לֹא־תַסְגִּ֥יר עֶ֖בֶד אֶל־אֲדֹנָ֑יו אֲשֶׁר־יִנָּצֵ֥ל אֵלֶ֖יךָ מֵעִ֥ם אֲדֹנָֽיו׃
Ne livre pas un esclave à son maître, s’il vient se réfugier de chez son maître auprès de toi.
Jerusalem Talmud Gittin
MISHNAH: If somebody sells his slave to Gentiles or outside the Land, the slave gains his freedom147Since a slave is required to obey all of the biblical prohibitions imposed on Jews, a sale to a Gentile is equivalent to the slave’s removal from Jewish practice. Also, there are more commandments to be observed in the Land than abroad. In both cases, it is a rabbinic decree that the master has to buy the slave back and then formally manumit him. (In Sifry Deut. 259, this is connected to Deut. 23:16–17.). One does not ransom kidnap victims for more than the going rate148If the kidnap victims were sold as slaves on the open market. If it were known that Jews be ready to ransom their co-religionists for any price, no Jew would be safe from kidnapping. because of the public good. One does not smuggle kidnap victims out because of the public good; Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel says, because of the welfare of the kidnap victims149The majority holds that one never tries to free kidnap victims without paying because then the robbers would put their next victims in chains and otherwise mistreat them. Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel holds that one may not try to steal the kidnap victims if one cannot free all of them in the hand of a group of kidnappers, because those left behind then would be mistreated. He does not fear an adverse reaction in a larger context.. One does not buy Torah scrolls, phylacteries, and mezuzot from Gentiles for more than their worth because of the public good150Gentiles should not get the impression that stealing Jewish cult objects might be a particularly profitable business..