אור החיים — וכי ימכר איש את בתו לאמה

Q — Beyond its plain halachic meaning, what deeper message does the parsha of the Hebrew maidservant (אמה עבריה) carry?

A — Or HaChaim reads it as a coded plea for redemption that voices his own longing for Geulah. The 'man' who sold his daughter is God, who exiled Israel ('Knesset Yisrael, whom He called His daughter'). The sale itself is just, since it was for their sins — but the verse itself protests the length: an ordinary Hebrew servant goes free after six years ('לא תצא כצאת העבדים'), so why is the daughter's term different and unending? Scripture cries out on Israel's behalf: 'we have been in this bitter exile 1,672 years and are not yet saved — grant us the law of the Hebrew servant.'