Musar for Bava Metzia 146:8
רב סעורם אחוה דרבא הוה תקיף אינשי דלא מעלו ומעייל להו בגוהרקא דרבא אמר ליה רבא שפיר קא עבדת דתנינא ראית שאינו נוהג כשורה מנין שאתה רשאי להשתעבד בו תלמוד לומר (ויקרא כה, מו) לעולם בהם תעבודו ובאחיכם יכול אפילו נוהג כשורה ת"ל (ויקרא כה, מו) ובאחיכם בני ישראל איש באחיו וגו'
So he went to R. Ashi and asked him: Is it permitted?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Or is it usury for having paid the money in advance? ');"><sup>15</sup></span> Yes, he replied; they but forego [their rights] in your favour.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The right of giving you exactly the stipulated quantity. ');"><sup>16</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
לעולם בהם תעבודו . This rule of owning Gentile slaves permanently (25,46) (as opposed to Jewish servants), is rooted in the status of Canaan as a slave since the days of Noach. The status was conferred upon him in retaliation for his having uncovered the nakedness of his grandfather. The curse is connected with the original pollutant introduced into Eve as a result of the serpent having mated with her. Israel are called אחיך, having been created in the צלם אלוקים, the image of G–d. When one does not behave like a "brother," אחיך, by such deeds as behooves a person created in the image of G–d, then the Torah will apply the epithet ובאחיך to such a person.
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