Talmud zu Wajikra 25:55

HALAKHAH: “If somebody hired tradesmen,” etc. Rav said, “because the Children of Israel are My servants²⁸Lev. 25:55.,” Jews cannot buy one another. Rebbi Joḥanan said, this was stated about a Hebrew slave²⁹The verse is in the paragraph about a Hebrew slave of a Gentile, who has to be freed in the Jubilee year.. In Rav’s opinion, both a worker and an employer can back out; in Rebbi Joḥanan’s opinion the worker can back out but not the employer³⁰It seems that the attributions have to be switched. Rav, who quotes the verse, holds that a contract which bars a worker from quitting his job is invalid as “stipulating against the words of the Torah”, must hold that any employment contract which specifies a fixed term of employment can be enforced only against the employer, not the employee. In the Babli 10a this is universally accepted. This does not exclude that the worker who quits his job in the middle of work be financially disadvantaged (Babli 77a). R. Joḥanan, who holds that the verse is irrelevant in the context, must read the Mishnaiot as applying both to contractors and workers; both can renege on their obligations if they accept the penalties spelled out there..

He who is sold for committing a theft should not be sold either in the market-place or in a bazaar, as it is stated, For unto Me the children of Israel are servants.⁸Lev. 25, 55. They must be treated as human beings and not as chattels.

Beloved are proselytes [by God], for [Scripture] everywhere uses the same epithets of them as of Israel; [61b] as it is stated, But thou, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen.⁷Isa. 41, 8. Jacob is here interpreted as ibid. XLIV, 5, And another shall call himself by the name of Jacob—these are the proselytes of righteousness (cf. towards the end of this tractate). The order of the quotations in V is confused. The term ‘love’ is applied to Israel, as it is stated, I have loved you, saith the Lord,⁸Mal. 1, 2. and the term ‘love’ is applied to proselytes, as it is stated, And He loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.⁹Deut. 10, 18. Israel are called ‘servants’, as it is stated, For unto Me the children of Israel are servants,¹⁰Lev. 25, 55. V omits the quotation. and proselytes are called ‘servants’, as it is stated, To be His servants.¹¹Isa. 56, 6. The term ‘acceptable’ is used of Israel, as it is stated, And it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord,¹²Ex. 28, 38. and the term ‘acceptable’ is used of proselytes, as it is stated, Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon Mine altar.¹³Isa. 56, 7. The term ‘keeping’ is applied to Israel, as it is stated, The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand,¹⁴Ps. 121, 5. and the term ‘keeping’ is applied to proselytes, as it is stated, The Lord preserveth the strangers.¹⁵ibid. CXLVI, 9. The term ‘ministering’ is applied to Israel, as it is stated, But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord, men shall call you the ministers of our God,¹⁶Isa. 61, 6. and the term ‘ministering’ is applied to proselytes, as it is stated, Also the aliens, that join themselves to the Lord, to minister unto Him.¹⁷ibid. LVI, 6.
Beloved are proselytes seeing that our father Abraham did not circumcise himself when he was twenty or thirty years of age, but when he was ninety-nine years old;¹⁸Cf. Gen. 17, 24. since if he had circumcised himself when he was twenty or thirty years old, no Gentile would have become a proselyte when he had passed the age of twenty or thirty. The Holy One, blessed be He, kept putting it off¹⁹The verb has fallen out of V. until he had reached ninety-nine years, so as not to close the door in the face of proselytes, [and to allow more days and years so as to increase the reward of those who do His will, as it is stated, The Lord was pleased, for His righteousness’ sake, to make the teaching great and glorious].²⁰Isa. 42, 21. The passage within brackets is added by MS.K. and H.
Our father Abraham called himself a ger, as it is stated, I am a stranger [ger] and a sojourner with you.²¹Gen. 22, 4. Similarly David, king of Israel, called himself a ger, as it is stated, For I am a stranger [ger] with Thee,²²Ps. 39, 13. and likewise it states, For we are strangers before Thee.²³1 Chron. 29, 15.
Beloved is the Land of Israel because it makes proselytes fit [to be received]. If a man says in the Land of Israel, ‘I am a proselyte’, he is accepted at once, but outside the Land of Israel he is not accepted unless his witnesses are with him. Beloved is the Land of Israel because it atones for iniquities and transgressions, as it is stated, And the inhabitant shall not say: ‘I am sick’, the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.²⁴Isa. 33, 24.
And so you find in the four classes that stand before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is stated, One shall say: ‘I am the Lord’s’; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.²⁵ibid. XLIV, 5. One shall say: ‘I am the Lord’s’—this alludes to one who belongs wholly to the Omnipresent and has no admixture of sin. Another shall call himself by the name of Jacob—this alludes to the proselytes of righteousness.²⁶A term to denote the genuine and complete convert. Another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord—this alludes to those who repent. And surname himself by the name of Israel—this alludes to those who fear Heaven.