Parshas Shemos 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Monetary, Interpersonal Laws and Din Torah (60)
Laws of Halva’ah (Loans). If a number of people can be helped with multiple smaller loans, but one person is in need of a bigger loan and there is not enough money for them all, the Chofetz Chaim (1) rules that one should give more small loans to more people than one big loan, as the Mishna states regarding tzedaka. This is true when they are all on the same level of preference, as explained last week, such as they are all from the same city. However, if one borrower is from his city and not the others, he has preference to give all he needs, even if it will push off more people from other cities. The Chofetz Chaim (2) is in doubt in a case where the one larger loan will save Reuven from financial collapse, whereas the others just need help; which one gets first? It could be that although Reuven is only one person, he still might have preference because when one lends to a person like Reuven, he is not just doing the mitzvah of lending (3) but also the mitzvah of saving another from financial collapse (4).
Ladies Obligation. A lady is not permitted to lend people from the household money without receiving permission from her husband. However, if it is a small amount of money that people would not care much about, it is permitted. Additionally, if she knows from previous experience that her husband would not be makpid on even a larger amount, it is also permitted. Similarly, lending household utensils, as neighbors often do, is permitted. If a wife is disturbed by the loans that her husband gives out (or the charity that he gives), they should resolve the matter before a Rav. If a wife encourages her husband to lend when appropriate, it is considered a great merit for her (5).
Delinquent Borrowers. If there is good reason to think that a borrower cannot or will not pay him back in a timely manner, one may refrain from lending to him. We will discuss next week IYH what one can say according to halacha to get out of lending.
(1) אהבת חסד, גמ"ח פרק ט"ו, מיוסד על משנה באבות ג:טו, כמפורש ברמב"ם שם (2) שם:א (3) שמות כב:כד (4) שם כה:לה (5) עיי"ש אהבת חסד ב:ב