Midrash sobre Exodo 22:25

“A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot that which is planted” (Ecclesiastes 3:2).
“A time to be born, and a time to die” – Rabbi Berekhya said: Is all of Solomon’s wisdom that he said, “a time to be born, and a time to die”? What is [the meaning of this verse]? Happy is the person whose time of death is like the time of his birth; just as at the time of his birth he was clean [of sin], so, too, at the time of his death he is clean.
“A time to be born, and a time to die” – at the time when a woman sits on the birthing stool, they call her ḥaita. Why do they call her ḥaita? Because she is on the verge of dying, and she lives [ḥayya]. Why do they call her meḥabalta? It is because she is mortgaged in the hands of death, just as you say: “if you take as security [ḥavol taḥvol] your neighbor’s garment” (Exodus 22:25). Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Natan of Beit Guvrin said: “The grave and the barren womb” (Proverbs 30:16) – why is the grave juxtaposed to the womb? It is to say to you: Just as one is removed from the womb with loud cries, so too, one will be removed from the grave with loud cries.²Cries of thanksgiving to God when the dead are resurrected.

7) (Vayikra 26:5) ("And your threshing will reach the vintage, and the vintage will reach the sowing, and you will eat your bread in satiety, and you will dwell securely in your land.") "And your threshing will reach the vintage": (The crops will be so abundant) that you will be engaged in threshing when the vintage (season) arrives. "and the vintage will reach the sowing": You will be engaged in harvesting the vintage when the sowing (season) arrives. "and you will eat your bread in satiety": It need not be said that a man will eat much and be sated, but (the meaning is that) he will eat little and be blessed in his innards, as it is written (Shemoth 22:25) "And you will serve the L–rd your G d, and He will bless your bread and your water." "and you will dwell securely in your land": In your land you will dwell securely, but not outside of it.

(Exod. 22:25 [26]:) IF YOU EVER TAKE <YOUR NEIGHBOR'S> GARMENT IN PLEDGE < BEFORE THE SUN GOES DOWN YOU SHALL RESTORE IT TO HIM>. The Holy One said: How much you owe (hayyav) me! You sin before me, but I am patient with you. Your soul comes up to me with every passing evening and renders account. Even though it is guilty (hayyav), I restore it to you, while you are in debt (hayyav) <to me>.⁴⁰“To me” is the reading of Tanh., Exod. 6:15. So also with you (according to Exod. 22:25–26 [26–27]:), BEFORE THE SUN GOES DOWN YOU SHALL RESTORE IT TO HIM, BECAUSE IT IS HIS ONLY COVERING…. THEREFORE, WHEN HE CRIES OUT TO ME, <I WILL PAY HEED, FOR I AM COMPASSIONATE >. Why? Because he is laying his complaint before me and saying: I am human, and he is human. He lies down upon his bed, but I have nothing upon which to lie down. I WILL PAY HEED, FOR I A M COMPASSIONATE. The Holy One said: In this world, when an individual has cried unto me, I have hearkened unto him; but in the world to come <all of> you shall cry unto me, and I will answer you immediately. The prophet has said (in Is. 30:19): HE WILL SURELY SHOW YOU COMPASSION AT THE SOUND OF YOUR CRY. AS SOON AS HE HEARS IT, HE WILL ANSWER YOU.

Our rabbis teach us that the borrower, the guarantor, the witnesses, and the scribes are all considered culpable, (for without them the moneylender would not have loaned his money on interest). Therefore, all of them shall be punished. Whence do we learn that the borrower is punished? It is written: Thou shalt not cause thy brother to lend upon interest (Deut. 23:20). To what can interest be likened? To a person who does not feel or notice the bite of a snake until the swelling appears. Similarly, interest is not felt until it has increased for the debtor. If thou at all take thy neighbor’s garment to pledge (Exod. 22:25). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: If he is in debt to you, you are also in debt to Me, as it is said: If they sin against Thee—for there is no man that sinneth not (I Kings 8:46).

The two different items that were pledged—habol tahbol.²²Though Exod. 22:25 speaks only of night garments, the repetition of the word haval (havol tahbol) indicates that two different pledges are referred to, and thus that it also refers to implements required in the daytime. The verse teaches us that if one borrows the pin of a plow, he must return it upon awakening. In one verse Scripture says: Thou shalt restore the garment unto him before the sun goeth down (Exod. 22:25). And another verse states: Neither shall the sun go down (Deut. 24:15). From these verses you can conclude that just as you must return the garment in which a man sleeps in the evening, as it is said: When the sun goeth down, so you must return the pin of the plow to him in the morning, before the sun goeth down. Furthermore, In the same day thou shalt give him his hire (Deut. 24:15). Why? Since he is poor. It states likewise: For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin, wherein shall he sleep? (Exod. 22:26). If he does not have his garment, he will suffer from the cold during the night and will cry unto Me and I will hear him (ibid.). Two matters, similar to each other, are treated here, a pledge and a man’s hire.

The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: It is not because I am indebted to the nations of the world (because of their merit) that I have pledged My Temple to them, it is only your transgressions that have caused Me to do so, as it is said: Thus saith the Lord: “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, wherewith I have put her away? Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were ye sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away” (Isa. 50:1). Similarly, I made an agreement with Moses concerning them, If thou lend money to any of My people. However, if they transgress these commandments, I shall seize two pledges, as it is said: If thou at all take (habol tahbol) thy neighbor’s garment to pledge (Exod. 22:25). Our master Moses asked: How long shall they remain as pledges? He answered: Until the sun cometh (ibid.) that is, until the Messiah comes, as it is said: But unto you that fear My name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings (Mal. 3:20).

If thou at all take thy neighbor’s garment to pledge (Exod. 22:25). The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: How guilty are your sins before Me, yet I have been patient with you. And though your soul ascends unto Me at twilight each day to render an accounting and is found guilty,²⁷There is a tradition that the soul ascends to heaven while the body is sleeping. nevertheless I return the soul to you. Just as you are obligated to me, so also are you obligated to them (the poor). If thou at all take thy neighbor’s garment to pledge, thou shalt restore it to him by that the sun goeth down; for that may be his only covering (Exod. 22:25). You have one thing that belongs to Me, and therefore, if you take your neighbor’s garment to pledge, and do not return his pledge to him, I will not return your soul to you. Scripture says of this: Takest thy neighbor’s garment. And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto Me that I will hear; for I am gracious (ibid., v. 26). If anyone complains to Me of injustice, saying: “Master of the Universe, I am a man and he is a man, yet he sleeps on his bed, but where can I sleep?” I will listen to him for I am gracious. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I pay attention to the complaints of the lonely ones in this world, but in the day to come, It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer (Isa. 56:4). The prophet also said: For, O people that dwelleth in Zion at Jerusalem, thou shalt weep no more (ibid. 30:19).

And He said: “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God” (Exod. 15:26). Because of this verse they said: The man who hearkens to God’s word in time will hearken at other times as well, but if he ignores it at one time, he will do likewise at other times. Scripture teaches this in the verses And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken (Jer. 17:24), and It shall be, too, if thou shalt forget (Deut. 8:19). How is that? If a man desires to hear only that which is to his advantage, he will hear that which is not to his advantage as well; and if he wishes to forget when it is to his advantage to do so, he will forget even when it is not to his advantage to do so. The power to choose is given to man. If it concerneth the scorners, He scorneth them, but unto the humble He giveth grace (Prov. 3:34). If a man hearkens to one command, he will be caused to hearken to many; but if he desires to forget even one commandment, he will be caused to forget many. Therefore it is written: If thou shalt begin to forget, thou wilt in time forget. Others reach this conclusion from the verse If thou at all take thy neighbor’s garment to pledge (Exod. 22:25); that is, if you should seize one garment as a pledge, you will ultimately take many pledges because of it.

(Ibid. 13) "Return shall you return to him the pledge when the sun sets": And elsewhere (Shemoth 22:25) "until the sun sets (in the daytime) shall you return it to him." We are hereby taught that he returns to him what is used during the day in the daytime, and what is used at night, in the evening — a mattress in the evening and a plow in the daytime, and not the reverse.