In this week's Parashat Mishpatim, we read of the institution of slavery and its attendant obligations on how the master must treat the servant. Maimonides extends this obligation of compassion even to Canaanite slaves. Yet, as Mois Navon reveals in his recent TRADITION essay, the significance of this law goes far beyond slavery and encapsulates Maimonides’ entire program for not only moral development but human perfection itself.