פרשת בהר - בחקותי תש"י - עבד עברי

And if thy brother be waxen poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not make him to serve as a bondservant.

עבדת עבד [THOU SHALT NOT COMPEL HIM] TO SERVE AS A BOND-SERVANT — i. e. thou shalt not make him do degrading work by which he is recognised as a slave — this might come out that he shall not, for instance, carry his (the master’s) clothes after him to the public baths nor help him on with his boots (cf. Sifra, Behar, Chapter 7 2).

As a hired servant, and as a settler, he shall be with thee; he shall serve with thee unto the year of jubilee.

כשכיר כתושב BUT AS A HIRED SERVANT AND AS A SOJOURNER HE SHALL BE UNTO THEE] —Employ him on field-labour or on a handicraft; Treat him as you do any hired servant.

As a hired servant, and as a settler, he shall be with thee; he shall serve with thee unto the year of jubilee.

The baraita continues: This means that there shall not be a situation in which you eat fine bread and he eats inferior bread [kibbar], bread from coarse flour mixed with bran, which is low quality. There shall not be a situation in which you drink aged wine and he drinks inferior new wine. There shall not be a situation in which you sleep comfortably on bedding made from soft sheets and he sleeps on straw. From here the Sages stated: Anyone who acquires a Hebrew slave is considered like one who acquires a master for himself, because he must be careful that the slave’s living conditions are equal to his own.

For they are My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen.

For they are My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen.

לא ימכרו ממכרת עבד THEY SHALL NOT BE SOLD AS THOUGH BY THE SALE OF A BONDSMAN — by public announcement: “Here is a slave to be sold!” Nor shall one make him stand on the auction-stone (Sifra, Behar, Section 6 1).

Whether he sells himself or is sold by the court, he must not be sold publicly at an auction place or in a backstreet, as slaves are generally sold, for it is written: "They must not be sold as slaves are sold" (Leviticus 25:42). He should rather be sold privately and politely.