EXOD707 It is a positive commandment to lend money to the poor of Jewry [this verse], and this is a duty. This mitzvah is greater than charity, and more obligatory. The Torah disapproves severely of anyone who refuses to lend to a poor person, since it says, and your eye may be evil against your needy brother… and it will be a sin for you (D'varim 15:9).

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EXOD709 Lend money to the poor according to their needs, in order to assist them and ease their suffering. This is a greater mitzvah then giving tzedakah, for someone who has not yet received tzedakah is more embarrassed to accept it than someone who has accepted it in the past. Quite possibly, a small monetary loan will help the poor person to avoid having to accept tzedakah. Hashem wants us, His creations, to become accustomed to behaving with mercy and kindness towards one another. If we cultivate these traits we become worthy of His blessings and His ever-present desire to bestow good upon us will be fulfilled. Hashem certainly possesses ample wherewithal to supply all the world's poor with their every need, but out of His great kindness He allows us His creatures, to act as His messengers and thereby merit His abundant blessings. Another reason for the mitzvah is as follows: Hashem wants the poor person to receive his livelihood from other human beings so that he suffers embarrassment, which atones for his sins--as does his having to suffice with a meager livelihood. Our Sages give us many warnings regarding this mitzvah. They say that if someone has money and refrains from lending it to the needy, he is disdained by Heaven. Hashem pushes him away, for He regards him as an abomination, and the revulsion that he causes is akin to that caused by idle worship. On the other hand, he who grabs hold of this mitzvah is beloved and pleasing to Hashem, so He shows mercy towards him and showers him with many blessings.

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EXOD711 Rabbi Yosef taught, “If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, do not act as a creditor toward them” (Exodus 22:24). In the case of a Jew and a non-Jew, the Jew takes precedence; a poor person and a wealthy person, the poor person takes precedence; a poor person of your own city and a poor person of another city, the poor person of your city takes precedence. Babylonian Talmud, Bava Metzi’a 71a

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EXOD704 Charity is not only a gift of touched sympathy; it is also a duty. It behooves the fortunate to rescue the unfortunate from their plight; for what they possess was given to them for this purpose. "The poor are God's people", says the Tanhuma; "does it not say 'If thou lend money to any of My people, even to the poor with thee?' [this verse]. Do not forget that 'There is a wheel which rotates in this world', and that the turn of the wheel which made you rich one day may make you poor another."

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EXOD713 We are obligated to lend money. It is an obligatory act, not merely a charitable act, to lend money. The reason the Torah uses the word if is because of the latter part of the verse. Only when you lend money are you are forbidden to be a demanding creditor. A person who borrows money spends it and if he is not able to pay back when asked, you must not press him. If, however, you lend someone an object, that object remains in his possession and you are therefore permitted to demand its return. (Chofetz Chayim in Nesiv Hachesed 1:2). When you lend someone money, you gain more from your act of kindness than the borrower does. The borrower is helped only in this world, while you gain reward in the world to come. (Kli Yokor on this verse). [The author lists and explains thirteen laws regarding the obligation to lend money]. There is an old Jewish custom of establishing gmachs, or free loan societies. People donate money to the society which lends money without interest to anyone requesting a loan. Today in Jerusalem there are hundreds of such institutions. The larger ones are almost like banks, except that they are non-profit organizations and do not charge for their service. They lend out money for various lengths of time, the average being a year. The recipient of the money gives twelve post-dated checks payable the first of each month for the next year, and receives the amount of money he needs in one lump sum. These free loan societies are really lifesavers to many people who need money in a hurry. Every community should form at least one such society.

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EXOD701 ... if one sees a person ask his friend to lend him money (which is a positive Torah commandment, derived from the pasuk: אִם־כֶּ֣סֶף תַּלְוֶ֣ה, “When you lend money” (Shemos 22:24), as the Rambam explains in Sefer Hamitzvos) or to do a different favor for him, and the friend declined to help him; or if one sees someone violate a negative commandment in the area of bein adam l’chaveiro, such as taking revenge or bearing a grudge (according to the Gemara's explanation in Yoma [23a] of what is included in the prohibitions of taking revenge and bearing a grudge) and disparages that person before others by telling them what he witnessed, then his words are considered lashon hara. Since the speaker was not harmed by this person (and informing others of the incident will not accomplish anything constructive on behalf of the affected party), it is considered lashon hara ro reveal this negative information to others. All this applies even if one witnessed the incident himself, and it was clear to him that the other person could have done the favor for his friend but declined to do so because of his mean-spiritedness.... even if someone else was denied the favor, and the speaker's sole intent in speaking about the other person is in order to uphold the truth, it is still forbidden. If the speaker himself was the one who was denied the favor, then it is forbidden all the more for him to disparage his fellow over this. If he violates this halakhah, not only does he transgress the prohibition of lashon hara, but he also transgresses the negative commandment of לֹֽא־תִטֹּר֙, “Do not bear a grudge” (Vayikra 19:18). If his intention in disparaging the other person is to take revenge by publicizing his mean-spiritedness, then he violates the negative commandment of לֹֽא־תִקֹּ֤ם, “Do not take revenge” (ibid), aside from violating the prohibition of lashon hara.

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EXOD703 As Maimonides notes, a particularly high level of tzedaka is making an interest-free loan to a person in need [this verse and Deuteronomy 23:20-21]. Throughout Jewish history, Jewish communities have set up Free Loan Societies (known as Gemach, from the Hebrew term gemilut chesed, "acts of kindness"), in which loans are given to help people cover basic needs (Such as rent, food, school tuition), and larger sums are extended for broader purposes, such as to help a person start a small business. Such loans "spare the poor embarrassment" (Rashi's commentary on Shabbat 60a).

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EXOD706 If someone needs money, but would be ashamed to receive charity, then find a way to coax her into taking the money as a gift or, if that would also embarrass her, as a loan Ketubot 67b. [While today we think of charity primarily in terms of donations, the Bible--perhaps because it was written at a time when few people had large amounts of money that could be given away--primarily associates charity with interest-free loans. See for example, this verse.] The psychological advantage of a loan-- particularly to someone who used to have money--is obvious: "a dole demeans by the very fact that the recipient is on a level subordinate to that of the donor but, in the case of the loan, both parties are deemed equal" (Byron Sherwin, Jewish Ethics for the Twenty-First Century, 146). Such a loan should, of course, be interest-free.

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EXOD708 It was taught: R. Yishmael says: "If money you lend" -- This ["If money, etc."] is mandatory, [as it may be in Hebrew]. But perhaps it is optional! [This is not so, for] (Deuteronomy 15:8): "and lend you shall lend" indicates that it is mandatory and not optional (Mechilta).

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EXOD714 Gemiluth chesed loans are to be extended to all: man or woman, rich or poor, adults or minors (through their guardian and the like, to prevent the money being lost. Gemiluth chesed with one's person is to be extended to the minor directly). Scripture has stated: "If you will lend money to my people." Whoever is included in the term "my people" is entitled by law to benefit from gemiluth chesed.

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