Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week.
If you lend money to My people, to the poor who are in your power,
Do not act toward him as a creditor,
Exact no interest from him. (Shemot 22,24)
If you lend money to My people - R. Yishmael says:
Every 'if' in the Torah is voluntary except for three instances, the above
being one of them. Do not act
toward him as a creditor- Do not
demand payment from him forcibly if you are aware that he is wanting: don't
appear to him as if you are his creditor, but rather as if you have not lent
him anything, in other words do not embarrass him.
Interest -In Rabbinical
Hebrew - ריבית (ribeet) - 'biting' like the biting of a snake: it bites
inflicting a small wound in one's foot which he does not feel at first, but all
at once, it distends the entire body up to the head. So it is with interest; at
first one does not feel the drain and remains unnoticed until the interest
mounts up and suddenly the person has lost a large fortune.
(Rashi ad locum)
Do not act towards him as a creditor
- Money
that a person lends out is not entirely his and only his, and the decision to
lend is not a purely arbitrary act. One's money is also the property of God, and the act of lending is a mitzvah, and the borrower
is not solely a private individual - he is one of My people, one of God's community; the
community, God willing that shall be built upon the magical powers of 'mitzvah'.
(R. Samson Raphael
Hirsch)
Loans, Tzedakah, and Circles of Responsibility Towards
the Poor
Aryeh Bernstein
If you lend money to My
people, to the poor who are in your power, do not act toward him as a creditor,
exact no interest from him. (Shemot 22,24)
In our parsha, the
Torah forbids us to lend money with interest, because it is a way of exploiting
the poor, disguised as assistance to him. (See for example Nechemiah
5) We are discussing a business
arrangement between two individuals from the middle class and above, that
transforms the relationship between them into one of abuse, in that the stronger
one widens the gap between them and changes his position of power from a
temporary one to something more permanent. The technical act- of transferring
money from one to another with the expectation that he will return it - is
significantly different when one expects that the money will be returned, than
when the borrower, because of his desperate and unstable situation, cannot return
the money.
In the first situation, the loan becomes a
charitable act; if he is able to recover his money, congratulations are due to
the lender, while the borrower retains his dignity.
If the difference between a loan given to assist the other person, as distinct from a
loan that apparently depresses him, only by means of the relationship between
them and not through the formal transaction, the question arises: to whom should one lend money in the first
place? In light of this, the Tannaim while dealing with the details of the prohibition
of lending money with interest, reveal an approach to this basic question that
is embedded in this very verse: 'If you lend money to My people to the poor
who are in your power...'
My people: If a Jew and gentile are seeking a loan- My people precede the gentile. If one is poor and the other is rich, the poor man precedes the
rich one. If one is a poor relative and the other is only a fellow resident of
your city, your poor relative has priority over others. If the poor of your
city and the poor of another city are seeking a loan, the poor of your city
precede the others, as it is written: 'thy poor'. (Mechilta
of R. Yishmael, Mishpatim,
Tractate 'Kaspa', Parsha
19: See also Bavli B. Metzia
71a)
At first glance at this midrash, Chazal have solved
the problem of the priorities in the granting of loans, and in fact, all the
economic assistance to the poor. The decisors have
applied this midrash to the laws of loans (חו"מ צ"ז:א)
And to the laws of tzedakah ((יו"ד רנא:ד, why does the verse mention 'My people'? To instruct us that if we have a
limited amount of funds and there are two people requesting a loan, I am to
give priority to the Jew over the gentile. Why mention 'the poor'? To instruct us to give to the poorer of the two. Why mention
'who are in your power'? To instruct us to give preference to
relatives over other indigents in my city, and to residents of my city over
those of other cities. My circles of responsibility encompass all
mankind, however there are priorities to those who are in need of assistance
and those who are culturally closer or are biologically closer to me - circles
whose importance for the benefit of society, become better
understood in their historical and social context, that it is still impossible
to imagine a welfare state.
The midrash only partially reveals its implications and
poses more questions than It offers answers. How do
all the axis combine with each other? How do we decide between a distant
relative in need as opposed to a next door neighbor, between a Jew who is in
slight economic distress as opposed to a gentile who is in dire economic
straits?
And another problem- how
does one define 'my city'? Do I use the current political map?
Must I take into
consideration, the time involved in arriving there? Must I also factor in the
people with whom I socialize? Is 'my city' limited to Talpiot,
or may it refer to Talpiot and Bakah,
or perhaps does it include all of south
We have not come to
answer complex halachic questions in a publication
devoted to 'parshat hashavuah',
rather our intent is to refine the questions in terms of a global economy, in
which the concept of 'neighborhood' changes, while the gaps between the rich
and poor expand exponentially, where today it is possible to reach the distant
poor, and the issue of the intervention of the world's inhabitants becomes more
and more problematic and complex.(Think about it: poor laborers in Asia
assembled the computer that I write with, using minerals imported from Africa, and
the Africans did not receive any compensation for the natural resources
extracted from their lands.
The literature of halachic arbiters mentions two trends that shed light on
this subject.
In Shulchan
Aruch Yoreh Deah 251, dealing with the priorities in the distribution
of charity, R. Yosef Karo
adds the following halacha (8): 'If a man and a woman
come to ask for food, preference shall be given to the woman'. How does gender
factor in to the priorities discussed previously in which only the level of
need and familial relationship are being discussed?
The Shach
(ad locum) offers an interesting explanation: "Since poor males are
accustomed to seek assistance by going from house to house and this not the
custom of a female, and even if she were to do so, since the general custom is for
a woman not to engage in this practice, we preferably grant charity to a woman over
a man in order to discourage women from doing so." That is to say, that social norms prevent a woman in financial need from
solicitation, while such a barrier does not exist for men. Under such
circumstances, one can assume that when a man and a woman appear in one's
doorway to solicit, one can assume that the situation of the woman is more
severe; the 'price' that she is paying for soliciting is higher than that of
the male. Moreover, even if she overcomes the social norms and is standing in
my doorway, there still exists the concern that if I do not assist her, she may
not overcome her anxiety and never attempt to solicit in the next house. In the
words of the Shach: 'Alternatively, she may become
too embarrassed to request from others'. Therefore, gender is not here the
issue, rather, the willingness to seek assistance. In a certain society, there
is a relationship between 'willingness' and 'gender'; in another society,
possibly the male will find it more difficult to seek assistance because of his
'male image'.
However, all is
dependent upon local cultural factors. Additionally, there exist factors that
relate to conditions of poverty that must be taken into account. For example. if I receive a request for assistance from a
place that suffers from extreme poverty and also receive a request from a site
that also suffers from extreme poverty plus it is in a war zone, preventing the
media from transmitting any information, so that the cries of the poor cannot
be heard, perhaps the halacha we cited regarding the
priority of the woman over the man, would instruct us to grant priority to
those who have no access to the television cameras? If the erection of the
separation wall and the paving of new roads between Jerusalem and Efrat, prevent one from observing and remembering that
there are people living in acute poverty in the refugee camp of Dheisheh, perhaps there is an increased obligation to
assist the poor whom we do not see and support the organization succeeds in
reminding us of their existence? If in our country there are brokers, who in
violation of the law import foreign workers and confiscate their passports and
literally enslave them- and those 'slaves' fear the seeking of assistance,
because their 'Pharoah' will further exacerbate their
working conditions, do we not have an obligation to give them priority in
assistance, in the rare event that the civil rights organizations bring their
plight to our attention?
How do we integrate all of the axis? Our midrash
contains an additional consideration: 'The inhabitants of the
According to the Chatam Sofer, if we are to deal
with the assistance to the indigent, then the axis of the level of poverty-"between
the poor man and the rich man, the poor one precede the rich one"- becomes
the most cardinal rule, and the others, while important are but secondary, if
we are concerned with poverty threatening life's existence. In a world where
20% of the population lives in abject poverty and millions annually perish as a
result of poverty, and the reduction of distances in the world are accomplished
through modern communication allowing access to the poor throughout the world, it
is dizzying to contemplate how we can change our lives were we to implement the
words of the Chatam Sofer.
Aryeh
Bernstein resides in
The Word of God is to be Found in
the Details That lead to Tikkun Ha Olam
Why was the parsha
of 'laws' placed adjacent to the parsha of the
altar? To teach us to locate the Sanhedrin in the sanctuary.
(Rashi
21,1)
The following requires explanation: "Moshe
came and related to the people all the words of the Lord and all his statutes".
That is to say he revealed to the people all the Divine content in each
mitzvah, ...that are the continuation of His infinite will, blessed be His
name, for by the actual performance of his statutes in particular, will the
eternal soul endure. Consequently, he related to them the everlasting words of
God; he related to them the statutes.
'You will be unto Me
a holy nation'
Holy humans you will be unto Me. Sanctify your
human actions for this is the holiness that is required from man. G-d does not
suffer from a lack of heavenly angels.
(Told over in the name
of R. Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
-ממעינה של תורה )
Peace is Achieved through Normal
Legal Procedures and the Overcoming of Feelings of Hostility
"You have established straight paths"
Said R Alexandri: You have established honesty in your
world. When a man has a legal dispute with his friend and they accept the decision
of the court and make peace, "You have established straight paths".
If a man is walking and sees the donkey of his friend lying under its burden,
and he gives him a hand and helps him load and unload, and they enter an inn
and he says to himself: 'this man likes me and I always thought he was my enemy'.
Instantly they talk to each other and peace prevailed between them. What
brought this about that they should conciliate and become friends?
By abiding by that which
is written in the Torah: "If you see that the donkey of someone who hates
you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help."
(Shemot 23,5) Likewise, "Her
ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace." (Mishlei 3,17). "You have
executed justice and righteousness in Jacob." (Psalm
99,4) "These are the ordinances which you shall put
before them".
(Shemot
21,1 Midrash Tehilim 99)
There are Incidental Mitzvot and There are Others
that One Must Quest For
Hillel said: - "Be among the disciples of
Aaron: Love peace and pursue peace; love your fellow creatures and bring them
near to Torah." 'Love peace' is self - understood. But 'pursue peace'-how
is it possible? It is as we have learned: 'Seek Peace and Pursue It'. What is
the difference from all the mitzvot that one is not
obligated to perform until they present themselves before you, as it is
written: 'Should you come upon your enemy's ox' or 'If you see that the donkey
of someone who hates you...'or 'If you build a new house...', but the pursuit
of peace should be a constant activity, 'Seek Peace and Pursue It'.
(Massechet
Kalah, Chapter 3, Mishna 5)
"An eye for an eye..." - Between Pshat
and Halacha
A man could say, if these are the interpretations
of the laws of the Torah as we have received them from Moshe, as we have said:
The entire Torah, its principles, details and fine points are of Sinaitic origin, then what of the specific rulings labeled 'Halacha l'Moshe m'Sinai'? The 'secret' of this principle lays in the fact
that these laws received from Moshe absolutely entail no dispute, for then and
now we have never found a disagreement among the scholars about these laws,
beginning with the days of Moshe until R. Ashi , that
someone would advance the interpretation that if one takes out the eye of
another, his own eye shall be removed, as it is written: 'An eye for an eye... the
second 'eye' is only a ransom he is requires to pay.
(Sefer
Shlah Massechet Shevuot 190)
"The punishment of him who sins against his
neighbor consists in the general rule that there shall be done unto him exactly
as he has done: if he injured any one personally, he must suffer personally; if
he damaged the property of his neighbor, he shall be punished by loss of
property. But the person whose property has been damaged should be ready to
resign his claim totally or partly. Only to the murderer we must not be lenient
because of the greatness of his crime; and no ransom must be accepted of him. 'And
the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein but by the blood
of him that shed it' (Num. xxxi. 33). Hence even if the murdered person continued to
live after the attack for an hour or for days, was able to speak and possessed
complete consciousness, and if he himself said, "Pardon my murderer, I
have pardoned and forgiven him," he must not be obeyed. We must take life
for life, and estimate equally the life of a child and that of a grown-up
person, of a slave and of a freeman, of a wise man and of a fool. For there is no greater sin than this.
And he who mutilated a
limb of his neighbour, must himself lose a limb.
"As he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him
again" (Lev. xxiv. 20).
You must not raise an objection from our practice
of imposing a fine in such cases. For we have proposed to
ourselves to give here the reason for the precepts mentioned in the Law, and
not for that which is stated in the Talmud. I have, however, an
explanation for the interpretation given in the Talmud, but it will be
communicated vivâ voce.
(Moreh
Nevuchim Rambam III,41)
Half Shekel- the symbolic expression by which one
expresses his obligation to donate and fulfill the mitzva
is the half-shekel. The individual's contribution - even if were the epitome of
perfection-objectively speaking could never be absolutely complete. The act of
an individual is incomplete, and in order that his action be
complete, it requires a similar dedication from his fellow man.
(S.R.Hirsch
Shemot 30,13)
The Regional Council of
Lower Galilee in conjunction with Mitzpeh Netofah, are considering the establishment of 'Bet LaChayim BaKehilah', for
young women with special needs, daughters of religious families. If this
project is relevant to you or to your acquaintances, contact us by fax at: 04-6778061 or at bayit.lachayim@gmail.com with details: we will respond as soon as
possible.
To all
our readers and supporters:
We need your support in
order that the voice of a religious Zionism committed to peace and justice will
continue to be heard through the uninterrupted distribution of Shabbat Shalom
in hundreds of synagogues, on the Internet and via email in both Hebrew and
English.
Donations in
For a
If you wish to subscribe
to the email English editions of Shabbat Shalom, to print copies of it for
distribution in your synagogue, to inquire regarding the dedication of an
edition in someone's honor or memory, to find out how to make tax-exempt
donations, or to suggest additional helpful ideas, please call
Issues may be dedicated
in honor of an event, person, simcha, etc. Requests
must be made 3-4 weeks in advance to appear in the Hebrew, 10 days in advance
to appear in the English email.
About us
Oz Veshalom-Netivot
Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of a civil society in
Oz Veshalom-Netivot
Shalom shares a deep attachment to the
4,500 copies of a 4-page peace oriented
commentary on the weekly Torah reading are written and published by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom and they are distributed to over
350 synagogues in
Shabbat Shalom is available on our website: www.netivot-shalom.org.il
For responses and arranging to write for Shabbat
Shalom: pleiser@netvision.net.il