What’s Wrong with a Servant Who Wants to Remain a Servant?
The second commandment to not have any other gods serves as the basis for the law that a Hebrew servant who refuses to be released from servitude after his six years must have his ear bored.
The Talmud, cites the Sage Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai whose students posed the question to him: „why does he deserve to have his ear bored and why the ear in particular?“
The Jerusalem Talmud gives Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai’s response: „The Jew whose ear heard the words, ‘don’t have any other gods in My presence’ and nevertheless removed the yoke of heaven and accepted upon himself the yoke of a flesh and blood. [deserves to be bored].“
The Jerusalem Talmud then cites an additional rationale for the boring of the ear: „The ear that heard before Mount Sinai, ‘The children of Israel are My servants,’ and he went and acquired another master, the ear must therefore come and be bored.“
The Babylonian Talmud addresses the same issue but only provides the second explanation.
We must try to understand why becoming a servant is a repudiation of the second commandment of not serving other gods and why the Babylonian Talmud omits that rationale.
The question is even stronger since the Jerusalem Talmud is generally more concise than the Babylonia Talmud. Yet it adds another explanation that is absent in the Babylonian Talmud.
Another question has been raised as to why the boring of the ear would be performed only after the servant insists on remaining a servant. Shouldn’t the servant be penalized for the fact that he sold himself in the first place?
Two Talmuds: Two Perspectives
One of the salient differences between the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud is that the Jerusalem Talmud does not contain the plethora of questions and arguments that the Babylonian Talmud is known for.
The Babylonian Talmud itself characterizes its style as one that gropes in the dark. The Jerusalem Talmud, by contrast, is the Talmud of Light. In the Jerusalem Talmud solutions to questions are clear, to the point, without the back-and-forth dialectic approach of the Babylonian Talmud.
This is comparable to a person in a dark room who seeks to leave. He must grope until he finds the exit. The person who turns on the light can go straight to the exit without going through trial and error.
This characteristic of light of the Jerusalem Talmud is often compared to the teachings of Kabbalah and Chassidus, which likewise contain few questions and debates. For this reason, these mystical teachings are identified as the Torah of Moshiach; a sample of the mystical teachings that will be revealed in the Messianic Age by Moshiach, who will be channeling G-d’s most esoteric knowledge, as it says, „A new Torah will emerge from Me,“ referring to the new vistas of Torah that will be revealed in the future.
The Intermediary
It may be suggested that the Jerusalem Talmud is the intermediary between the Kabbalistic teachings of the future which have few questions and arguments. The Jerusalem Talmud, with its similar feature of clarity, appears to be the intermediary between the revealed exoteric aspects of Torah that were revealed to us from Sinai onward and the inner esoteric dimension that will be fully revealed in the future Messianic Age.
In other words, the Jerusalem Talmud may be seen as the bridge between the world of exile and the world of Redemption. The world of conflict and the world of tranquility.
Answering the Questions
With this introduction we can attempt to answer the questions raised above concerning the diverse approaches of the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds:
When a Jew allows himself to become a subject of another human being, that compromises his total subservience to G-d. However, when a Jew lives in exile, which has been imposed on him by G-d and circumstances beyond his control he cannot claim that his desire to remain a servant is a repudiation of the belief in one G-d. After all, G-d Himself thrust the Jew into an exile state with an exile its concomitant mindset. However, while in exile, it can be expected that a Jew, while being subservient to its dominant power, must not savor or celebrate it.
That would be the perspective of the Babylonian Talmud, which identified with and appreciated the „demands“ of exile. That the Jew in exile recognizes that G-d is the supreme Master could suffice to not being in violation of the command to not have other gods.
When however, the Jew goes „overboard“ and extends his mandatory servile employment because he loves his new wife and his master, that cannot be tolerated even from an exile mindset. How can a Jew enjoy exile, and thrive on it? That is untenable and unconscionable.
However, from the more Redemption oriented leaning of the Jerusalem Talmud, any gesture of servitude towards another master that is not mandated by circumstances, such as basic subsistence, is a repudiation of the command to not have other masters. The Jerusalem Talmud, which expresses the trans-exile mindset sees that desire to celebrate exile as utter blasphemy. It is not just a sign that your subservience to G-d is lacking, it is a form of idol worship. It’s comparable to one who is in the king’s presence, and turns away from the king to chat with one of his ministers.
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai’s Bridge Generation
We can now also understand why it was Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai ‘s students who are cited in the Jerusalem Talmud as the ones who asked the question about the boring of the ear. They lived precisely at the time the Second Temple was destroyed and the transition between the period of the Holy Temple and the exile. They were in a state of limbo coming from a time when G-d’s presence was more pronounced and the subsequent concealment following the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash.
They were therefore uncertain about the need for boring the ear as to whether it was due to the more benign violation of serving another master when they were G-d’s servants or was it perhaps more egregious violation and a form of utter blasphemy.
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, despite having lived through the destruction, retained his „Jerusalem Talmud“ outlook and saw the utter blasphemy in the action of the servant who wanted to remain a servant to other humans.
Our Bridge Generation
It may be suggested that we too, although still ensconced in exile, have been exposed to the illuminating, redemptive oriented teachings of Chassidus, and are expected to see through the darkness of exile and follow the more radical approach of the Jerusalem Talmud.
This is particularly true now that the Rebbe has revealed to us that we are standing on the very cusp of the Messianic Era, when the entire world will be inundated with and submerged in the knowledge of G-d. From that perspective, no Jew should even contemplate considering himself or herself a subject of any master, except for Moses and other Jewish leaders who serve as G-d’s agents to teach us His Torah. They are the transparent channels of G-d’s light.