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1) [line 17] SHE'EINO YOTZEI B'ROSHEI EIVAIM K'EVED - that he does not go free if he incurs an injury (at the hands of his master) to the main limb tips, as a Nochri slave does (SHEN V'AYIN)

(a) If the owner of an Eved Kena'ani (a Nochri slave) hits his slave and wounds him by taking out the slave's eye or permanent tooth, the slave becomes entitled to his freedom (Shemos 21:26-27). The owner must intentionally wound him, but need not intend to wound him specifically in the eye or tooth (Kidushin 24b).
(b) The same applies if the master dismembers one of the slave's 24 Roshei Evarim (limb-tips). The 24 Roshei Evarim are the ten fingers, ten toes, nose, ears and the male Ever (Nega'im 6:7, RASHI to Gitin 42b). The Gemara (Kidushin 24a-24b) adds more limbs for which this Halachah applies.
(c) The requirement to free the slave under such circumstances is considered a Kenas (a penalty or fine) which is imposed upon the master for unjustly wounding his slave (Bava Kama 74b; see Rashi to Gitin, top of 21b). Therefore, if the owner admits that he is guilty of taking out his slave's tooth or eye, he need not free the slave (Bava Kama ibid.).
(d) The Gemara here teaches that this penalty does not apply to a Jewish slave; he does *not* go free upon incurring such an injury.

3) [line 23] RABO MOSER LO SHIFCHAH KENA'ANIS - his master may give him a Nochri maidservant (EVED IVRI - a Jewish slave)
(a) There are two ways that a Jewish man can be bought as a slave by another Jew. Either he may sell himself because he is destitute, or he may be sold by Beis Din to pay back a theft. During his term as a slave, his master must support his family (Kidushin 22b). The master may not make his Eved Ivri do disgraceful work for him, nor may he treat him as one normally treats a slave. For example, if the master only has one pillow, he must give it to his Eved Ivri rather than keep it for himself (Gemara below).
(b) If the slave was married before he was sold, the master has the right to give him a Nochri maidservant to bear him children who will become the slaves of the master (Shemos 21:4). (One who is not an Eved Ivri is forbidden to have relations with a maidservant.)
(c) An Eved Ivri is obligated to work for his master for only six years (Shemos 21:2) or until the Yovel year (see Background to Kidushin 14:14), whichever comes first (Kidushin 14b, 16a). At any time during his term, he may go free if he or someone else pays his master the money remaining from the sum that the master paid for him, prorated to the amount of time that he worked. If at the termination of six years he expresses his desire to continue life as a slave, the master takes the slave to Beis Din, and stands the slave near a doorpost and pierces his right ear and the door with an awl. This is known as Retzi'ah, and an Eved Ivri upon whom this is performed is called a "Nirtza." A Nirtza slave must continue to serve his master until the Yovel year (ibid. 21:6) or until his master dies. Whenever an Eved Ivri goes free, under most circumstances his master must give him monetary gifts valued at 15, 30 or 50 Sela'im, according to the various opinions (Kidushin 17a). This is known as Ha'anakah (Devarim 15:14).
(d) The Gemara (Kidushin 14b) cites a Tana that distinguishes between the Halachos of an Eved Ivri who sold himself and an Eved Ivri who was sold by Beis Din. According to this Tana, some of the above-mentioned Halachos do not apply to an Eved Ivri who sold himself. (For example, he cannot become a Nirtza, he does not receive Ha'anakah, etc.)

4) [line 25] HISHBI'ACH - the value of the slave increased because (a) he became stronger; (b) the value of the work that he does increased

5) [line 27] "...MI'KESEF MIKNASO." - "[If there are yet many years, according to them he shall return the price of his redemption,] out of the money for which he was bought." (Vayikra 25:51) - The Gemara learns from this verse that if his value went up, he only needs to refund the difference at the original (lower) price.

6) [line 27] HICHSIF - the value of the slave decreased because he became weaker

7) [line 29] "...KEFI SHANAV..." - "[And if there remain but few years to the Yovel year, then he shall reckon with him, and] according to his years [shall he return to him the price of his redemption.]" (Vayikra 25:52) - The Gemara learns from this verse that if his value went down, he only needs to refund the difference at the current (lower) price.

8) [line 29] EVED HA'NIMKAR L'OVED KOCHAVIM
(a) The Torah states (Vayikra 25:47-55) that a Jewish man can sell himself as a slave to a Nochri through Kinyan Kesef, by the Nochri paying money to the Jewish man. During his term as a slave, his master must support his family (Kidushin 22a). The Jew must be set free in the Yovel year (like every other Eved Ivri), as the Torah states (Vayikra ibid.). Some Tana'im maintain that he also must be set free after six years of servitude, like an Eved Ivri who is sold to a Jew (Kidushin 15b).
(b) It is a Mitzvah for the Jewish slave's relatives to redeem him from servitude, so that he does not learn Nochri ways from his master and forget his people and Maker. When they redeem him, they must calculate the outstanding debt by subtracting the amount of money for the years that he served his master from the sum that the master paid for him. It is also possible for the Eved Ivri himself, or for any other Jew, to redeem the Eved Ivri.
(c) The greatest disgrace is when a poverty-stricken Jew sells himself not only to a Nochri, but to an "Eker Mishpachas Ger" - to perform menial tasks for a house of idol worship (but not, Chas v'Shalom, to serve the idol). Idol worship is called Eker in this verse because Sofo l'Aker (it is destined to be uprooted).

9) [line 30] NIG'AL BI'KEROVIM - he is redeemed by relatives

10) [line 31] SACHIR SACHIR LI'GEZEIRAH SHAVAH (GEZEIRAH SHAVAH)
(a) In the Introduction to the Sifra (the Halachic Midrash to Vayikra), Rebbi Yishmael lists thirteen methods that Chazal use for extracting the Halachah from the verses of the Torah. One of them is Gezeirah Shavah, which is a Halachic device by which two similar words in the Torah from different subjects teach that laws from one subject apply to the other.
(b) A sage is only permitted to use the method of Gezeirah Shavah if he received a tradition from his teachers that a Gezeirah Shavah exists between the two words. However, the comparison that he makes regarding *which* laws are applied from one subject to the other may be his own, if he did not learn it directly from his teachers.

11) [line 32] HAREINI K'VEN AZAI B'SHUKEI TEVERYA - (a) I can answer any question put to me, just like Ben Azai did in the marketplaces of Teveryah (RASHI here and RABEINU GERSHOM to Erchin 30b); (b) I can keenly answer any question put to me, just like Ben Azai, who taught Torah in the marketplaces of Teveryah. Ben Azai had a power of reasoning greater than all other sages of his day (RASHI to Eruvin 29a and to Sotah 45a)

12) [line 34] "...KI TOV LO IMACH." - "[And it shall be, if he says to you, 'I will not go away from you,' because he loves you and your house,] because all is well for him with you." (Devarim 15:16)

13a) [line 35] PAS NEKIYAH - bread made from fine flour
b) [line 36] PAS KIVAR - bread made from flour of inferior quality

14a) [line 37] MUCHIM - soft substances such as hackled wool, rag, lint, etc.
b) [line 37] TEVEN - stubble

15) [line 40] AVAKAH SHEL SHEVI'IS (SECHORAH BE'FEIREI SHVI'IS)
(a) The Torah requires that farmers desist from working the land every seventh year, as described in Vayikra 25:1-7. The fruits that grow during the seventh (Shevi'is) year are holy to the extent that 1. they must be considered ownerless; anyone may come into any field and pick the fruit that he intends to eat. 2. The fruits may not be bought and sold in a normal fashion (see Insights to Sukah 39:2). 3. The Torah requires that the fruits of Shevi'is be used only for eating or drinking (in the normal manner of eating for that type of fruit) or for burning to provide light (in the case of oil). They may not be wasted or used for medicinal purposes or animal fodder, etc.
(b) Avkah Shel Shevi'is refers to the less severe prohibitions associated with Shevi'is, such as buying or selling produce of Shevi'is. The Torah writes that the produce of Shevi'is is ours to be eaten (Vayikra 25:6). Chazal infer from this, "To be eaten, but not to be traded" (see a:1 above). This prohibition is referred to as "Avkah Shel Shevi'is," even though it is forbidden mid'Oraisa, since the main prohibitions of Shevi'is involve actually working the ground (Tosfos to Erchin 30b DH Kamah).

16) [line 43] LO HIRGISH - he did not realize [that the misfortunes that befell him were a direct punishment for his sins]

17) [line 43] "KI YAMUCH ACHICHA U'MACHAR ME'ACHUZASO..." - "If your brother becomes poor, and has sold some of his possessions (ancestral fields), [if any of his kin comes to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.]" (Vayikra 25:25)

18) [line 44] LO VA'AS L'YADO AD... - [even a thought of repentance] will not enter his mind before he...

19) [line 47] HUTRAH LO - that is, to him it becomes as if it is permitted (Yoma 86b)
20) [line 50] V'LO NEIZIF B'RIBISA - rather than taking a loan on interest

21a) [line 51] "V'CHI YAMUCH ACHICHA U'MATAH YADO IMACH...AL TIKACH ME'ITO [NESHECH V'SARBIS...]" - "And if your brother has become poor, and his means fail with you; [then you shall relieve him; though he may be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with you.] Do not take from him [interest or increase; but fear HaSh-m; that your brother may live with you.]" (Vayikra 25:35-36)

b) [line 52] AL TIKACH ME'ITO [NESHECH V'SARBIS] (RIBIS)
(a) It is forbidden to lend money in return for interest (Shemos 22:24, Vayikra 25:36, Devarim 23:20). Even if interest is charged conditionally, and it is not eventually collected, the transaction is prohibited mid'Oraisa according to some Tana'im. It is also forbidden to take money in order to allow the borrower more time to complete the payment of the loan. (Such payment is known as "Agar Natar.")
(b) The Torah only forbids charging interest if the rate or amount of interest for a loan was fixed at the time that the loan was made. This is called Ribis Ketzutzah. If interest was paid but the amount paid was not fixed at the time of the loan, or if a higher price was paid in a *sale* in order that the seller should allow the buyer more time to complete his payment for the purchase, it is called Avak Ribis. This is forbidden mid'Rabbanan.
(c) Certain payments that are not actually Ribis mid'Oraisa or mid'Rabanan were prohibited because they have similarities to Ribis. Chazal refer to this as "Ha'aramas Ribis."

22) [line 53] "[V'CHI SASIG YAD GER V'SOSHAV IMACH, U'MACH ACHICHA IMO; V'NIMKAR] L'GER TOSHAV IMACH O L'EKER MISHPACHAS GER." - "[And if a foreigner or resident alien becomes rich by [living near] you, and your brother who dwells with him becomes poor, and sells himself] to the foreigner or resident alien, or to a house of Idol worship (lit. to the offspring of the stranger's family);" (Vayikra 25:47) - Idol worship is called Eker because "Sofo l'Aker" (it is destined to be uprooted). (See above, entry #8.)

23a) [line 53] GER TZEDEK - a true convert to Judaism
b) [last line] GER TOSHAV - A Ben Noach who accepts upon himself to fulfill the seven Noachide laws (This is the opinion of the Chachamim in Avodah Zarah 64b. Other Tana'im define Ger Toshav differently, ibid.)

24) [line 1] HA'NIMKAR LA'AVODAS KOCHACHIM ATZMAH - sold to perform menial tasks for a house of idol worship (but not, Chas v'Shalom, to serve the idol)

25) [line 2] AHADREI KERA - the verse (that the Gemara cites below) has restored him [to his previous status, for which it is fitting to have mercy upon him]

26) [line 3] KOMER - (usu. a priest) a servant
27) [line 7] D'LO LITAMA BEIN HA'OVDEI KOCHAVIM - he should not become mixed with and hidden among the Nochrim

28) [line 14] U'FASH LEI - and he has left
29) [line 20] K'SINAI - (a) like a revelation [from Mount Sinai]; (b) like a person with an encyclopedic knowledge of Torah

30) [line 22] NIG'AL L'CHATZA'IN - to redeem half of the remaining value of his servitude, thus cutting the remaining years of his servitude in half

31) [line 24] L'KULA AMRINAN; L'CHUMRA LO AMRINAN - we invoke Nig'al l'Chatza'in when it is a leniency for him but not when it will lead to a stringency (as Abaye explains in the Gemara below)

32) [line 29] KEGON D'OKIR V'ZAL V'OKIR - it is dealing with a case where the Eved Ivri was purchased at a high price and he went down in value (at which point he paid half of the remaining value of his servitude) and subsequently went back up (at which point he pays the other half of the remaining value. The leniency is that he has paid a total of 150 Dinerin for his freedom while his purchase price was 200.)

33) [line 33] BATEI AREI CHOMAH
Batei Arei Chomah are houses from a city that was walled at the time of Yehoshua's conquest of Eretz Yisrael. If a person sold a house in one of the Arei Chomah, the Torah gives him the right to purchase it back within *one year* of selling it. If he does not buy it back during that time, it becomes the permanent property of the buyer (Vayikra 25:29-30).

34) [line 39] IM HIGI'A YOVEL V'LO NIG'ALAH - if the Yovel year arrived and it had not been redeemed

35) [line 40] MAKDISH (SEDEI ACHUZAH - an ancestral field)
(a) A Sedeh Achuzah is a field that came into the possession of its owner's family after the conquest and division of Eretz Yisrael, at the time of Yehoshua bin Nun.
(b) Such a field may only be sold until the Yovel year, at which time it automatically returns to the possession of its original owner (Vayikra 25:25-28). Because of this, when a person sells an ancestral field he normally intends to sell only the Peiros, or produce, of the land until the Yovel year, and not the land itself.
(c) Beginning two years after the sale, the original owner may redeem the field from the person who purchased it. He does so by returning the proportion of the money that was paid for the remaining years until the Yovel year (Erchin 29a).
(d) If a person was Makdish (consecrated to the possession of the Beis ha'Mikdash) his Sedeh Achuzah, everyone has the right to redeem it from Hekdesh from that day until Yom ha'Kipurim of the Yovel year. If the Makdish redeems it, he must pay to Hekdesh an additional *fifth* (of the ensuing total, or a *quarter* of the original value) of the value of the field. If the Makdish does not redeem his field by Yom ha'Kipurim of the Yovel year, but rather it is not redeemed, or another person redeems it, it is given to the Mishmar of Kohanim who are on duty at that time (Vayikra 27:15-21). If the *son* of the Makdish redeems the field, it is not given to the Kohanim; it returns to the possession of Makdish (Erchin 25b).
(e) When redeeming a Sedeh Achuzah from Hekdesh, its "value" is determined according to the fixed endowment value stated in Vayikra 27:16, i.e. 50 silver Shekels for every parcel of land that is normally sown with a Chomer (1 Chomer = 1 Kur = 30 Se'ah or approximately 216, 248.9 or 432 liters, depending upon the differing Halachic opinions) of barley seed (75,000 sq. Amos). However, fifty Shekels are given only if the field was redeemed at the beginning of a new Yovel cycle; the amount decreases proportionally with every year that passes until it is less than two years before the next Yovel. At that point, it is once again redeemed for fifty Shekels per Chomer (ibid. 25a).

36) [line 43] NECHLAT - it becomes the permanent possession of the buyer
37) [line 48] SHE'KEN HURA KOCHO LIGA'EL MIYAD - since it does not have the leniency to be redeemed immediately (but rather it may be redeemed only after two years have passed since the sale)

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