We read in our Parasha:(25:35-38)’If your brother becomes empoverished..you shall strengthen him..; Do not take from him interest and increase..; I am Hashem, your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be G-d unto you.’
Asks the Alshich Hakadosh:’Why does the Torah mention that Hashem took us out of Egypt, in its prohibition of interest? Further, what is the need for stating here ‘To be G-d unto you’, a matter which is known to all?’
He answers by bringing a wondrous Midrash, on the words:’I am Hashem, your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt’: On that condtion, I took you out of Egypt, that you will accept the Mitzvah prohibiting interest; whoever מודה: acknowledges this Mitzvah, מודה: acknowledges the exodus from Egypt, וכל הכופר: and whoever denies this Mitzvah, כאלו כופר: is as if he denies the exodus’.
Expounds the Torah Shleima:’Whoever מודה במצות ריבית: acknowledges this Mitzvah, shows that he believes in Hashem, that He oversees the world, and provides and sustains all, and that he will lack not even ‘a hair’s breadth’ by abstaining from taking interest.
‘This was taught to us in Egypt, where Hashem showed that He was the Master of all that happens. Whoever does not observe this prohibition, shows that he believes that his welfare is dependent solely on his own ability and might, and that determines his success, and shows thereby that he does not believe in השגחה: Divine Providence’.
The Kli Yakar adds:’The main reason why charging interest is prohibited, is because it causes the person to stray from placing his trust in Hashem; a person engaged in commerce, has his eyes always ‘raised Heaven-wards’, as he is in doubt as to whether his endeavour will be profitable, or not.
‘One who lends his money on interest, on the other hand, does not have this concern, as he knows at the outset, that it will be profitable, and therefore does not place his trust in Hashem’.
The Ktav Sofer expounds by way of a parable:’True, it is difficult to expect a person to lend the money for which he has toiled hard, without any recompense; however, when he reflects, that if he was to receive great riches from another, on condition that, if one of the benefactor’s children should, at some time, need a loan without having to pay interest, that he lend him some of the moneys given to him, he would surely accept this condition, and not feel ‘bad’ if called upon for such a loan.
‘So too, whoever acknowledges that Hashem took us out of Egypt, and gave us all their gold and wealth, with the condition that we should lend some of it free of interest to those in need, would it be difficult for us to do so? Surely not!
‘Was it not on this condition that we received the bounty at the outset! To do otherwise, would be an act of supreme ingratitude.
‘This is what our Sages said:Whoever observes the prohibition on interest, acknowledges that Hashem took us out of Egypt’.
The Panim Yafot sweetens our understanding, by noting that the, apart from stating that Hashem took us out of the land of Egypt, the Torah here also says, that He did so:’To give you the land of Canaan, to be G-d unto you’.
He explains:’The crops in the land of Egypt grow in a’natural’ way, as it is blessed with rivers and lakes, ensuring abundant crops; therefore, its people have little ‘need’ to look heaven-wards, and are far from emunah in Hashem.
‘Not so the land of Israel, as its rains, as the Torah repeatedly adjures us, are dependant on the righteousness of the people, and the extent of their Mitzvah observance. This is the reason that Hashem took us out of the land of Egypt, and brought us to the land of Israel: ‘To be G-d unto you’- that with your own eyes you will see that hearkening to His Mitzvot, and not the ‘natural order’, determines your well-being.
‘And you will then be able to go ‘against human nature’, and make loans to your indigent brothers, trusting that you will be blessed, and enriched- and not empoverished - by so doing’.
Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz brings the chilling words of the prophet Yechezkiel, to teach the exceptional severity that is ascribed to this prohibition:(18:13)’Whoever gave his money on interest, he shall not live’.
Further, he notes, our Sages say: Whover lives from interest in this world, will not live in the world-to-come’.
Rav Yechezkel Landau, based on this teaching of our Sages, has a beautiful insight into our psukim:’Why’ he asks, ‘did Hashem condition the exodus from Egypt, on keeping this Mitzvah? Hashem did not take us out to enjoy the ‘passing’ material fruits of the land of Israel, but because the merit of the Land protects one on the journey to the eternal world, to עולם הבא.
‘This is why Yaakov Avinu bound his sons to take him out of the land of Egypt, and to bury him in the land of Israel, as only there would he be spared the travails of the affliction of גלגול מחילות: the atonement for transgressions.
‘Now, since those who transgress the prohibition against interest have no share in the world-to-come, there is no point in Hashem ‘troubling’ Himself to take them out of Egypt, and to bring them to the land of Israel, as theire would be no point in doing so, as the reason for bringing them there would not apply to them’.
A parting thought from Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch:’In prohibiting the charging of interest, the Torah does not see it as opposed to the legal order; rather, it comes as a declaration and acknowledgement, that Hashem is the true owner and Master of all in this world, including ‘our’ possessions and wealth. This is why this Mitzvah comes after the Mitzvot of Shemittah, yovel and freedom, all of which teach the same truth.
‘And, as the owner and Master of all, Hashem gave us this Mitzvah, and redeemed us from Egypt, and gave us this Land, on condition that that, in our lives, we recognize this.
‘This is why, in our Parasha, the Torah concludes its teaching of the Mitzvah of not charging interest with the words:’To be G-d unto you’- stating that this was the reason and the purpose for which Hashem gave us freedom, and wealth’.
לרפואת נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.