Everything You Didn't Know About Slaves in Judaism

Immediately after Matan Torah (the giving of the Torah), Moshe begins to teach the people and starts with the laws that pertain to owning slaves. After centuries of slavery in Egypt, the Jewish people had just gone free. Perhaps more than anyone else, they could understand why one must be considerate of slaves and bondsmen. The Torah and Halacha (Jewish law) list many laws aimed at honoring Jewish bondsmen and limiting the harm caused to them. Here are some of the most important ones:

A Jewish bondsman is neither sold publicly on the auction block, nor in alleys where slaves are typically sold, as it is written, "They shall not be sold as slaves are sold," but rather only privately and with dignity (Torat Kohanim Leviticus 21, Rambam Avadim 1:5).

A woman is neither sold into servitude to cover the cost of property that she stole, nor can she sell herself into servitude (Sotah 23a, Rambam Avadim 1:2). By definition, it is a violation of the laws of modesty for a woman to be under another's control.

A convert cannot be sold as a Jewish bondsman (Bava Metzia 71a, Rambam Avadim 1:2). The Torah is sensitive to a convert's mindset and situation and understands that he cannot be humiliated by being sold into servitude, even if he stole!

It is forbidden to make a Jewish bondsman perform backbreaking labor. Similarly, his master cannot ask him to perform work without limits... One should not say, "Hoe under the vines until I return," since no time limit was set, but rather, "Hoe until such-and-such hour." It is even forbidden to ask him to heat a cup of warm water or cool it if it isn't necessary (Torat Kohanim Leviticus 21, Rambam Avadim 1:6).

It is forbidden to ask a Jewish bondsman to carry one's belongings to the bathhouse, as it is written, "You shall not work him with rigor." It is forbidden to employ him as a barber or baker for the public unless this was his profession before he was sold (Mechilta Leviticus 21, Rambam Avadim 1:7).

One cannot demand that a Jewish bondsman learn a trade he did not know as a free man. Instead, he should work at what he was trained to do before he was sold into servitude (ibid).

A master must treat his Jewish bondsman as his equal when it comes to food, drink, clothing, and housing, as it is written, "For it is good for him with you..." And he must treat him like a brother (Kiddushin 20a, Rambam Avadim 1:9).

If the Jewish bondsman falls ill, up to four years of illness count toward his six-year term of servitude (Kiddushin 16b, Rambam Avadim 2:5).

The master is obligated to provide for the Jewish bondsman's wife, though her earnings remain her own (Kiddushin 22a, Rambam Avadim 3:1).

Upon freeing his Jewish bondsman, a master must provide him with gifts worth thirty sela (Kiddushin 17a, Rambam Avadim 3:14).

A father is not permitted to sell his daughter into servitude unless he has become impoverished and has nothing left, neither land nor movable property, not even the clothing on his back. Even so, we compel the father to redeem her after selling her (Kiddushin 20a, Rambam Avadim 4:2). One who purchases a female bondswoman is not permitted to sell her to another, which is considered a betrayal; he must either keep her or free her (Exodus 21:8).