Come and see how excellent this portion is. How many sections are in it, and how many prohibitions the Holy One blessed be He cautioned Israel in this portion: “If you purchase a Hebrew slave” (Exodus 21:2); “if a man sells his daughter as a maidservant” (Exodus 21:7); “one who strikes his father” (Exodus 21:15). What does this matter have in common with that? The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘I acquired you in Egypt with the ten plagues that I displayed, as it is stated: “Wondrous are Your works; I know this well” (Psalms 139:14).16The previous verse in Psalms states: “For you have formed [kanita] my innermost parts.”
The word kanita can also be translated “you have acquired.” Thus, the midrash is interpreting these two verses to mean that God has acquired us through His wondrous works, i.e. the ten plagues, which are referred to as wonders (see Exodus 3:20). Just as you are commanded not to enslave your brother more than six years,17Some suggest that the text should read: Just as you are commanded to work six days and rest on the seventh (Yefe Toar). as I created the world in only six days; therefore, I granted you six years that you are permitted to enslave a Hebrew slave.
“If a man sells his daughter as a maidservant,” I had one daughter18The Torah. and I sold her to you so that you do not take her out, but rather she is stored in the Ark. “She shall not be released like the release of the slaves” (Exodus 21:7). Treat her with respect, as you took her captive from Me, as it is stated: “You ascended on high; You took captives”’ (Psalms 68:19). Likewise, David praises: “Halleluya, for it is good to sing to our God, for it is pleasant” (Psalms 147:1).19The penultimate verse of the psalm states: “He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel” (Psalms 147:19).
The midrash thus asserts that the reason it is good to sing to God is because of the laws of the Torah. Rabbi Shmuel says: The Holy One blessed be He cautioned them regarding lenient matters with stringent matters, as there are many prohibitions here. For example, “one who strikes his father or his mother [shall be put to death]” (Exodus 21:15). The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Ham, father of Canaan did not strike, but merely saw, and now he and his descendants are slaves forever,20Ham saw the nakedness of his father, Noah, and as a result was cursed with everlasting servitude (see Genesis 9:22–25). one who curses or strikes all the more so.’
Who were they?21Which Israelites are compared to people who were guilty of improperly treating their father, i.e. God. These were the Ten Tribes, who did not want to place upon themselves the yoke of the Holy One blessed be He, and Sennacheribcame upon them and exiled them. This is analogous to a king who had ten sons and they rebelled against him, and they annulled ten of his royal edicts. He said to them: ‘Just as you annulled what is mine, so I will send a fly and exact retribution from you.’
So too, the Ten Tribes rebelled against the Holy One blessed be He and nullified the Torah, as it is stated: “They denied the Lord, and they said: It is not Him” (Jeremiah 5:12). He brought the fly upon them, as it is stated: “The Lord will whistle for the fly” (Isaiah 7:18), this is Sennacherib. If Israel nullified the mitzvot it is as though they are cursing their father and mother. Father is no one other than the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “Now, Lord, You are our Father” (Isaiah 64:7).
Mother is the Torah, as it is stated: “Do not forsake the Torah of your mother” (Proverbs 1:8). And she raises you at Sinai, as it is stated: “I have instructed you [horeitikha]22Horeitikha is expounded as an allusion to pregnancy [herayon]; the Torah is its mother. in the way of wisdom” (Proverbs 4:11).