DEUT734 Above all, the one refusing aid transgresses the specific commandment of the Torah regarding loans themselves, the Scriptural passage: "If you will lend money to My people, the poor that is with you." [Exodus 22:24- AJL] Chazal have it by tradition that this "if" does not denote an option, but a definite obligation, one we have been commanded to obey--to lend money to our brothers in their time of need. The commandment is repeated in Re-eh [this verse]: "You shall surely lend to him." This applies to loans. (The Torah uses the word "if" since this is the condition upon which the end of the sentence depends, "You shall not be to him a creditor"--since this injunction only applies when the borrower is Jewish and not a Gentile.

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DEUT735 It may further be inferred from the Sefer Hachinuch that the amount of the loan will depend on the needs of the borrower, as long as the lender can afford such an amount. Indeed this is stated explicitly in a passage of the Torah (Re-eh, this verse): "You shall surely lend him (ta'avitenu signifying lending, according to Chazal), and the verse concludes with "sufficient for his needs."

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DEUT737 See [[EXOD690]] Exodus 22:24 if AHAVCH 33

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DEUT739 Some authorities declare that the rule, "the generous giver shall not give away more than a fifth," only applies when the donor seeks, of his own volition, to find needy people and to distribute charity among them. When, however, hungry and bare individuals approach him, whom he is duty-bound to feed and clothe as the Torah requires [this verse]: "sufficient for his needs in which he is lacking," or, if he were to encounter captives to whom the Divinely ordained obligation to redeem applies, then, if he wished to spend more than a fifth of his capital for this purpose, he is permitted, and this is deemed a saintly characteristic (Rambam: Mishnah Commentary, Peah, Chap. 1). Apparently, the limitation does not apply where danger to life is involved. If, for an instance, the captive is in danger of his life or the hungry of starving to death, then the limit of one fifth is inoperative. The Gemara (Bava Metzia 62a) only lays down that one's own life takes priority over his neighbor's; we have found no source to indicate that one's wealth takes precedence over his neighbor's life. Know, too, that the injunction limiting one's spending to one-fifth only applies when one squanders his possessions. This is indicated by the term mevazbez. Or a person holds a steady position or owns a going concern for which from which he drives his weekly sustenance and a little more besides, he is allowed to spend the extra income on charity even if, proportionately, this amounts to more than one-fifth of his earnings. Know, further, that the ordinance as such refers only to charity in general. As for the support of Torah learning, Shittah Mekubetzeth takes the view that this is not included in the restriction. This is logical, since the donor receives a share of the reward for the Torah study, as we find in the case of Issachar and Zevulun. The tribe of Zevulun supported the tribe of Issachar and took a share in the reward for their Torah study ... (Bamidbar Rabba, Nasso, 13:17).

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DEUT758 [] how deficient is the person lacking the virtues of mercy and chesed. He removes himself from the presence of the Holy One, blessed be He, the Source of compassion and grace, and the Torah accordingly designates him as belia'al, base. See what Chazal have commented (Yalkut Shim'oni) on [this] verse. "Lest there be a base (belia'al) thought in your heart, saying: The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand." Beware lest you withhold compassion, for anyone who does is linked to idolatry and removes from himself the Yoke of Heaven, since the term belia'al implies beli'ol, without the Yolk [of Heaven]. Now this verse does not refer only to the withholding of charity, but to refusing to grant free loans as well (as I have found the Gemara [Gittin 37a] to indicate; and the same is borne out by the Sha'are Teshuvah [The Gates of Repentance, Feldheim, Jerusalem] of R. Yonah, and the Sefer Hachinuch, Mitzvah 480. Yet because of our many sins, many people are remiss in this virtue. I therefore sought after the reasons for this neglect and found them to be two. First, people are ignorant of the subject as such; they are unfamiliar with its details, of the instances to which it applies, since the trait of chesed is involved in a variety of activities: in acts towards rich as well as towards poor, towards the living and the dead, in kindnesses performed with one's person as well as with one's material resources, as Chazal have taught (Sukkah 49b). ... The second cause is that people fail to realize the inherent greatness of this virtue, how mighty is the power it exerts on its exponents, how much good it bestows on them and all their affairs, both in this world and in the world to come, and in saving them on a great day of judgment.

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DEUT759 Parsimony. Some people avoid this mitzvah [i.e. charity - AJL] out of niggardliness (they begrudge others the use of their money). Chazal have already declared (Sotah 47b): "When the niggardly and plunderers of the poor multiplied, those who hardened their hearts and closed their hands against lending to the poor also increased, and they transgressed what is written in the Torah [this verse]: 'Beware that there be not a base thought in your heart…'" This is a very ugly trait. It leads one to refrain from giving charity and performing acts of chesed. It causes one to repress all feelings of pity and compassion--to stop up one's ears and to be deaf to the cry of the poor. Sometimes such conduct can even lead to bloodshed. So we find (Sotah 38b): "R. Yehoshua b. Levi said: The heifer whose neck has to be broken is only brought on account of niggardliness of spirit, as it is said (Deuteronomy 21:7): 'Our hands have not shed this blood.' Now, can it enter our minds that the elders of a Court of Justice are shedders of blood! The meaning is that the man found dead did not come to us for help and we dismissed him; we did not see him and let him go, i.e., he did not come to us for help and we dismissed him without supplying him with food; we did not see him and let him go without support (i.e. he needed food and could not obtain any. Seeing someone carrying food, he was driven by his hunger to snatch it from him. Thereupon, the other retaliated and killed him. [Rashi])." So if we see that a person approached his neighbor for some help and, because of this wicked trait of parsimony, the latter paid no attention to him, and the needy one died as a result, the Torah proclaims the refuser a shedder of blood.

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DEUT761 Because of the extreme importance of the mitzvah of gemiluth chesed, we have devoted much attention to the need for everyone to set aside a larger or smaller sum for a permanent Free Loan Fund in his own home. Yet obviously not everyone can afford the money. Others again cannot afford the time the performance of the mitzvah entails. For those unable to establish such funds privately, the best advice is to ban together to form a Free Loan Society to lend money to others in their hour of need. Indeed, it is it has been the custom throughout all the scattered Jewish communities to organize such a society in every city. To evaluate the greatness of the mitzvah performed by the members of a community in setting up such a fund is quite superfluous. Our introduction and many of the subsequent chapters have pointed out the grievous sin committed by anyone closing his fist against lending to others and a great reward earned by whoever fills this method. Naturally, then, no one with any intelligence will rest until he sees a Free Loan Society existing in his city to lend to the needy. In this way, his fellow citizens and he himself will avoid the possibility of committing a grave sin. For it could conceivably happen that a poor man would take his security pledge and approach several people for a loan. Each would offer another excuse for refusing. Then the poor man would return home crushed. He would cry out and remonstrate with God against his evil lot. And we know what Scripture has to say on the subject [this verse]. The guilt will fall on everyone's neck since, on account of the frequency of such needs, all are duty-bound to prevent such incidents.

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DEUT768 We have learned (Kethuvoth 68a): "Anyone who shuts his eyes against charity is like one who worships idols, for it is written [this verse]: 'Beware that there be not a base thought (beli-ya'al) in your heart… and your eye will be evil against your brother,' and there (concerning the city where the inhabitants were guilty of idolatry--Tr.) it is written (Ibid. 13:14): 'Certain base fellows (beli-ya'al) have gone out.'" (The inference is drawn by Gezerah Shavah -- Tr.). Now it is known that [this] verse also refers to a person refusing a request for a loan, as we find in Gittin 37a and Sotah 47b. Now let each person consider: Suppose someone called him 'Beli-Ya'al'. How much resentment would he harbor against the person who insulted him, even if the two of them had been alone at the time, and he therefore suffered no public embarrassment. How angry should a person be with himself, then, if he causes the Torah to call him by this name! How much shame and humiliation will ultimately attach to him in heaven! He should also be apprehensive because perhaps the person he wronged will cry out against him, as it is written [this verse]: "And he cry out against you to God and it shall be a sin in you." One's entire situation might be changed, Chazal have indicated (Temurah 16a): "When a poor man approaches a rich man and cries 'Help me!' (i.e., prevent my falling by giving me a gift or a loan to make me self-supporting. [See Betzah 32a]), if he assists him it is well, but if not (Proverbs 22:2) 'the rich and the poor meet together and God is Master of them all.' He who made this one rich can make him poor, and He who made the other poor can make him rich." (Continued at [[DEUT1547]] Deuteronomy 28:47 serve AHAVCH 104).

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DEUT776 For the merit of charity, blessing enters man's home as it is said [this verse]. Therefore every person should strive constantly to perform this mitzvah and thereby cause a blessing to enter his home. This blessing is in addition to the everlasting reward that is stored away for him.

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DEUT779 See [[GEN1225]] Genesis 26:12 sowed AHAVCH 155

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