Parshas Vayechi 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- Jan 1
- 2 min read
Monetary, Interpersonal Laws and Din Torah (59)
Loans. We now begin a new set of monetary halachos regarding loans. The term “loan” includes lending money or items with an understanding that the borrower pays back a different item. For example, one who lends a dozen eggs and will get back others, has made a halva’ah, a loan. However, if one lets his friend use his lawn-mower, understanding that he will get back the same item, it is deemed she’ala and is not included in these halachos.
The Mitzvah. There is a positive mitzvah obligation to lend a needy person money (1). The Tur (2) explains that this is a bigger mitzvah than tzedakah because it spares a needy person the shame of taking charity. The Chofetz Chaim (3) writes that one should lend another person cheerfully and if he does so with a bitter face, he loses the great merit of this mitzvah. This mitzvah is not just for the needy. Sometimes even a rich person in the middle of a deal, or when certain money is tied up, needs a loan, and that is also included in the obligation to lend when one can. However, if two people need a loan, one poor and one rich, and the lender cannot afford both, the poor man comes first as Rashi (4) proves from the posuk. This preference outweighs all others. Thus, if two poor or two rich people need a loan, a relative is first, and among relatives, the closer relation goes first. If they’re equal relatives, or not relatives at all, then the one who lives in his city is first. However, a poor person vs. a rich one who needs a loan, the poor man has preference even if he is not a relative and not from the same city, and even if the rich man is a local relative (5).
Heter Iska. If a person lends with Heter Iska [a method of taking a pinhole of risk and diverting the loan into a business venture which enables him to get back a percentage without transgressing the laws of Ribbis] he does not fulfill the mitzvah of halva’ah. However, it is still a chessed and if he cannot afford to do a free loan, this is better than nothing if it is beneficial to the receiver.
(1) שמות כב:כד (2) חושן משפט צז:א (3) אהבת חסד א:ז (4) שמות שם (5) הכל מוסבר בספר אהבת חסד עיי"ש