Bava Kamma 079

6:
We have recently discussed the situation of the Jewish bondman (eved ivri) quite extensively (see BK059 and the following shiurim) so let us here recap the relevant points very briefly.

• A Hebrew bondman is a Jewish man who was sold by a Bet Din because he was so destitute that he was unable to pay his debts in any way. (This may have been because of the Jew was not able to plan his economic situation or because he had stolen something and was not able to repay what he had stolen.)
• The years of service of a Hebrew bondman are six years only; at the start of the seventh year of his bondage he must be set free (unless he himself asks to remain in bondage).
• During his years of service his master must treat the Jewish bondman with kindness and respect. He may not employ him in demeaning tasks but he should preferably be employed in his chosen profession. He must be lodged in comfort and have the same meals as the rest of the family.
• At the expiration of the sixth year he was to be given a generous parting gift so that he could start his life again in good standing.
• It seems that the concept of the eved ivri was an attempt at economic re-education.

7:
It follows from all this that in modern terms the eved ivri was employed as a domestic servant rather than being self-employed. As such all his personal rights and privileges as a Jew and as a person were strictly maintained. Our present mishnah explains that if he suffers injury at the hands of his master he can sue for damages. And the court may award damages in all the recognized categories (physical injury, pain suffered, medical expenses, shame) with the exception of enforced idleness. This is because his time is not his own but belongs to his master, so the master can hardly be expected to pay damages for what he technically owns.

8:
Our mishnah add one further proviso: the master is only excused payment for enforced idleness as long as the bondman is in his service. If the injury happened before service began or after it had ended the master must also pay for enforced idleness.

9:
The situation of the non-Jewish servant is very different. Again, we have covered this topic in detail so here is a brief recapitulation of the main points.

• If a Jew buys a non-Jew as a domestic servant (eved kena'ani) he acquires complete mastery over the servant.
• However, a Jew may own a non-Jewish servant for no more than one year. At the end of the year one of two things must happen: either the servant is resold to a non-Jew or the servant consents to convert to Judaism.
• If the servant consents to become Jewish the conversion is the same as all others: circumcision for males and mikveh for both sexes. The eved kena'ani is now required to observe all the mitzvot that devolve on a Jewish woman.
• There is no limit to the term of bondage, which ends either because the servant is able to pay for his freedom or because his master has manumitted him as an act of kindness or because the servant has died in bondage. Such servants are inherited by the master heirs after his death.
• If the term of bondage ends the freed servant is now required to observe all the mitzvot that fall on a Jewish male.

10:
From a careful reading of the penultimate clause of our mishnah we can deduce that a master could not be sued for causing injury to his eved kena'ani. But if someone injures the eved kena'ani of someone else that other master may sue for damages. In such a case the court may award – to the master, not to the bondman! – all five kinds of damage, including shame (if the master was shamed by what happened).

11:
Rabbi Yehudah ben-Ilai disagrees with Tanna Kamma regarding payment for shame in the case of an eved kena'ani. A human being in such a situation feels himself to be in a permanent state of shame, so how can damages be claimed for a shame which pre-existed the injury? As we have seen, however, the rest of the sages hold that the damages are paid to the servant's master for damages he has sustained to his property as it were, so payment for shaming the master is in order. Halakhah does not follow the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah.