DEUT1338 The prohibition is not restricted to these articles only, but you all utensils used in the preparation of food, such as: kneading troughs, pots for cooking, the schochet's knife and the like, since all are included in the category of "For he takes the man's life to pledge." Certainly if the messenger of the court or the lender were to enter the borrower's house and take such articles as pledges, he would all the more guilty – since he would be transgressing this special prohibition in addition to the commandment forbidding entry into the debtor's house to seize a pledge.

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DEUT1357 See [[EXOD721]] Exodus 22:25 pledge AHAVCH 123-4

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DEUT1356 If one person lent money to another to be repaid on a certain date, and the lender took no pledge, and the debt fell due and the debtor was delinquent, then the lender is forbidden to enter the borrower's house and seize a pledge. The Torah has warned: [this verse]. Whether the lender snatched the pledge by force or the borrower stood silently by without protesting, or else was away from his home at the time, the lender violates a negative commandment, since he took the pledge on his own. Even if he keeps pestering there till the debtor finally gives him the pledge of his own volition, the transgression is committed. Instead, the creditor must remain outside and the debtor must bring the pledge to him. So Scripture orders [Ibid. v. 11]. Not only to enter the debtor's house, but even to encounter him in the street and there to seize a pledge from him by force, is prohibited, unless the borrower gives the pledge of his own volition.

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DEUT1372 See [[EXOD296]] Exodus 18:20 way AHAVCH 26

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DEUT1379 The workman normally expects to be paid on time, as Scripture points out [this verse]: "He sets his heart on it." Hence an employer should never hire a workman where he knows for sure that he will be unable to pay the hire on time, unless he notified the worker before hand and the workman accepted his terms, or else the local usage is to pay workmen on market days when money is abundant--as explained at the end of chapter 9. For this reason, an employer intending to leave on a journey, who will not return to pay wages on time, should arrange, before he leaves, that the hire be available for his employee when payment falls due.

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DEUT1384 I have further seen fit to append to these laws the regulations governing paying the hire of laborers, since this matter is of supreme importance. It involves a number of explicit Torah prohibitions. Yet many individuals treat these laws lightly, because of our many sins. They find it easy to defer payment for some minor excuse, such as being too lazy to go and withdraw their deposits, or to change a large bill so as to pay the worker on time. Legally, one is obliged to comply with all the regulations, even where the worker is well-to-do. How much more careful must the employer be where the worker is poor, to pay him on time, so that he and his household will have the wherewithal to live, as Scripture states [this verse]. Come now and see what the Zohar (Leviticus 19:13) has to say: "Why does Scripture state: 'The wages of a hired servant shall not abide with you all night until the morning'? The reason for this last injunction is to be found in [this] verse, that is to say, that you not be gathered from the world on his account before your time comes. From this we learn another thing, that if one restores the soul of a poor man, even if his own time has arrived to depart from the world, God restores his soul and gives him a further lease on life. To withhold the wages of a poor man is like taking his life and the life of his household. As he (the employer) diminishes their souls, so God diminishes his days, and cuts off his soul from the other world. For all the breaths which issue from his (the poor man's) mouth for the whole of that day ascend and stand before the Almighty, and afterwards his soul and the souls of his household ascend and stand in those breaths. Thus even if the length of days and many blessings have been decreed for that man, they are all withdrawn, nor does his soul mount aloft. Therefore R. Abba said: God save us from them and their plaint! And the same is true even if it is a rich man, and his right is withheld from him, and surely if he is a poor man.

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DEUT1401 No pledge may be seized from a widow, whether she be rich or poor, whether the article is used in the preparation of food or not, since it is written [this verse]: "Nor take the widow's raiment to pledge." Scripture did not intend to restrict the prohibition to clothes alone, but to all the widow's possessions. Even the messenger of the court, outside her house, is forbidden to take anything from her. If he enters her house and seizes a pledge, he has transgressed two negative commandments of the Torah, "You shall not go into his house to take the pledge" and also "Nor take the widow's raiment to pledge."

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DEUT1512 In its exposition of the verse (Ecclesiastes 2:18): "So I hated all my labor," the Midrash (Koheleth Rabba, ad loc.) relates: "R. Meir was a skillful scribe and used to earn three selas a week. He spent one sela on food and drink, another on clothing, and the third on Talmidei Chachamim. His disciples asked him: What would you leave for your children? He answered: If they are righteous, then it will be as David said (Psalm 37:25): 'Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread.' And if they are not righteous, why should I leave my possessions to enemies of the Allpresent?" The Midrash further remarks (Ecclesiastes 7:11): "R. Acha said in the name of R. Tanchum: Suppose one had studied, taught, kept and observed the Torah. He could also have afforded to support others (who study Torah) but did not. He is then included in the category of [this verse]: 'Cursed be he who does not uphold the words of the Torah.' Suppose, again, that one has neither studied nor taught, neither observed nor kept the Torah. (The intent here is that his devotion to Torah was impaired by his poverty and cares. He was hard-pressed to earn his daily living, as the concluding words bear out, 'was unable.') He was unable to afford to, yet helped others, then he falls in the category of 'Blessed be he who uphold the words of this Torah.'" From all that has been said, the greatness of the importance of supporting Torah even when one earns a meager living becomes apparent. The person will be blessed for his deeds. How much more should one exert himself in performing this mitzvah when his means are ample.

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DEUT1518 All the blessings of the Torah possess this characteristic [chesed -AJL], as we find in connection with [this] verse: "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you will hearken to the voice of Hashem, your God." The Tanna debei Eliyahu (end of Chap. 26) comments: "When will all these blessings come upon you?--If you will obey Hashem, your God, and walk in His ways, the ways of Heaven. What are the ways of Heaven?--As He is merciful, as He has compassion even on the wicked and receives them when they repent wholeheartedly, and as He feeds and sustains all creatures--so shall you be merciful to one another, support one another, be gracious to one another. Another explanation: What are the ways of Heaven?--He is gracious and gives His bounty as a free gift both to those who know Hm and those who do not. So shall you give free gifts to one another. Yet another explanation: What are the ways of Heaven?--He dispenses chesed in abundance, and inclines his acts toward chesed; so shall you favor one another, grant charity to one another and incline towards goodness… From all that has been said, one can gain an impression of the greatness of the virtue of chesed. Happy is the person who clings to it wholeheartedly, since he acquires merit for the coming generations.

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DEUT1531 [A niggardly person, who refrains from doing chesed, is liable to transgress:] (1) He violates the command of the Torah [this verse]: "And you shall walk in His ways." We are obliged by this overall injunction to follow the attributes of God, all of which consist in doing good to others, as Chazal have laid down (Sotah 14a): "As He is merciful, so you shall be merciful; as He is gracious, so you be gracious.," And so in reference to the other virtues as well. The Rambam has quoted the entire passage in his Sefer Hamitzvoth (No. 8). (The mitzvah of walking in the ways of Hashem is repeated eight times in Deuteronomy alone, as explained in the forward.) Whoever refrains from doing good to his fellow man, without just cause, transgresses this positive commandment which God has many times ordered us to obey.

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