A Process

I am having a very tough time processing the significance of the sixth aliyah of Behar.  Difficulty like I haven't experienced before.

The Torah discusses that if a Hebrew falls on truly hard times, he may be sold to another Hebrew, but if that happens, he should basically be treated as any other hired worker would, with respect.  And earlier we learn that such an individual goes free.  

In the next verses, however, the Torah goes on to state that slaves may be purchased from the surrounding nations (VaYikra 25:44) and then spends three verses discussing how slaves from non-Hebrews who live in Eretz Yisrael may also be purchased and handed down through the generations, "forever," concluding with a final reminder that "your brethren, B'nei Yisrael, a man with his brother, do not subjugate him through hard labor."

There are two very difficult points here.  Maybe three.  First, non-Hebrews may be purchased and passed down through the generations.  Second, non-Hebrews may be worked with hard labor unlike Hebrew slaves are.  Third, while a Hebrew slave goes free during the Yovel, a non-Hebrew slave is a "hereditary property forever."

I need to read and meditate more because I haven't uncovered such clear delineations that are so hard to swallow.  Perhaps the motivation is to push the nations away from Yisrael knowing the consequences of entering servitude under Torah law.  Perhaps it is a push to become Jewish, knowing that such a slave will be treated differently.  Perhaps it is encouragement for the Hebrew not to purchase a slave from the nation because of the disparate treatment they have to - and in fact, are seemingly commanded - to impart.  But with all this said, the peshat of the text is very difficult to process unless certain assumptions are made regarding the varying degrees of worthiness of human life.  And this will be a process, and perhaps a very bitter truth to confront in the coming days.