Yeshiva week is coming to a close, and with it comes the anticipated return of many in our community who have taken advantage of their children being off to create some family time together. For many, that family time has been spent in a warmer climate enjoying the sun and balmy temperatures. Others have chosen to continue enjoying the cold and snow, usually in a resort connected to a ski mountain. And then there are those who chose to enjoy this time as a staycation. Regardless of where you went or what you did, it was nice to have a break in the routine.

According to psychologists creating vacation time and a break in our routines is important for mental well-being. Going someplace where you haven’t been before creates a sense of novelty and excitement, of freedom and lack of obligation. It enables us to take in the sights and sounds around us which often go unnoticed as a result of the blinders of routine and habit. Often relationships are re-created or reinforced during vacation, at least until the kids start bouncing off the walls.

The goal of vacation is to bring some of that novelty back into our everyday lives, to recharge our batteries so to speak. Routine and habit can become numbing and limiting without an infusion of novelty.

In this week’s parsha we read of a Jewish person sold into servitude to another Jew. There are two scenarios in which this might occur. The first involves someone who steals something and is convicted in court of theft. Jewish law requires him to either return the original item to its proper owner or to compensate him with the value of that item. In addition, depending upon the nature of the theft, the thief is obligated to pay a fine, sometimes 100% of the value of what he stole and sometimes 300 or 400% of the value of what he stole. In the case of a thief who doesn’t have the resources to compensate the owner, Beit Din may sell the thief into servitude, using the proceeds of that sale as compensation to the owner.

The second scenario involves a Jewish person of very limited resources, often unable to support and sustain his family. He may sell himself into servitude, transferring the obligation of supporting him and his family to his new master.

Regardless of the reason for the servitude the Torah prescribes a limit to the sale. The normal term of servitude is six years with the Jew regaining his freedom in the seventh year. Surprisingly the Torah tells us that such might not always be the case. Upon reaching the seventh year the Jew can claim that he has no desire to go free for he loves his master and even the family that the master has provided for him. Under such circumstances the Jew can remain an eved until the advent of Yoveil, the Jubilee year.

In order to remain in servitude under these conditions the Jew must be brought before the Beit Din and have his right ear pierced upon the doorpost. In a famous comment Rashi explains that the ear which heard the commandment of “thou shalt not steal” at Har Sinai is now to be pierced as a reminder of that commandment.

There are several questions that can be asked about the obligation of this “ear piercing”. First, this seems much more appropriate to do at the beginning of the period of servitude rather than at its scheduled conclusion. The ramifications of his theft are much more powerful when the transition from a free person to a slave first takes place.

Additionally, the commandment of “thou shalt not steal” is traditionally interpreted as referring to the act of kidnapping a person, in distinction to the act of stealing an object. Rashi explains in his commentary on that commandment b’goneiv nefashot hakatuv midaber (the verse is referring to “stealing souls”). Why then does Rashi in our parsha refer to this commandment?

Rav Shimon Schwab answers the second question by offering a deeper understanding of the prohibition of kidnapping a person. How is it possible, he asks, to steal someone’s soul? A soul is not a tangible object that can be stolen by someone else. Rather he explains that stealing a soul, or kidnapping someone, is to be understood as stealing that person away from serving Hashem. The person who is kidnapped no longer has his freedom to serve Hashem.

Perhaps Rav Schwab’s explanation also helps us to answer the first question. The initial period of servitude is necessary to either pay for an object that was stolen or else to support an impoverished family. The Torah permits either of these situations to occur. The question is what happens at the scheduled end of the servitude. If at that point, slave has become so accustomed and so habituated to his compromised position of serving a human master instead of Hashem, then his ear needs to be pierced. At that point he needs a reminder that the routine and habit which he has developed over the past six years is not the ideal. Serving another person is not that to which a Jew aspires.

Often the habits and routines that we develop in life can provide a sense of security in the face of uncertainty and doubt. Sometimes, though, they can be limiting and stunt our spiritual growth. Vacation can help us to realize the dangers of habits and routines, allowing us to make the changes necessary to infuse our lives with novelty and growth.

We look forward to seeing all of you who have been away and hope that you will be a role model for us with your new inspiration.

Shabbat shalom.