Mishpatim is full of "judgments," each clarifying the over-arching Big Ten commandments. It is a fascinating Torah portion because the reader is challenged with the puzzle of connecting themes. It's not too hard, but it does take some work! One of the connectors is found in the repeated reference to Egypt as a motivation for kind behavior toward the one who is "with you," even though he may be poor, unlearned, or powerless:
You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Ex 23:9)
Jewish tradition records 613 commandments total in the Torah, so we will refer to this week's study commandments by their commandment number:
§63 NOT TO VERBALLY OPPRESS A STRANGER (GER)
§64 NOT TO WRONG A STRANGER IN MATTERS OF PROPERTY
§65 NOT TO AFFLICT ANY ORPHAN OR WIDOW
§66 THE MITZVAH OF LENDING TO THE POOR
§67 NOT TO DUN A POOR MAN UNABLE TO PAY HIS DEBT
§68 NOT TO HELP A BORROWER OR LENDER TRANSACT A LOAN AT INTEREST
THE “UMBRELLA” SIN IN EACH OF THESE IS GREED. (Col 3:5)
GREED = IDOLATRY
For instance, if a person wants to prey upon a person economically, he chooses the person with the least amount of community support or family support. The “stranger” [ger], orphan, and widow fall into these categories. If also poor, then they are doubly at risk. The predator preys upon the person suffering from two kinds of powerlessness. The stranger is also understood to be a new "convert"; in other words, a foreigner who is new to the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He or she is so new (first generation), that there is little community support and no family support.
Knowing how easy it was for the Israelites who left Egypt to stumble in the wilderness, Israel should be compassionate toward them in their new life journey. It is so easy to want to go back to Egypt when hardships test the new believer. When one slanders a ger, he is stealing his fragile new reputation; he is also preparing to steal more. Sullying his reputation simply prepares the community's mind to accept the eventual theft of the ger's property. It begins with stealing his credibility.
A young man in our congregation last week also quoted from a source that said when one promotes a lie about a person, then it is also a theft from the one who believes it, for he has stolen a piece of that person's mind. Wow!
§68 NOT TO HELP A BORROWER OR LENDER TRANSACT A LOAN AT INTEREST
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If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest [neshek H5392]. (Ex 22:24)
- nâshak; a primitive root; to strike with a sting (as a serpent); figuratively, to oppress with interest on a loan:—bite, lend upon usury. [H5391]
This is the play-on word of “interest,” neshek:
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נָשַׁק; nâshaq-identical with H5400, through the idea of fastening up; to kiss, literally or figuratively (touch); also (as a mode of attachment), to equip with weapons:—armed (men), rule, kiss, that touched.
An Israelite is not commanded to jeopardize his own family’s well-being to give an interest-free loan to a fellow Israelite. However, if he can do so without undue hardship, then he is like one who saves his brother from snakebite:
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“Interest [ribbit-increase] means increase, for it is like the bite of a snake, for a snake bites a small wound in one’s foot, and the victim does not feel it, but suddenly it causes puffiness and swelling up to the crown of his head. So it is with interest. He does not feel it and is not aware of it, until the interest accumulates and causes him a loss of much money.” - Rashi
Interest can be like a weapon. Rather than killing its victim in one strike, it slowly weakens him. When we are able, it is good to lend money to those "among you" or "with you" without interest. It is seen as superior to simply giving charity with no expected repayment. There is a familiar adage about "Give a man a fish, and he'll eat today; teach him how to fish and he'll eat every day." In other words, a gift merely strengthens the weakness (unless the person is disabled or too young or old to work). A loan to an able-bodied Israelite holds the obligation to repay, and therefore, the recipient learns money management that will strengthen him in the future. He, too, can then "loan it forward."
Such an opportunity to strengthen a brother or sister in the faith should never become a weapon with which to weaken or shame the person, nor to poison the reputation. He is a brother. She is a sister. We are not to behave as a creditor, savoring the power. That would be Babylonian behavior. Idolatrous. A loan is to help him or her increase in financial skill and management in the future, not decrease. If there is money available to loan, then we should prefer the household of faith, those who are "with" us.
For more in-depth analysis, including the lesson of Babylon, who determined "I will not sit as a widow," join us in the YouTube live stream at 4:00 pm on Shabbat afternoon.
