The pasuk states, in regards to a Jewish slave that wishes to become a nirtzah, (Shemos 21, 6), "...and his master shall bring him to the judges and bring to the door etc.'' How is this? About one was sold by Beis Din, the pasuk stated "and his master shall bring him to the judges''; about one who sold himself, the pasuk stated, "and bring him to the door''.

Question (R. Ami): It is obvious that if one was sold by Beis Din, it is Beis Din who write his document of sale; but who writes the document of sale for a person who sells himself? (Note: This question remains unanswered.)

Beraisa: The pasuk states (Devarim 15, 18), "It shall not be difficult in your eyes to send him away free from you; as he has served you for twice the wage of a hired worker, six years'' - a hired worker works by day but not by night; a Jewish slave works both by day and by night.

Question: The pasuk states (Vayikra 25, 53), "Do not crush him through hard work'' - and you make him work both day and night?

Answer (R. Ami citing R. Yochanan): This means that his father may give him a Canaanite woman in marriage - he will therefore be 'working' at night to produce children that will become slaves of the master.

Question (R. Ba bar Mamal to R. Ami): If the slave is a Kohen, how could he be given a Canaanite slave woman to marry? (A Kohen is prohibited to marry her as she is in the category of a 'harlot' - see Vayikra 21, 7.)

Answer (R. Ami): A Yisrael would also not be permitted to marry her if the Torah did not specifically allow it. This permission also allows a Kohen to marry her.

When R. Ba bar Mamal heard this, he realized that he no longer had a question.

R. Yehuda bei R. Bun: A Kohen slave is bored in the flesh of his ear (rather than his cartilage), so that he will not be blemished in a way that will prevent him from serving in the Temple in the future.

R. Meir: A slave is bored in the upper ear.

Since R. Meir rules this way, he must also rule that a Kohen slave does not have his ear bored so that he will not be disqualified from the Temple service.

Question: Why not bore a small hole in the upper ear (that is too small to be considered a blemish)?

Answer: It may accidently be made too large.

Rejection: Even if this would happen, since the master was involved in performing a mitzvah, he would be exempt from liability!

The Torah requires that he return to his family (see Vayikra 25, 41) meaning that in order to be a nirtzah the slave must have a wife. It is from here that we can prove that it must be permitted for a Kohen to marry a Canaanite slave woman.

Question: The pasuk states (Shemos 21, 6) that the master bores the slave's ear "with the awl''. From where is it known that he could instead use a sharp splinter, a thorn or a piece of glass?

Answer: Since the pasuk could have said "and he shall insert into his ear the awl (bamartzaya)'' and instead it says "and he shall bore (veratzah)... the awl (bamartzaya)'', this shows that any tool that can bore a hole may be used.

Question: This is fine according to R. Akiva (who expounds the double wording of veratzah - bamartzaya), but according to R. Yishmael (who holds that one cannot expound this way since the Torah spoke in the way of people), how do we know that any tool can be used)?

Beraisa: In the three places, the oral tradition (Halachah L'Moshe M'Sinai) uproots the simple reading of a pasuk and in one place, it uproots that which was expounded from a pasuk.

The Torah states (Devarim 24, 3), "...(and he wrote for her) a book (parchment) (of cutting off)'' and the oral tradition teaches that one may using surface that is detached.

The Torah states (Vayikra 17, 13), "(one must cover the blood of a slaughtered animal) in earth'' and the oral tradition teaches that one may use any material in which vegetation grows.

The Torah states (see above), "with the awl'' and the oral tradition teaches that even a sharp splinter, a thorn or a piece of glass may be used.

In one place, it uproots that which was expounded from a pasuk...

Beraisa (R. Yishmael): The pasuk states (in reference to the purification process of the metzorah) (Vayikra 14, 9), "And it will be on the 7th day, he shall shave all of his hair'' - this is a generality; "his head, his beard and his eyebrows'' - these are specifics; when the pasuk states, "all of his hair he shall shave'' - this is another generality. When there is a generality followed by a specific followed by a generality, we learn that the item must be similar to the generality. Therefore, just as here, the Torah is referring to a place where there is a visible collection of hair; so too any visible collection of hair must be shaved. However, the oral tradition uproots this teaching and says that he must shave off all of his hair (his body must become smooth like a pumpkin).

Beraisa: The pasuk says, "with the awl'' - just as an awl is made from metal, so too any metal may be used.

Rebbi: This word (the awl) refers to the large drill.

R. Yosi bei R. Yudah: This refers to a chisel.

The pasuk states (Shemos 21, 6), "...(the master) shall bring him to the door''. One could think that the door could be leaning...the pasuk teaches "or to the doorpost'' - just as the doorpost stands, so the door must be standing. The boring is done in a public place, so that it will be a disgrace for him and his family (who did not redeem him from servitude).

Beraisa (R. Eliezer ben Yaakov): Why is it done at the doorway? As it was through the doorway that the Bnei Yisrael left from slavery to freedom.

Question (Students to R. Yochanan ben Zakai): Why is the extension of his servitude shown in his ear more than in any other limb?

Answer (R. Yochanan ben Zakai): The ear heard at Mount Sinai (Shemos 20, 3), "You shall not have any other gods (i.e. masters) other than Me'', and it threw off the yoke of the Heavenly Kingdom and accepted the yoke of a human being.

The ear heard at Mount Sinai (Vayikra 25, 55), "as to Me the children of Israel are slaves'', and this man went and acquired another master for himself; the ear should come and be bored, as he did not keep that which his ear heard.

Just as his ear (in the topic of metzorah) refers to his right ear, so here it refers to his right ear.