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LEVITICUS — 19:13 oppress

LEV359 As for one who refuses to pay (he has the means but is powerful enough to resist), he transgresses the explicit injunction of the Torah [this verse]: "You shall not oppress your neighbor." As is laid down in the Choshen Mishpat (Chap. 359, Par. 8): "What constitutes oppression? – – A person gains possession of his neighbor's money with the owner's consent. When payment is demanded, he retains his neighbor's money by force and refuses to return it. For instance, someone was owed a debt or his wages. He demands the money, but is unable to exact payment because the defendant retains the money by force." Chazal have also designated four types of persons as wicked, and one is the borrower who does not repay, as it is said (Psalm 37:21): "The wicked borrows, and does not repay." How ashamed should a person feel when he knows he can repay, but does not, and thereby attaches the name of rasha' [i.e., "wicked" -- AJL] to himself. Now if his neighbor were to call him rasha', even in private when he would suffer no embarrassment, he would nevertheless greatly resent the insult. How much shame will he eventually suffer in the future, when his notoriety will be exposed in the presence of myriads upon myriads of holy beings. So the holy books have stated, that all man's affairs are disclosed and made public in everyone's presence in Heaven. He may be able to assume an impressive appearance towards his contemporaries, acting as if he were innocent, but to God the greatness of his crime is revealed. This is what Chazal meant by saying (Avoth 2:13): "And do not be wicked in your own esteem." (Especially if one is a Talmid Chacham is his sin exceedingly grave, for he desecrates the Divine Name. Beside his other wrongs, he transgresses the prohibition (Leviticus 22:32): "And do not profane My holy Name." Chazal have given the matter even greater emphasis (Yoma 87): "How is His name desecrated?--If one buys and does not pay at once." How much more guilty is the one who does not pay at all.) Choshen Mishpat (Chap. 97, Par. 4) rules it forbidden for a borrower to take a loan and squander it on needless things, to the extent that the lender will no longer find anything left from which to exact payment. One acting in this manner is called a rasha'. This is surely so where he has the means but refuses to pay the debt. How great is his iniquity!

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LEVITICUS — 19:13 retain

LEV361 You shall not hold back what belongs to your neighbor. Our Torah, the only complete and perfect system of law, distances us from the cruel practice of retaining possession of what belongs to another or is rightfully due him. When someone comes to collect from us what is his, we are not allowed to hold back payment, and neither are we allowed to keep him in suspense as to when his demand will be met. One is forbidden to push him off, saying, “Come back tomorrow,” every time he comes for what rightfully is his. The Torah forbids any sort of deceptive tactic whose aim is to withhold a rightful claim. Included is the case of an employer who owes his worker wages (although here, by unlawfully withholding the wage, he is not holding back anything that belonged to the claimant previously). There are three ways to unlawfully withhold something that is rightfully the claimant’s: holding it back (עשק), stealing it (גנבה) or robbing it (גזלה). The Torah writes separate prohibitions for each of the three transgressions, for the following reasons: 1) Hashem wants only our good. So that we stay far clear of unlawful possession of what is not ours, He repeatedly warns us about taking or keeping what belongs to others. 2) Hashem wants to bestow merit upon us. To this end, He gives us, His chosen nation, a number of mitzvos, each one presenting us with another opportunity to earn reward. Reward also accrues to us when we abstain from violating prohibitions. Accordingly, although we could have been given one general commandment, such as, “Do not unjustly keep or take what belongs to another,” we were given three separate prohibitions, to increase our reward for refraining from these transgressions.

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LEVITICUS — 19:13 retain

LEV360 We are forbidden to withhold money that we owe. The prohibition against retaining money refers to someone who accepts money from another person and refuses to return it upon demand. This would include someone who borrows money and does not repay the loan, or an employer who refuses to give an employee his salary. Withholding part of a loan or wages is also included in this prohibition. (Rambam, Hilchos Gzaila v'avaida 1:4). In order not to be guilty of withholding someone's wages, you should always reach an agreement with a worker about his wages before he begins the job. Failure to decide on a price in advance usually leads to arguments later on, with the result of both sides feel cheated. If the employer fails to pay the employee the amount that is customary to pay in his area, the employer is guilty of withholding wages. When a price is decided upon in advance, the employee will usually agree to a lower price than he would afterward, so that besides the spiritual benefits, the employer will also gain financially. If the employer is a Torah scholar, failure to set a price in advance could also lead to a chilul Hashem. The worker might say that Torah scholars are dishonest. (Chofetz Chayim in Sfas Tomim, ch. 5).

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LEVITICUS — 19:13 rob

LEV362 Now the verse we have quoted previously admonishes even in the case where the employer gives the worker his due hire, but merely defers payment and does not remit on time. How much greater is the warning where the employer withholds the hire altogether, and does not pay at all--or else, deducts even a single cent from the amount agreed-upon in the first place. The employer here is guilty of actual robbery. He transgresses the prohibition [this verse]. So the Gemara explains (Bava Metzia 61a/b; 111a).

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LEVITICUS — 19:13 rob

LEV364 We are forbidden to rob. The prohibition against robbing applies to forcibly taking an article from another person. For example, grabbing someone's possession from his hand, or entering someone's house against his wishes and stealing his possessions, or openly going into someone's field and taking his fruit. (Rambam, Hilchos Gzaila v'avaida 1:3). Below are the basic laws of this prohibition: 1) The prohibition against robbing applies to any article belonging to either a Jew or a non-Jew. (Choshen Mishpot 359:1). 2) It is forbidden to rob even when the article has little value. (ibid. 359:3). 3) You may not force someone to buy something against his will. 4) If a Jew takes another Jew to a court whose decisions are not based on Torah law, it is considered robbing to accept any payment which is not in accordance with halacha. The court's decision that one person must pay the other does not render it permissible to accept the money. (Chofetz Chayim in Sfas Tomim, ch. 3). 5) If a person offers you something out of embarrassment, but really does not want to give it to you, you must not accept it because this would be similar to robbing. (Sefer Chasidim 316 and Pele Yoatz, section gezel). 6) It is an especially serious sin to rob from the poor as it is stated, "Rob not the weak because he is weak, neither crush the poor in the gate. For the Lord will plead their cause and rob the life of those who robbed them" (Mishle 22:22,23). (Shaarey Tshuvah 3:110). 7) Rabbi Chayim of Brisk used to say that robbing people of their sleep is included in this prohibition. (Heard from his grandson, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, Rosh Yeshiva of Brisk Yeshiva in Jerusalem). The Chofetz Chayim commented that robbing people of their sleep is worse than robbing money. Money can be returned, sleep cannot. Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian admonished his students that roommates in a dormitory must be especially careful not to wake up anyone who is already sleeping. He told them that they must be as quiet as possible in order that they should not disturb the sleep of others (Leviticus Eliyahu, vol. 1, pp. 183-4). Of course, to wake someone up for morning prayers is not only permissible but is actually a mitzvah. Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian would don his talis and tefilin and go from room to room in his yeshiva to personally awaken his students for the morning prayers. A) Be careful not to talk loudly when someone is sleeping. B) If someone has a "Do not disturb" sign on the door, do not knock unless the matter is urgent. You might wake up someone. C) Neighbors should keep the volume of a tape recorder or record player down to a minimum in the evenings. 8) An employee must not waste time during his hours of employment. When a person is hired for a job (and paid by the hour, week, or month) his time belongs to his employer. Any waste of time is considered robbing, and he must ask his employer for forgiveness. Moreover, even if the employee performed a mitzvah during the time in which he should have been working, he is guilty of transgressing. In the Talmud (Taanis 23b) we find that Abba Chilkiyah would not even take the time out to return the greeting of Torah scholars while he was working for an employer. (Mesilas Yeshorim, ch. 11).

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LEVITICUS — 19:13 robbery

LEV368 It is a negative commandment not to take anything in robbery from one's fellow-man by main force as Scripture says, nor shall you rob him [this verse]. The prohibition of this injunction is on anything worth from a p'rutah [the smallest coin] and up; yet even less than that is forbidden [although not punishable], like any half of [less than] a minimum amount. If a person takes [even] something worth a p'rutah in robbery from his fellow-man, it is as though he takes his life.

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LEVITICUS — 19:13 robbery

LEV366 Although lashes as administered by a court of law are not given for these types of prohibitions [i.e., that can be rectified by fulfilling a positive commandment, such as sending away a mother bird], nonetheless, some of them carry severe punishment--[the sins] reach right up into the heavens, and their judgment ascends into the upper firmament (Yirmeyahu 51:9). An example of this would be theft, as the pasuk says [this verse], "You shall not rob," which is rectified by [fulfilling] the positive commandment of (Leviticus 5:23) "He must return the robbed article." (Continued at [[GEN612]] Genesis 6:13 lawlessness GATES 195).

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LEVITICUS — 19:13 robbery

LEV367 Another illustration of an important area of moral instruction that developed out of a broad rabbinic interpretation of the biblical text is the injunction against genevat da'at -- deliberately creating a false impression in a person's mind even where no monetary loss is involved. It is interesting to observe how the various texts bearing on theft or stealing were variously interpreted so as to give broad coverage. 1. "Thus shalt not steal" (lo tignov) refers to stealing people. (Exodus 20:13). 2. "nor rob him" (lo tigzol) refers to taking another's possessions openly by use of force [this verse]. 3. "you shall not steal" refers to theft of objects by stealth (Leviticus 19:11). "and if thou sell… or buy… ye shall not wrong [onoah] one another" (Leviticus 25:14) refers to cheating in price in which the seller over charges or the buyer underpays or in regard to weight, measure, or quality of goods. In all cases of onoah there is monetary damage although the buyer gave up his money voluntarily. In considering the concept of "stealing" (genevah), the rabbis perceived the unqualified nature of the injunction and realized that "stealing the mind" of a person--replacing truth with falsehood in his consciousness--constituted a grievous deprivation even where there is no monetary damage (Mekhilta, Mishpatim 13). They understood that the "psychological anguish" suffered by the victim and his loss of peace of mind was probably more damaging than monetary loss. Thus, if the seller creates an impression in the mind of the buyer that the object is other than it in fact is, he is in violation of this moral-legal rule even if the price he asks and gets is proper. This injunction applies even if a person "steals" for a joke and latter returns the "stolen" item. Therefore, Samuel teaches, "It is forbidden to 'steal the minds' of people [deceive them], even of an idolator." (Chullin 94).

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