Until last year, slavery was something I (Debra) thought about mostly on Passover -- and almost exclusively in the past tense. Now, the subject has become a disturbing companion; I think of it daily. Some of this is me; I have become obsessed with the ongoing problem of modern-day slavery. But my education and involvement are also a reflection of a cultural shift. We are becoming aware, and, as a result, we are becoming increasingly disgusted, indignant, and ready to make a change.
My consciousness was raised a year ago, when I received an email from the Social Action Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly inviting rabbis to write and share outlines for High Holiday sermons on the subject of Human Trafficking. As a past member of the committee, and wanting to be a “good rabbinic citizen,” I volunteered. At that point, I had no interest in giving such a sermon myself. I planned to explore personal meaning and personal goals on the High Holidays. I wanted to choose subjects that touched my congregants’ lives directly.
In the course of my research, I read harrowing testimonies and statistics about contemporary slaves. I became haunted. I also read books and articles about people who are taking practical steps to free slaves. Among them are Jessica and Julia Baer, two teenagers from Fair Lawn, who with the support of their parents and community, have helped free 45 slaves … and counting. (The Jewish Standard featured them in an article on May 3, 2013 and again on March 28, 2014.) I became inspired.
Experts estimate that approximately 27 million people worldwide work without pay, under the threat of violence, and with no means of escape available to them. They work on farms and in nail salons; in factories and on the streets; in mines and motels, quarries and kitchens. They work in the homes of free people.
Israel has its own human trafficking problem – the very definition of shanda (public disgrace) for a Jewish State.
Federal government officials estimate that at least 17,500 people are brought into the United States each year and forced into domestic service, agricultural work, prostitution, or sweatshop labor. Citizens and residents are also enslaved. Overall, approximately 150,000 slaves currently work in the United States, of whom about half are below the age of 18.
Sometimes we call these folks “debt laborers,” “victims of human trafficking,” or, irrelevantly, “immigrants.” I prefer the word “slave.” It is more accurate, less evasive.
Last High Holidays, I did speak on slavery, among other topics, and I found that it wasn’t a remote or impersonal issue. Sadly, slavery is right here, right now. On January 15, 2014, three men and one woman ranging in age from 23 to 59 were arrested for prostituting a 15-year-old girl, after the 26-year-old male among them “befriended” her at a party. The accused live in North Bergen, Ridgefield Park, Jersey City, and Union City. The victim is from Essex County. Over the course of the Superbowl weekend, authorities rescued 16 children and 54 women while arresting 45 traffickers, who were attracted by the "opportunities" of the Big Game.
In another sense, too, slavery is immediate for us. The Bible repeatedly demands that we continually remember our experience of slavery in Egypt as an impetus to treat others with compassion: “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the soul of a stranger, having been strangers in the Land of Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9. See also Deut. 10:18-19 and Leviticus 19:33-34, among others).
Weekly, the Sabbath is “a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt.” Radically freeing and inclusive, Shabbat grants everyone rest from labor:
“You shall not do any manner of work, not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your man-servant, nor your maid-servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor the stranger who is within your gates; that your servants may rest, as you do.” (Deuteronomy 5:13).
Of course, the remembrance of slavery in Egypt we engage in all year long becomes particularly intense around Passover and its seders. How can we sit down to comfortable family dinners and discussions without acknowledging - and doing something about - the shocking reality that slavery persists?
As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught, "in a free society, some are guilty, all are responsible."
After speaking publicly about slavery on High Holidays, I took on the personal goal of freeing 18 slaves this year. In the course of discussing spiritual intentions and tikkun olam (repairing the world) with my seven-year-old daughter, I told her that I was researching mitzvah opportunities for the best way to free 18 people. Never one to think small, she asked, “Why 18? Why not 100?” And so a more ambitious goal was born – one that I co-own with my daughter.
That is why my "handle" on Jchoice is EmaofHMandEmmett.
As a mother of idealistic children, as a mother whose heart breaks for enslaved children, as a Jew, and with every other aspect and expression of my identity, I want to do everything I can to rescue slaves.
If you have read this far, I know you want to join me.