liberated, for his eye. Even in a system that allows slavery, a master does not own the slave’s body. The master can require work from a slave, but damaging the slave’s eye or tooth steps over the line, and the master no longer owns the slave. This reminds us also of the Egyptian enslavement of Israel. The Egyptians are not criticized for having slaves, but rather for the way they treat the slaves: “They degraded them…. They made them serve with harshness … they made their lives bitter with hard work …” They killed the male infants. The Torah did not bring about the end of slavery by
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