Freedom of the soul through teshuvah

סמיכת העבד עברי לפרשה הקודמת.

The juxtaposition of the parshah of the eved Ivri (Hebrew servant) to the preceding parshah.

The Sefas Emes asks why the laws of the Hebrew servant follow immediately after the giving of the Torah.

כי זה החירות קבלו בנ"י בקבלת התורה שלא יוכל איש ישראל להיות משועבד רק להשי"ת.

For this freedom Bnei Yisrael received at kabbalas haTorah (the receiving of the Torah) — that a Yid cannot be enslaved except to Hashem Yisborach.

Receiving the Torah granted Bnei Yisrael a fundamental freedom: their only true Master is Hashem, so no human servitude can be permanent.

ובשביעית יצא לחפשי הוא בחי' שמיטה כמ"ש בזוה"ק בהר.

"And in the seventh year he goes free" — this is the aspect of shemittah, as stated in the Zohar HaKadosh on Behar.

The servant's release in the seventh year parallels the shemittah of the land in its seventh year.

וכמו שיש שמיטה לארץ ישראל ושבתה הארץ.

And just as there is shemittah for Eretz Yisrael, "and the land shall rest" (Vayikra 25:2),

The land has its own seventh-year release, when it rests and returns to its higher source.

כן בנפשות בני ישראל שא"י להיות משועבד רק ששה שנים.

so too in the souls of Bnei Yisrael, that one can be enslaved for only six years.

The soul, like the land, can be bound to servitude for only six years before its release.

ובשביעית נפתח לו שער החירות.

And in the seventh, the gate of freedom is opened for him.

The seventh year opens a gateway of liberation, corresponding to the holiness of the seventh.

ואם יאמר אהבתי. ופוגם בזה המפתח של שמיטה.

And if he says, "I love (my master)" (Shemos 21:5), and thereby damages this key of shemittah,

A servant who refuses to go free at the seventh year spoils that "key" of release and remains in bondage.

עוד יצא ביובל.

he still goes free at the yovel (Jubilee).

Even so, the fiftieth year, the Jubilee, will ultimately release him.

וב' אלו הם בחי' תפלה ותשובה כדאיתא במד' מבטח כל קצוי ארץ וים רחוקים.

And these two are the aspects of tefillah and teshuvah, as it is brought in the Midrash on "the security of all the ends of the earth and the distant seas" (Tehillim 65:6).

Shemittah and yovel correspond to two avenues of return to Hashem — prayer and repentance.

נמשלה תשובה לים [ותפלה למקוה].

Teshuvah is compared to the sea [and tefillah to a mikveh].

Repentance is like the ever-open sea, while prayer is likened to a mikveh.

מקוה פעמים פתוחה פעמים נעולה.

A mikveh is sometimes open and sometimes locked.

Like prayer, a mikveh is not always accessible — there are times its gates are closed.

ושערי תשובה לעולם פתוחים.

But the gates of teshuvah are always open.

Repentance, like the sea, is never closed off — its gates are eternally open.

ולכן רוצעין לו האוזן שהוא פגם של התפלה.

Therefore they pierce his ear, which corresponds to the flaw in tefillah.

The servant who clings to slavery has his ear pierced, signifying a defect connected to prayer — the faculty of hearing and turning to Hashem.

ועל הדלת דכ' לשקוד על דלתותי לשמור מזוזות פתחי והוא בחי' שערי תפלה שלפעמים נעולין.

And it is done upon the door, of which it is written, "to be diligent at My doors, to guard the doorposts of My openings" (Mishlei 8:34) — this is the aspect of the gates of tefillah, which are sometimes locked.

The piercing is performed at the door, which represents the "gates of prayer" that can at times be shut.

וכשפגם בזה מתקרב על ידי שערי תשובה.

And when one has damaged this, he draws near again through the gates of teshuvah.

If the gate of prayer is closed to him because of his flaw, he can still return to Hashem through the ever-open gates of repentance.

ושמיטה ויובל ב' אלו זכו בני ישראל בקבלת התורה.

And these two, shemittah and yovel, Bnei Yisrael merited at kabbalas haTorah.

Both these avenues of freedom and return were granted to Bnei Yisrael when they received the Torah.

וכן בפרשת בהר נסמכו שמיטה ויובל להר סיני.

And so too in Parshas Behar, shemittah and yovel are juxtaposed to Har Sinai.

The Torah places shemittah and yovel right beside Har Sinai, showing their root in the giving of the Torah.

והם עצמם בחי' עשרת הדברות ה' עילאה וה' תתאה:

And they themselves are the aspect of the Aseres HaDibros (Ten Commandments) — the upper hei and the lower hei.

Shemittah and yovel correspond to the "upper hei" and "lower hei" of the Divine Name, the two dimensions of holiness rooted in the Ten Commandments given at Sinai.

Summary: The laws of the Hebrew servant follow the giving of the Torah because at Sinai Bnei Yisrael received a freedom whereby a Yid can be enslaved to no one but Hashem. The servant's release in the seventh year mirrors the shemittah of the land — a gate of freedom in the soul — and one who refuses it is freed at the yovel. These two correspond to tefillah and teshuvah: prayer, like a mikveh, is sometimes locked, which is why the servant's ear is pierced at the "door" (the gates of prayer), while teshuvah, like the sea, is always open. Both shemittah and yovel were granted at Sinai and correspond to the upper and lower hei rooted in the Ten Commandments.