S.A.L.T. - Friday

Parashat Shemot tells that the Egyptians enslaved Benei Yisrael "be-farekh," generally translated as, "with hard labor" (1:13). The Gemara in Masekhet Sota (11a) actually cites a dispute between Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shemuel Bar Nachmeni as to what this term actually denotes. Rabbi Elazar interprets it as a contraction of two words - "peh rakh" - a "soft mouth."  The Midrash Ha-gadol cites Rabbi Elazar's view in more elaborate form, allowing us to understand to what a "soft mouth" refers: "He [Pharaoh] said, 'Whoever produces a brick will receive a shekel,' in order to lure Israel."  The Egyptian government did not introduce its decrees suddenly and forcefully; it rather gradually lured Benei Yisrael into slave labor by offering high salaries corresponding to the amount of work performed. The Midrash Ha-gadol describes the success of this plan: "They would overly exhaust themselves in order to receive high payment."

Rabbi Shemuel Bar Nachmeni explains the term "perekh" much differently, as a derivative of the word, "perikha."  Rashi explains this term to mean "crushing"; the work forced upon Benei Yisrael broke their bodies and depleted their strength. In his commentary to the Torah (on this verse), Rashi draws evidence for this translation of "perikha" from Targum Onkelos to Parashat Vayikra (Vayikra 2:14). Onkelos there defines the term "geres karmel" ("grits of the fresh grain") as "peirukhan."  Thus, this word refers to breaking or crushing, such as the crushed grits of grain described in Parashat Vayikra. According to Rabbi Shemuel Bar Nachmeni, our verse describes the "crushing" of Benei Yisrael as a result of the forced labor.

A third definition of the word "perekh" appears in the commentary "Hadar Zekeinim" (a collection of commentaries by Ba'alei Tosefot and other Rishonim), in the name of the Rosh. The Rosh claims that "perekh" means separation, and thus refers to the forced separation between husbands and wives. We know that this occurred from the text of the Haggadah, which speaks of "perishut derekh eretz" - the cessation of marital life. This interpretation appears as well in the commentary on the Haggadah attributed to Rashi, which adds an etymological source for this definition: the "parokhet," the partition in the Mishkan (and later in the Temple) which separated between the two chambers. This commentary applies this definition to the prohibition later in the Torah against forcing harsh labor upon an Israelite servant (Vayikra 25:46), where we find the same term, "be-ferekh." Here, too, this commentary suggests, the Torah forbids forcing the servant's separation from his wife so that he could live with a gentile maidservant and produce more servants. This prohibition is in fact codified by the Rambam in Hilkhot Avadim (chapter 3).

The Torah Sheleima cites yet a fourth interpretation of "perekh" from a manuscript entitled, "Yalkut Or Ha-afeila," which defines the term as limitless work - meaning, work that is not geared towards a specific result - or work that the masters had no need for. This type of labor involves emotional torment, beyond the physical suffering. The Rambam includes this type of mistreatment, too, among the prohibitions related to master-servant relations (Hilkhot Avadim 1:6), and Rav Menachem Kasher (in Torah Sheleima on this verse) demonstrates that the Rambam drew this concept from our verse, in light of this Midrash.

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