Devarim 23: Taney did not do 929

The struggle between the southern slave holding states and the northern mostly free states reached a boiling point in the mid 19th century before the start of the Civil War. As a last act of desperation to try to hold the Union together, Stephen Douglas and Henry Clay helped pass the Compromise of 1850. One part of the Compromise was the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Under this act, all law enforcement in both northern and southern states were required to return enslaved people who had escaped to free states. The Act was meant to shore up the earlier Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, which had been weakened by northern states’ refusal to enforce it.In 1854, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a local abolitionist could not be arrested for violating the Act. The United States Supreme Court overruled the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Ableman v. Booth. Justice Taney—who also authored the infamous Dred Scott decision holding that enslaved people had no rights under the Constitution—wrote the majority opinion.Justice Taney clearly did not read Chapter 23 of Deuteronomy:“You shall not turn over to the master a slave who seeks refuge with you from that master. He shall live with you, in your midst, in the place he chooses within one of your settlements, wherever he pleases; you must not oppress him.” (verses 16–17)לֹא־תַסְגִּיר עֶבֶד אֶל־אֲדֹנָיו אֲשֶׁר־יִנָּצֵל אֵלֶיךָ מֵעִם אֲדֹנָיו׃עִמְּךָ יֵשֵׁב בְּקִרְבְּךָ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַר בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ בַּטּוֹב לוֹ לֹא תוֹנֶנּוּ(Deuteronomy 23:16–17)From a modern perspective, the Torah has a complicated relationship with slavery. Slavery is permitted—as was the universal practice in the ancient world—but it is also highly regulated. There are different categories of slavery, such as Israelite and non Israelite slaves. Certain slaves may not be worked for more than six years, enslaved people are granted specific protections within a household, and an injured slave must be set free.Verse 16 does not distinguish between Israelite or non Israelite slaves. Any enslaved person who escapes and seeks refuge may not be returned to their master. All escaped slaves are to be granted protection and allowed to live freely among the people. In sharp contrast to American law in the 19th century, the Torah places human dignity above property claims, even within a system that otherwise permits slavery.