Musar for Bava Kamma 174:7
כדאמר רבא בריה דרב עולא לא נצרכה אלא להעדפה ה"נ לא נצרכה אלא להעדפה
that a master may say to his slave, 'Work with me though I am not prepared to maintain you,' surely this applies only to a Canaanite slave to whom the master can say, 'Do your work during the day and in the evenings you can go out and look about for food,'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Eg. where the work he performs is not worth the cost of his maintenance, v. Git. 12a.] ');"><sup>12</sup></span> whereas in the case of a Hebrew slave in connection with whom it is written, Because he fareth well with thee,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XV, 16. ');"><sup>13</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
One can also explain these verses in accordance with a statement by our sages (Yuma 72) that there are three crowns, the crown of priesthood acquired by Aaron, the crown of Monarchy acquired by David, and the crown of Torah which was granted (potentially) to everybody. Concerning all this, the Torah first says (plural) והייתם, "you will all be something precious." There is a discussion in Baba Kama 87 about the meaning of the word סגולה. Rav Chisda holds that someone could acquire סגולה by purchasing a Torah scroll. Rabba bar Rav Hunna thinks that ownership of a date-palem constitutes possession of a סגולה; the owner will be able to eat dates from it for an unlimited period of time. What Rabbi Chisda meant was that everybody is at liberty to buy a Torah scroll, hence everybody can acquire the status of being or possessing a סגולה.
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