דברים, פרק ט״ו, פסוק י״ג

Transitioning from servitude to freedom is a highly vulnerable moment. To ensure a newly freed individual does not enter independent life destitute, a master must provide a substantial severance gift, creating an initial economic foundation that allows the freed person to rehabilitate and support himself. Sending a freed servant away with empty hands is a strict negative Commandment [רלב״ג, ביאור יש״ר, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The primary approach among commentators is that this obligation addresses someone who was sold into servitude by a court because he committed theft and lacked the funds to repay his victims. Because this person finishes his term completely penniless, the master must supply him with provisions from the flock, the threshing floor, and the winepress, ensuring he has basic staples like meat, bread, and wine [רא״ש, הדר זקנים, בכור שור]. A question arises regarding someone who voluntarily sold himself into servitude out of severe poverty. Since this individual received the purchase money upfront at the beginning of his term, some suggest that he might not be owed an additional parting gift. However, others conclude that even a self-sold servant is entitled to the full severance package [בכור שור].

The obligation to provide this gift extends to all types of release, not just the standard completion of six years of labor. It applies to a servant freed during the Jubilee year, a young maidservant who goes free upon reaching adulthood, and a servant who is released because his master passes away [תורה תמימה, מלבי״ם]. Regarding this last scenario of a master's death, there is a divergence of opinion. While the accepted ruling requires the master's heirs to provide the severance gift, the Jerusalem Talmud exempts them, reasoning that death is not an active, intentional dismissal by the master [תורה תמימה].

Conversely, the obligation is limited strictly to situations where the release is granted by the master. This specific condition excludes a runaway servant, who forfeits the right to any parting gift. Similarly, if a servant initiates his own early release by refunding the remaining value of his contract to the master, he is not entitled to the gift. In these cases, the servant engineered his own freedom, meaning the master did not actively release him [תורה תמימה, מלבי״ם].