Parshas Mishpatim (Shekalim) 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- Feb 12
- 1 min read
R’ Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt”l would say:
“If there are no witnesses or documents, one is exempt from lending money to a poor man, so as not to transgress the prohibition of ‘Do not place a stumbling block before the blind.’ This is hinted in the posuk: 'אם כסף תלוה את עמי' - If one lends money, it must be ‘with my people’ - with other witnesses. However, if one is asked to donate - 'העני עמך' - to give charity to the poor, then it must be ‘with you’ - the donor alone and no one else, so as not to embarrass the person taking.”
A Wise Man would say: “Your friends tell me who you are, your enemies tell me who you are not.”