LEV1095 "Among your brethren, the Children of Yisrael, you must not subject one another to oppressive work" [this verse]. One may not subjugate other Jews. If they fear him or they are too embarrassed to ignore his wishes, he should not require anything of them -- neither minor nor major--not even to warm a flask of water on to go on an errand for him, even if only to buy a loaf of bread in the town square, unless it is something that they themselves desire to do and it is for their benefit. Nonetheless, one can demand of another who does not act properly whatever he wants (Bava Metzia 73b).

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LEV1096 "And if the hand of a stranger and sojourner attain with you." What caused his growing rich? His attachment to you. "And your brother grow poor with him." What caused his growing poor? His attachment to him (Torath Cohanim)

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LEV1097 The right of the non-Jew in Israel, even of the idolator, to purchase and own a Hebrew slave is clearly reflected in rabbinic interpretation of [this verse] (See Rashi on Leviticus 26:1 and Kiddushin 20; also Bava Metzia 71).

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LEV1098 R. Akiva expounded: Whence is it derived that it is forbidden to steal from idolaters? From: "After he is sold [to the idolator], redemption [that is, monetary redemption,] shall there be for him" -- he may not be seized from the gentile (Bava Kamma 113b)

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LEV1099 by any man [i.e., It is a mitzvah for any Jew to redeem him, not only a relative] (Torah Cohanim)

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LEV1100 What is the intent of: "And he shall reckon with his buyer"? He shall be exact with his buyer (Bava Kamma 113b)

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LEV1103 Obedience to God in the view of Malachi (1:6) is prompted by man's relationship to Him as servant, on the one hand and as son on the other. The first conveys the idea of subordination to God. In the words of the Torah, "Unto Me the children of Israel are servants; they are My servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt" (this verse). While servitude to man is degrading, service of God is the highest honor. All worship constitute service of God. The idea of Divine sonship derives from the sense of identity with a higher order. To be a son of God is not the prerogative of one favored individual--as is claimed by Christianity for its founder--but of every God-conscious being. (Continued at [[GEN705]] Genesis 9:6 image COHON 132)

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LEV1101 In the Jewish view, the spiritual seeker is meant to be a servant of God. Our paragon here is Moses, who is called just that: eved HaShem, a servant of God. (Deuteronomy/Devarim 34:5). The first line of the book of Joshua repeats this phrase, again calling Moses eved Hashem. Psalm 36 begins: "To the chief musician, a Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord." In Leviticus God says: "For to me are the Israelites servants, My servants that I have redeemed from Egypt" [this verse]. That the proper attitude for spiritual living should be that of a servant is very counter-cultural to the modern mind. The French, Russian, and American revolutions that set the course for the modern era, as well as innumerable anti-colonial wars of independence, were all attempts to overthrow regimes that propagated servitude. So to the American Civil War. Not many national constitutions laud the value of being a servant. But the Jew is meant to serve. Our answer to God's commandment is "we shall do and we shall hear." [Exodus 24:7-AJL] Doing comes first. We will serve. … Being a servant of God means striving to align my will to that of the Master. I desire to unify my will with God's will within my own life and to delight in that unification. ... Being a servant who aligns his or her will with the divine will makes you very useful human being. In time, your efforts will be judged to have been right and good. Right alongside, the doors to personal happiness will be open wide to you. There is no long-term satisfaction to be gained by pursuing and even temporarily gratifying the desires of the little personal will.

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LEV1105 See [[DEUT163]] Deuteronomy 5:15 remember OXFORD 39

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LEV1102 It was taught: R. Yochanan b. Zakkai expounded: Why was the ear singled out from all the other organs of the body [as a sign of life-long servitude]? The Holy One Blessed be He said [as it were]: "The ear that heard on Mount Sinai: 'For to Me are the children of Israel servants' -- and not servants to servants--and this one went and acquired a master for himself; let his ear be bored!" (Kiddushin 22b)

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