In the beginning of Parashat Mishpatim (starting from Shemot 21:2), the Torah introduces the law of the Ebed Ibri – the indentured Jewish servant. The Sefer Ha’hinuch lists this law as the 42nd Biblical command, explaining that it incorporates several different provisions. First, it mandates releasing the servant after six years of service, or with the onset of the Yobel (jubilee), even if the Yobel occurs before the end of the six-year term. This law also includes the servant’s ability to buy his freedom if he comes up with the money to pay the value of the service that he still owes the master. Additionally, if the master dies without any sons, the servant goes free, and is not inherited by the deceased’s inheritors. Finally, if the servant wishes to remain after working for six years, the master pierces his ear, and the servant then remains with him until the Yobel. In explaining the underlying basis of this law, the Sefer Ha’hinuch writes that the most valuable of all character traits is kindness and compassion. We, the Jewish Nation, are expected to conduct ourselves according to the highest standards of character, and so the Torah demands that we treat those who are subordinate to us with kindness and compassion. It is by engendering these qualities, the Sefer Ha’hinuch writes, that we become worthy of blessing. For this reason, the Torah commanded that a master who purchases a servant must treat him with mercy and kindness, releasing him from service on the occasions mentioned above. Moreover, the Gemara teaches in Masechet Kiddushin, “One who purchases an Ebed Ibri is like he purchased a master for himself.” The Torah requires the master to care for all the servant’s needs and treat him like a full-fledged member of the household, to the extent that the master is, in a sense, actually the servant. In fact, the Gemara states that if there is only one food product available, the master must give that product to his servant, rather than keep it for himself. Whereas in other societies slaves were abused and subjected to cruel treatment, the Torah demands treating one’s servant with sensitivity and kindness, like the other members of the household. The Sefer Ha’hinuch writes that this law applies only to males, as women cannot purchase an Ebed Ibri. It applies only in periods when the laws of Yobel apply, and thus one cannot purchase an Ebed Ibri nowadays. The Sefer Ha’hinuch proceeds to make a remarkable statement about one who violates these laws, and refuses to release his Ebed Ibri when required by the Torah. Such a person, the Sefer Ha’hinuch writes, not only violates this command, but also engenders within himself a cruel, heartless character, and even calls his lineage into question. It is the nature of the Jewish nation to act as “Rahamanim Beneh Rahamanim” – “merciful people, children of merciful people,” and thus one who fails to act compassionately in effect testifies about himself that he is not part of the Jewish Nation. A person would be sold as an Ebed Ibri if he stole and was then unable to repay the victim. In such a case, the Bet Din would make an assessment of his value as a servant, and sell him. The money paid by the purchaser would go to the victim. The Gemara establishes that a thief would be sold as an Ebed Ibri only if he was unable to pay the principal, the value that he had stolen. If he had enough money to pay the principal, but did not have enough to pay also the penalty of “Kefel” – double the amount stolen – which the Torah imposes upon a thief, then he would not be sold as an Ebed Ibri. Interestingly, however, the Rambam writes that a thief is sold as an Ebed Ibri only in a situation which requires Kefel. When a person steals from a gentile, or from Hekdesh (the treasury of the Bet Ha’mikdash), although he must obviously repay what he stole, he is not required to pay Kefel. In such situations, the Rambam writes, a thief who is unable to pay the gentile or Hekdesh is not sold as an Ebed Ibri.