Slaves to Who Exactly?
In this week’s Torah portion of Mishpatim we read about some
of the laws concerning servitude.
God says “The children of Israel are slaves to me.” Why is
this necessary?
During the six days of work, from Saturday night until Friday
afternoon, one can become so engrossed in the physicality of work and in the
tempo of things; that he simply does not want to stop. He has become enslaved
to his worldly affairs and is unwilling to relinquish the physical in return
for the spiritual.
Thus, God tells us explicitly that we are slaves to Him. We
are slaves to God and God alone.
Slaves have a purpose; to serve their master. However, not
all slaves have equal tasks. We need to remember this. We all have our unique
task on this world. Not all tasks are equal. Each requires its own
characteristics and individual needs.
However, this aspect of a sense of duty should instil in us
a sensible list of priorities. When we need to decide whether to serve the
BlackBerry or God, it should be obvious which one to choose.
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