Josiah to state the prohibition for stealing (including abduction) and Rabbi Joḥanan to state the prohibition for selling the kidnapped person. Rabbi Levi interpreted to teach that God claimed Israel as God's own possession when God said, "To Me the children of Israel are servants." Reading , regarding the Hebrew servant who chose not to go free and whose master brought him to the doorpost and bore his ear through with an awl, Rabban Joḥanan ben Zakkai explained that God singled out the ear from all the parts of the body because the servant had heard God's Voice on Mount Sinai proclaiming in , "For to me the children of Israel are servants, they are my servants," and not servants of servants, and yet the servant acquired a master for himself when he might have been free. And Rabbi Simeon bar Rabbi explained that God singled out the doorpost from all other parts of the house because the doorpost was witness in Egypt when God passed over the lintel and the doorposts (as reported in ) and proclaimed (in the words of ), "For to me the children of Israel are servants, they are my servants," and not servants of servants, and so God brought them forth from bondage to freedom, yet this servant acquired a master for himself. In modern interpretation The parashah is discussed in these modern sources: Leviticus chapter 25 In 1877, Professor August Klostermann of the University of Kiel observed the singularity of as a collection of laws and designated it the "Holiness Code." Professor William Dever of Lycoming College noted that recognizes three land-use distinctions: (1) walled cities (, ir chomot); (2) unwalled villages (, chazeirim, specially said to be unwalled); and (3) land surrounding such a city (, sedeih migrash) and the countryside (, sedeih ha-aretz, "fields of the land"). Commandments According to Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are 7 positive and 17 negative commandments in the parashah: Not to work the land during the seventh year Not to work with trees to produce fruit during that year Not to reap crops that grow wild that year in the normal manner Not to gather grapes which grow wild that year in the normal way The Sanhedrin must count seven groups of seven years. To blow the shofar on the tenth of Tishrei to free the slaves The Sanhedrin must sanctify the 50th year. Not to work