Commentary for Kiddushin 40:1
זה הנמכר לעבודת כוכבים עצמה
it refers to one who sells himself to the service of the idol itself!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g., to cut wood for its altar, etc., though not accepting it as a god. - Now, reverting to the original question: since he had to sell himself as a punishment for trading in seventh year produce, why should we not interpret the verse stringently, to his disadvantage?');"><sup>1</sup></span> - Said he to him: But there the Writ led him back.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To the compassion of his brethren.');"><sup>2</sup></span>
Daf Shevui to Kiddushin
Ultimately, he will come to sell himself off to idolatry itself. The midrash here expounds on some of the superfluity in Leviticus 25:47 reading into it three categories—a convert, a righteous non-Jew, a non-Jew, and then adding in even to be a slave for a Temple.
This is the end of the midrash. The question therefore has been asked—why is the law lenient when it comes to the redemption price when we can see that someone who sells himself into slavery must have, at one point, committed the serious sin of violating the Sabbatical year.
This is the end of the midrash. The question therefore has been asked—why is the law lenient when it comes to the redemption price when we can see that someone who sells himself into slavery must have, at one point, committed the serious sin of violating the Sabbatical year.
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