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Thursday

י"ח אדר ב’ התשפ"ד

Thursday
י"ח אדר ב’ התשפ"ד

חיפוש בארכיון

40 – The Mitzvah of Lending / Chapter six

  1. Someone who knows that his poor relative will be coming in the near future to ask for a loan, but in the meantime someone else (who is not his relative) asked for a loan, and the lender does not have enough for both, he may refrain from lending to the non-relative and wait for his relative. But if the lender is unsure whether his relative will be seeking a loan or not, then he may not exempt himself from lending to the non-relative.

K. The rule explained above, that a poor person seeking a loan takes precedence over a wealthy one, does not only apply to a person who is literally poor, but to anyone who is seeking a loan because his business is suffering and there is a possibility that if he does not receive the loan, the business will collapse. It seems that in this case the wealthy person does take precedence over others. In this way the lender can fulfill the mitzvah of  When your brother becomes impoverished… help him survive (Vayikra 25:35).

He has told you, O Man, what is good, and what Hashem asks of you; but to do justice, to love loving-kindness, and to walk discreetly with your G-d” (Micha 6:8)