Nature of the Bondage/2
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Nature of the Bondage
Exegetical Approaches
Slaves to the State
The enslavement took the form of a labor tax to the State. This opinion subdivides regarding the nature and conditions of this tax:
Sweatshop Conditions
The Israelites were forced to labor year round for Paroh under extremely harsh conditions.
Sources:Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Rashi, Ralbag, HaKetav VeHaKabbalah, Shadal, R. David Zvi Hoffmann
"וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלָיו שָׂרֵי מִסִּים" – Most of these sources1 understand that this refers to a labor tax.2 The nation was conscripted to work in building storehouses for the State, as stated in the end of the verse, "וַיִּבֶן עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹת לְפַרְעֹה".
Description of slavery in Shemot 5 – The description of officers in charge of laborers, set quotas of bricks and the very fact that Moshe asks permission from Paroh and not individual slave owners for the nation's three day release all support the idea that the nation were slaves to the State.
"וַיַּעֲבִדוּ מִצְרַיִם אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל" – These sources understand "מִצְרַיִם" to refer to Egypt (the State) rather than lay Egyptians. The worsening of the slavery described in the verse relates not to its scope but to the intensification of the labor demanded. R. Hoffmann suggests that though initially the people worked on building projects needed for the public, in this second stage they were given work beyond their capabilities, solely for the purpose of oppression. Ralbag similarly claims that now they were worked beyond what the law would normally allow.
"בְּפָרֶךְ" – These sources see in this word evidence of the severity of the slavery:
- Physical suffering – Rashi, Shadal and R. Hoffmann all assert that the word "פָרֶךְ" relates to "breaking"3 and that the verse refers to the back-breaking labor imposed on the Israelites.
- Emotional suffering – HaKetav VeHaKabbalah suggests that the word hints to emotional suffering caused by the labor. He understands the root "פרך" to mean "stop"4 and explains that the Egyptians would constantly stop the Israelites mid-project to work on another one. This moving from job to job without ever seeing their labor come to fruition was just as painful to the soul as the hard toil was to their bodies.
"וַיְמָרְרוּ אֶת חַיֵּיהֶם בַּעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה" – Ralbag claims that Paroh intentionally gave the nation physically difficult labor (as opposed to metallurgy or the like) so as to weaken and destroy their bodies.
"לֹא תֹאסִפוּן לָתֵת תֶּבֶן לָעָם" – The new decree that the nation find their own straw suggests that efficiency was not foremost in Paroh's mind, but rather oppression.
Were the Israelites the only ones taxed? This position would likely claim that the Israelites were singled out to be oppressed. This works with the fact that the verses present the oppression as a solution to the demographic problem presented by the Israelites in particular.
Where did the Israelites live? Though the labor conditions were severe, unlike concentration camp workers, the Israelites did not live in barracks on site but had their own homes to which they returned whenever their work ended.
Free time? It is not clear how many hours a day the slaves were forced to work. The fact that Paroh's task-masters question why some people did not finish their quotas of bricks suggests that the people ended their labor at a certain hour and were not forced to stay until the work was done.5
Freedom of movement – These sources offer different opinions to explain how some of the Israelites6 appear to have freedom of movement. Rashi, following R. Yehoshua b. Levi, suggests that the Tribe of Levi was exempt from the enslavement. Ralbag, instead, maintains that people who could afford to pay a monetary tax were not forced to work. See Who was Enslaved in Egypt? for more.
Own possessions – The verses of Shemot testify that, unlike concentration camps prisoners, the Israelites had their own possessions including sheep and cattle.
Genocide – Ralbag asserts that the decree of genocide was probably very short-lived and intact only in the period around Moshe's birth. He points out that otherwise there should have been no males under the age of 80 when leaving Egypt,7 which is clearly not the case.8 This is further supported by the fact that whenever the Torah refers back to the oppression in Egypt it highlights the enslavement rather than the genocide, suggesting that the former was the bigger problem.
Purpose of punishment – According to this approach, Paroh is likely punished for his harsh treatment of the Israelites. It is not clear, however, why lay Egyptians should have also been included if they did not enslave anyone personally. These sources might suggest that the plagues were primarily meant to be educative rather than retributive, teaching the Egyptians to recognize Hashem. See Purpose of the Plagues for more.
Corvée Labor
The nation worked in rotation; each Israelite labored for several weeks or months at a time, and then was free to go home until his next shift.
וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלָיו שָׂרֵי מִסִּים – R"Y Bekhor Shor understands this to refer to a labor tax rather than a monetary one.10
Biblical parallels – R"Y Bekhor Shor compares this labor tax to that of Shelomo when building the Beit HaMikdash, where the people would work for one month and then return home for two.11 If so, Paroh's actions were not all that different from that of other monarchs who forced certain segments of the population to work for them for set periods of time.
Were the Israelites the only ones taxed? R"Y Bekhor Shor asserts that the rest of the Egyptians paid a different tax to Paroh, giving a fifth of their crops to the king.12 Precisely because the Children of Israel were exempt from this tithe,13 they were instead forced to build the storehouses for the wheat.14 Even R"Y Bekhor Shor agrees, however, that the forced labor later intensified and extended to other types of work including sowing and irrigation.
Own homes and possessions – R"Y Bekhor Shor explains that since the Israelites were not always working for Paroh, they had their own homes and possessions15 and the time to support their own families.16 In fact, Hashem's command that the Israelites request vessels "מִגָּרַת בֵּיתָהּ", suggests that they might even have had Egyptian tenants.17
Freedom of movement – This position could explain that Aharon had the freedom to meet Moshe in the desert because he was not working at the time. Aharon would not have been unique; many others at any given time might also have been able to leave the country for a short period.
Did women and children work as well? R"Y Bekhor Shor might posit that the building was limited to men as in other cases of conscripted labor. This would explain how Yocheved and Miriam18 appear not to be enslaved in Shemot 2.
Payment to Yocheved – According to this position, many Israelites might have had other employment during the periods when they were not working for Paroh. Thus, Paroh's daughter's offering compensation to Yocheved for nursing was simply a normal transaction made between free citizens.
How did rotating laborers accomplish Paroh's goal? R"Y Bekhor Shor claims that Paroh hoped to tire out the people so they would not have the energy at night to have relations and reproduce.19 This, however, is difficult, considering that they could do so during the months that they were free from work totally. One might explain instead that Paroh was not mainly concerned about the size of the Israelite population, but about the potential that they would fight against him in periods of war. Having a significant portion of the nation enslaved at any one time reduced this concern.
Relations with other Egyptians – If the bondage consisted of statute labor rather full time slavery, it is possible that the Israelites were not necessarily viewed as particularly degraded members of society20 and that some lay Egyptians and Israelites might have even been on neighborly terms.21
Harshness of the enslavement – R"Y Bekhor Shor learns from the phrase, "וַיַּעֲבִדוּ מִצְרַיִם אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּפָרֶךְ" that the conditions during the periods of forced labor were unusually harsh and that the slaves were given no time to rest.22
Purpose of punishment – This depiction of the slavery raises the possibility that Paroh was not being punished for extremely cruel treatment of the Israelites in enslaving them but for the genocide of their children23 or for the theological crime of not recognizing Hashem and granting the Israelites leave to worship Him. Alternatively, Hashem is emphasizing how any forced labor, even on a rotating basis, is wrong and deserving of punishment.
Slaves to the State and to Individuals
Not only were the Israelites conscripted to work for Paroh, but in addition any Egyptian who so desired was free to enslave an Israelite to work for them personally.
"וַיַּעֲבִדוּ מִצְרַיִם אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּפָרֶךְ" – According to these sources, the word "מִצְרַיִם" refers to individual Egyptians. This verse represents a worsening of the oppression as lay Egyptians, too, were given permission to take Israelites as their personal slaves.
"וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלָיו שָׂרֵי מִסִּים... וַיִּבֶן עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹת לְפַרְעֹה" – According to Ramban this verse describes only the initial stage of oppression in which the people were taxed to work for the State. Abarbanel, in contrast, asserts that the verse refer to two distinct phases, an initial monetary tax followed by forced labor for Paroh. According to both, afterwards, thee enslavement intensified and individual Egyptians took servants for themselves.
"וּבְכׇל עֲבֹדָה בַּשָּׂדֶה" – Tanchuma and Abarbanel asserts that this refers to working the lands of individual Egyptians. The State sponsored bondage focused instead on building.
Were the Israelites unique? R. Hirsch asserts that the root "פרך" means to separate,24 and that through the bondage, Paroh separated the Israelites from the rest of Egyptian citizens who still had personal rights.
When did they work for individuals? Tanchuma suggests that the Israelites would put in a full day of work for Paroh, and then, upon returning home at night, lay Egyptians would demand that they work for them in their fields. Ramban, in contrast, asserts that the Israelites only worked for the State in rotating shifts.25 This would leave them available to be taken as house servants during their "free" weeks. The others might suggest that while some people labored for Paroh, others worked for individuals.
Where did the Israelites live? This position raises the possibility that while some Israelites might have lived in private homes in Goshen, others might have lived with their masters in Egypt proper. See Where in Egypt Did the Israelites Live? for elaboration and see Whom and Where Did the Plagues Strike? for the ramifications this has on understanding the differentiation between Egyptians and Israelites during the Plagues.
Chattel slavery? Even according to this position, the bondage in Egypt did not constitute "chattel slavery" such as found in the American South, where people could be bought and sold from one slave master to another. There is also no evidence of families being ripped apart in Sefer Shemot.26
Own homes and possessions
