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Mishpatim : Laws of Slaves, Lending, and Property

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muman613:
Regarding giving to our poor 'brothers and sisters' the Torah says the following:

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading.asp?AID=15564&p=complete

24. When you lend money to My people, to the poor person [who is] with you, you shall not behave toward him as a lender; you shall not impose interest upon him.
25. If you take your neighbor's garment as security, until sunset you shall return it to him,
26. for it is his only covering; it is his garment for his skin. With what shall he lie? And it shall be [that] if he cries out to Me, I will hear because I am gracious.

Here are some commentaries on this Mitzvot:



--- Quote ---http://www.shlomokluger.com/Kluger-Books/Imrei-Shefer/Mishpotim.html

(22,24) When you lend money to My people, to the poor person with you, you shall not be towards him as a lender; you shall not impose interest upon him.

In the Midrash it says that our posuk is explained by the posuk in Tehillim (112,5) “Good is the man who is gracious and lends, who conducts his affairs with judgement” - and there no one who is not obligated to Hashem. What is the Midrash saying?

It seems to me that the Midrash had a difficulty with the language of the posuk, which says “you shall not be towards him like a lender”. If the posuk means to say that it is forbidden to demand money from the poor person if he does not have it, then it should have said, “do not be towards him a lender”. Why does it say “like a lender”? Also, the order of the posuk is strange; it should have first said “do not impose upon him interest”, and then it should have said “do not be towards him like a lender”, because imposing interest takes place at the beginning of the loan, and the prohibition to demand the money is later, when the time of repayment arrives.

Therefore the Midrash explains that the posuk comes to teach us that not only is it forbidden to demand money from him, but even if you have already lent money to a poor person once and he had no money to repay the loan, and he comes to borrow from you again, do not behave towards him the way most people would, and say to him: Behold, you are already in debt to me and you have not yet paid. Granted that I am not going to demand money from you, but nevertheless I’m not obligated to lend to you further. Hashem commanded that one should not say this, because even though he is not demanding payment, nevertheless, he is showing that he has not yet forgiven him the loan, and in his mind he is still obligated to him. Instead, Hashem commanded him that he should put in his mind that he is not a lender to the poor person at all - that he has already forgiven the first loan and it as if he had never owed him, and he is obligated to lend to him again.

This what it means “he shall not be to him like a lender” - even though he is not actually claiming from him, nevertheless, he should not appear as if he is lending to him by refusing to lend to him again, but rather he should forgive the first loan if the poor person does not have money to repay it, and lend to him a second time. And therefore it now says that “you shall not impose upon him interest”, because since he is obligated to lend to him a second time, he should not say to him "You also owe me from before, and if I lend to you again, at the very least you should pay me interest", because also this the Torah forbids.

Now, the Midrash had a difficulty with the posuk “Good is the man who is gracious and lends”, because these two things are contradictory - because ‘gracious’ implies giving for free, as Chazal say in many places, whereas a lender implies that he intends that the borrower should repay him. If so, how can one be both gracious and a lender? Also, it is not clear how the judgement which is mentioned in the end of the posuk - “who conducts his affairs with judgement” - is relevant here.

But it is well known that the way a person conducts himself, Hashem conducts Himself towards that person. It is also well known, that a person is required to cling to the traits of Hashem. Like Chazal taught, that just as Hashem is gracious, so too you should be gracious, and so on. Now, Hashem bestows good on a person in order that he will be able to do Hashem’s will, and to observe Torah and mitzvos. Thus, because of this goodness that he receives, a person is obligated to Hashem to observe Torah and mitzvos, and so if he transgresses the Torah, then he has not yet paid his obligation to Hashem, and so it would be fitting if Hashem would not bestow upon him any further goodness. This is what people are accustomed to do, that if someone is obligated to his friend and does not repay him, his friend will not lend to him again. But Hashem forgives the first 'loan' and lends to him afresh, in order that he might still repent his ways. Therefore, since Hashem conducts himself in this fashion, a person is obligated to conduct himself the same way, and thus he will merit that Hashem will continue to forgive the first and lend to him anew.

This is what the posuk in Tehillim is saying, “Good is the man who is gracious and lends”, that the reason why he is called good is because he is gracious and forgives that which the person is already obligated to him and gives it to him as a free gift, and lends to him again. Thus he “conducts his affairs with judgement”, with the judgement of Hashem. With the same rule the Hashem uses with a person, forgiving the first 'loan', so too this person conducts himself and forgives the earlier loan - this is a good man. And since there is no one who is not obligated to Hashem, everyone is obligated to conduct themselves this way. This is the meaning of the Midrash.
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--- Quote ---http://www.aish.com/tp/i/gl/139180624.html

Mishpatim(Exodus 21-24)
Complete Kindness

In the Portion of Mishpatim the Torah instructs us with regard to lending money to our fellow in need. The Torah states: "When you lend money to My people, to the poor person who is with you, do not act toward him as a creditor; do not lay interest upon him. If you take your fellow's garment as security until sunset, you shall return it to him. For it alone is his clothing, it is his garment for his skin - in what should he lie down? - so it will be if he cries out to Me, I shall listen, for I am compassionate." (1)

On superficial analysis these Mitzvot seem to be fairly straightforward and easy to understand, however Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz derives a very important insight about the Torah's attitude to chesed (kindness) from these verses: (2) This passage is dealing with a person who fulfills the great kindness of helping his friend by lending him money, and yet the Torah gives him a number of Mitzvot to ensure that he perform this chesed in the most optimum way and not diminish its effect. It is instructive to analyze these verses more carefully to note their common theme:

"Do not act toward him as a creditor." Rashi, based on the Mechilta, explains that this means that if the lender knows that the borrower is, at present, unable to pay back the loan, then the lender should not make him feel pressured about it, rather he should behave as if the loan never took place, so as not to embarrass the borrower. "Do not lay interest upon him." This refers to the prohibition of lending money with interest (ribbis). Rav Shmuelevitz cites a number of Rabbinic sources that emphasize the seriousness of lending with interest; for example he brings a Medrash that for every sin there are Malachim (angels) in Heaven who try to find a merit for the sinner, the one exception to this case being that of ribbis. Rav Shmuelievitz points out that the severity for lending with interest is difficult to understand. It is clear that even one who lends with a small amount of interest, is doing a great chesed to the borrower who is in urgent need of money immediately and is prepared to pay the extra interest at a later date. Nonetheless the Torah treats this person very strictly.

"If you take your fellow's garment as security until sunset, you shall return it to him." When the borrower is unable to pay back the loan the lender is permitted to take his personal items as collateral to ensure payment of the loan. However, he must return the items when they are needed by the borrower. For example, clothing is needed in the daytime, therefore the lender may only keep it in the night and must return it in the day so that the borrower can use it. This law seems to nullify the whole function of collateral, for if the borrower can still use it when he needs it, he will be far less motivated to pay back the loan. Nonetheless, the Torah demands that the lender respect the borrower's basic needs.
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