(ה) וְאִם־אָמֹ֤ר יֹאמַר֙ הָעֶ֔בֶד אָהַ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־אֲדֹנִ֔י אֶת־אִשְׁתִּ֖י וְאֶת־בָּנָ֑י לֹ֥א אֵצֵ֖א חׇפְשִֽׁי׃ (ו) וְהִגִּישׁ֤וֹ אֲדֹנָיו֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֱלֹקִ֔ים וְהִגִּישׁוֹ֙ אֶל־הַדֶּ֔לֶת א֖וֹ אֶל־הַמְּזוּזָ֑ה וְרָצַ֨ע אֲדֹנָ֤יו אֶת־אׇזְנוֹ֙ בַּמַּרְצֵ֔עַ וַעֲבָד֖וֹ לְעֹלָֽם׃ {ס}
(5) But if the servant [usually translated as "slave"] declares, “I love my master, and my wife and children: I do not wish to go free,” (6) his master shall take him before God. He shall be brought to the door or the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall then remain his master’s slave for life.
This word - "to pierce" וְרָצַ֨ע - is a hapax legomenon: this is its only occurrence in Tanakh.
To bore through (as with an awl); to stab, to pierce violently (Gesenius).
Is this a teaching about how I could be pierced / penetrated by my love for God, my devotion to God? Is there something about my relationship with the Divine that could be so much inside of me, suffuse me so intimately, that I would not wish to depart from it?
And if I were in this state of experiencing the Divine being a part of me... then, how could I live this out? How would I bring myself into a state of connectedness with God, with my highest values, with what guides me?
(טו) אֶת־חַ֣ג הַמַּצּוֹת֮ תִּשְׁמֹר֒ שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִים֩ תֹּאכַ֨ל מַצּ֜וֹת כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוִּיתִ֗ךָ לְמוֹעֵד֙ חֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽאָבִ֔יב כִּי־ב֖וֹ יָצָ֣אתָ מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם וְלֹא־יֵרָא֥וּ פָנַ֖י רֵיקָֽם׃
(15) You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread—eating unleavened bread for seven days as I have commanded you—at the set time in the month of Abib, for in it you went forth from Egypt; and none shall appear before Me empty-handed.
This week's Torah portion, Parashat Mishpatim, could give rise to years of commentary; so many of its verse challenge the reader to pause, question, reflect, and - very often - ponder the verse's resonance with the events of today.
This year as I am studying Parashat Mishpatim, part of a verse beckoned to me: the end of Chapter 23:15, highlighted above: "and none shall appear before me empty-handed" (which comes at the end of the verses giving instructions for the pilgrimage festival of Pesach).
"and none shall appear before me empty-handed"...
We are commanded to annually make a pilgrimage to the Temple to commemorate our liberation from Egypt. We are to make our way, on foot, to the holiest of places, to gather, to acknowledge, to praise, to demonstrate our connection with the Divine.
If we are not to be "empty-handed", then what state are we to be in?
Let's look at the word translated here as "empty-handed": רֵיקָֽם
This is an adverb meaning empty but also meaning "in vain", "without effect".
It derives from the shoresh (verbal root) √רוּק - not used in the q'al, but only in hifil and hofal - in other words, there is something fundamentally causative about this verb.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch's comments on this verse (Exodus 21:15) explore the element of free will involved here (our capacity to make choices, in the context of commandedness); Rabbi Hirsch also reminds us that the separation of temple from home is a delusion. Anywhere and everywhere that we bring ourselves with devotion to God is equivalent to the Temple:
"The eagerness to bring offerings that is fundamental to these pilgrimage festivals is significantly increased by the free regulation of them, by the character of spontaneous devotion that is expressed in their very establishment....'When you leave your house and your home to present yourselves before me [ie before God], you shall not fall into that delusion that separates the temple from the house and the public square, that reserves the spirit and the heaven for the temple, and the earth and the material for the house and the public square.... Not so! When we appear before God, we should appear before God with our possessions...with our whole personality, we should appear before God with our entire selves and with all the goodness of sustenance [which Hirsch connects with soles - the graining offering], with all the goodness of Health [which Hirsch connects with the oil offering] and with all the goodness of joy [which Hirsch connects with the wine offering], in order to deeply and joyously understand the establish of God's commandments...." (my translation)
V. 15. Das erste Wanderfest ist das Mazzotfest, an welchem die ganze freie, selbständige Nation einen Kreis von sieben Tagen mit den Erinnerungsbroten der Knechtschaft in dem Umkreis des Heiligtums verlebt, sich somit ganz mit dem Bewusstsein der Gotteshörigkeit für den Dienst Gottes in Vollbringung seines im Gesetze geoffenbarten Willens auf Grund ihres Ursprunges (עבדות פרעה) und ihrer Bestimmung (עבודת ד׳) zu durchdringen hat (siehe oben Kap. 12 u. 13). תשמור: es hat die Nation dafür zu sorgen, daß dieses Fest in den חדש האביב, in den Halmmonat fällt (siehe zu שמור את Dewarim 16, 1), und wenn historisch und begrifflich der Frühlingsmonat :החרש האביב im tiefsten Zusammenhang mit dem Erlösungsfeste steht (siehe zu Kap. 13, 4 f.) so ist eben damit ja der Nation die Aufgabe gegeben, sich selbst dieses, und in Folge davon auch die beiden anderen Wanderfeste gerade in die Zeit der wesentlichsten Feldarbeiten eintreten zu lassen. Die opferfreudige Bekenntnistat, die in diesen Wanderfesten liegt, wird durch diese freie Regulierung derselben, durch den Charakter freier Hingebung, der sich in ihrer Feststellung selbst betätigt, nur noch bedeutsam erhöht. — ולא יראו פני ריקם, und wenn ihr vor meinem Angesichte erscheint, "sollt ihr nicht mit leeren Händen kommen." Wenn ihr Haus und Hof verlasset, um euch vor mein Angesicht darzustellen, sollt ihr nicht in jenen Wahn verfallen, der den Tempel klüftet von Haus und Hof, der dem Tempel den Geist und den Himmel, und dem Haus und Hof die Erde und das Materielle reserviert, "Geist und Gemüt" im Tempel "Nahrung" gewährt, um so entschiedener Leib und Sinnliches leiblich und sinnlich in Haus und Hof zu pflegen, Tempel besucht, um so beruhigter Haus und Hof dem materiellsten Egoismus und dem egoistischsten Materialismus geweiht zu halten. Nicht also! Wenn wir vor Gott erscheinen, sollen wir mit unserer Habe vor Gott erscheinen, sollen wir mit זבח ונסכים ,עולה ומנחה (siehe Wajikra 23, 37), unsere ganze Persönlichkeit mit allen Gütern der Nahrung (סלת), der Gesundheit (שמן), und der Freude (יין), Gott zu Gebote stellend, in die im Tempel zu gewinnende Weihe mit begreifen. Dem dreifachen Charakter unserer Feste: רגל, dem sich Einstellen in dem Gesetzesheiligtum, חג, dem sich Zusammenfinden mit allen Nationalgenossen, und מועד, dem sich Zusammenfinden mit Gott (siehe oben Kap. 12, 14) entsprechend, sind die jedem einzelnen obliegenden Festopfer: חג=שלמי חגיגה ,רגל=עולת ראיה, und מועד=שלמי שמחה, welche letztere dem freudigen Bewusstsein der Gottesgegenwart im Familienkreise angehören, durch welche das Haus zum Tempel, der Familientisch zum Altare, und alle Genossen zu Priestern und Priesterinnen an dem heiligen Lebensdienste der Gottesaufgabe gehoben werden.
We should bring ourselves, our full selves, with all that we can offer, when we bring ourselves into connection with God. We shall not be empty-handed.
In closing, let us reflect on the values and manifestations of the Divine that could mean so much to us, that we would willingly submit to being penetrated by the intensity of our devotion. What are the values to which you are most deeply devoted, that you deeply love?
ורצע אדוניו. ולמה מרצע לפי שמרצ"ע בגימ' ארבע מאות אמר הקב"ה אני הוצאתי אתכם משעבוד ארבע מאות שנה ואמרתי כי לי בני ישראל עבדים והלך וקנה אדון לעצמו לפיכך ילקה במרצע:
ורצע אדוניו את אזנו במרצע, “his master must pierce his ear with an awl;” why did the Torah choose the awl as the tool with which to pierce this servant’s ear? The numerical value of the letters in the word מרצע equals 400. It is to remind that servant that seeing that G–d had redeemed the Jewish people from 400 years of slavery, it is unbelievable that he should choose being enslaved to a human master voluntarily. G–d had stated categorically in Leviticus 25,55 כי לי בני ישראל עבדים, “for the Children of Israel are meant to be bound by a master- servant relationship only with their G–d,” not with any human being. If this man chooses to become indentured to a human master he deserves to be punished physically. (Talmud, tractate Kiddushin, folio 22, and Tossaphot on that folio.)
When we are devoted to freedom and continually bring ourselves forth from a state of slavery, we will choose freedom of mind and freedom of action. May we be empty, and full, to receive the light.