Pidyon Shvuyim is the redeeming of captives. Throughout our history, many Jews have been taken captive and ransomed or sold as slaves. There is an obligation upon Jews and Jewish communities to ensure the release of Jewish captives. Usually, this meant paying their ransom. It also extends to other efforts to free people who have been incarcerated.

Who Is a Captive?

There are two categories of captives:

1. War captives. This refers to anyone captured by an enemy army, bandits, or slave raiders. They must be redeemed.
2. Prisoners: This refers to someone incarcerated by the government. The obligation to work for their release only applies if it is not beneficial for the community for them to be incarcerated. Anyone who was imprisoned for criminal activity that endangers others or the community at large should not be redeemed.1

How Much Must Be Paid?

The obligation to redeem captives falls upon any Jew, no matter if they know the captive or not. However, the captive may not be redeemed for more than their market value.2 Paying more might encourage raiders to capture more Jews, knowing that they can demand more for them.

In one dramatic case, Rabbi Meir of Rottenburg was imprisoned in an attempt to force the Jewish community to pay a large sum for his release. Rabbi Meir refused to allow himself to be redeemed for any sum. He felt that if a king was able to squeeze money from the community by imprisoning its leaders, it would only encourage them to do so again, and whenever the royal coffers emptied, they would throw the rabbi in prison and the Jewish community would have to scrape together whatever was asked. Rabbi Meir was never released and eventually died in captivity.3

The Importance of Redeeming Captives

Redeeming captives is the most important of all charitable undertakings. There is no mitzvah as great.4 If a captive needs to be redeemed, we should even divert money collected for the purposes of building a synagogue to guarantee their release. If there is only enough money to feed the poor or to redeem a captive, redeeming a captive takes precedence.5

The obligation to redeem captives is based primarily on the presumption that being in captivity presents a mortal danger and is prioritized over other charities. Therefore, some maintain that a prison system that treats its prisoners humanely, providing food, water, and proper sleeping conditions, does not fall under the category of “captivity” that would mandate prioritizing redeeming them over other forms of charity.6