In the Pipeline

“A

nd his master… should bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and … bore his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever.”  (Shemos 21:7)

Rashi quotes the Gemara (Kiddushin 22b) to explain that the ear, which heard at Har Sinai that we were no longer servants of Pharaoh but of Hashem, shall be pierced to remind the eved Ivri that he is a servant of Hashem [since he has elected to remain a servant of his human master for longer than he needed to].

Yet in exchanging servitude of Pharaoh for servitude of Hashem, how did Klal Yisrael actually benefit? They were still servants, albeit to a different master. (Rav Itamar Schwartz, Bilvavi)

It was a dark and stormy night. But inside, as we made Kiddush, the candles flickered gaily and all was warm and snug.