We were sitting in Dizengoff Center (the very first mall in Israel) and after lunch, we went to the ladies' room (as all girls tend to do at every opportunity) and Aunt Tziporah turned to the attendant and said "Good morning, how are you today?" The poor, shabbily dressed, old-before-her-time woman was struck dumb by the fact that someone had acknowledged her existence. Some very well dressed lady (and aunt Tziporah was a super snappy dresser) had recognized her humanity. I never forgot this. I wish I could say I learned from it and became a nice person (note I did not say "nicer"; I do know myself,) but the sad truth is that I, too, ignore service people. I, too, am a "slave-owner."

My children agree. Every time I ask them to empty the dishwasher, they groan and moan and sigh. Do not even get me started on what happens before Pesach. Really, my slave-ownership knows no bounds.

To show just how mean I am, I baked the following for my slaves one cold, blustery afternoon, so that the house smelled of warm chocolate when they came in from school. Truly the sign of a cruel slave driver.


Chocolate chip loaf

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips (look, if we're going to torture our slaves, let's do it right; one and a half cups it is)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk (I used half and half because I am extra cruel. Also, I did not have milk.)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup melted butter (you can use oil, but why would you?)


Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and sugar, Add 1 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips and stir again. Make a well in the center.

In a separate bowl beat eggs with milk, orange juice and vanilla; then blend in the butter.

Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Pour into an oiled and floured loaf pan (I used a regular sized one, which was a mistake. Use a larger one or make two. The pan should not be more than 2/3 of the way full). Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips evenly on top of the batter.

Bake at 350F until golden brown, about 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out unto a wire rack to cool completely.




And the next time you interact with a human being, whether rich or poor, homeless or living in a castle, your employee or a service person, Jew or gentile, be careful not to turn him or her into your slave. The Torah allowed us to own slaves but would have preferred we skip the notion altogether. Free your slaves.

Not you, girls, the dishwasher still has to be emptied.