The section of the Torah (what you call the "Old Testament" or "Five Books of Moses") dealing with these rules for slavery was the portion my son was supposed to read and speak about for his Bar Mitvah. (For their coming-of-age, a Bar or Bat Mitvah is supposed to read a portion of the Torah in its original ancient Hebrew form, and then deliver a sermon on that portion to the community). This was difficult - On my side, his ancestors were held as slaves in Africa, as related in Exodus; On my wife's side, his ancestors were kidnapped from Africa and enslaved in America.

I was very proud of how he handled this difficult portion (in my totally unbiased opinion). He pointed out that we need to oppose all forms of slavery, still existing today, including wage theft.

In my opinion, the Bible cannot be taken as frozen commands, nor even taken literally. It is a set of stories. Together the stories tell of a journey. From the innocence of the Garden, to the barbarity of early humanity, it guides us on a journey to be better. That journey did not stop when the Bible was written down over two thousand years ago. We are still on a journey towards Tzedakah - Justice. Let us move forward, not backwards.