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18 Mishpatim | Was the Torah Progressive for Its Time?

Rabbi Jonathan Kligler
Rabbi Jonathan Kligler
Episode • Feb 12, 2021 • 59m
Our portion begins by legislating how one is to treat one's household slaves. These laws insist that the slave be treated with full humanity. But why does the Torah affirm slavery at all? We explore the ways in which the Torah was perhaps radical for its time, and reflect on our own anachronistic way of projecting our current social norms onto the distant past.

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