Midrasz do Wyjścia 6:15

(Exod. 22:24 [25]:) IF YOU LEND MONEY <TO MY PEOPLE>…. R. Tanhuma opened on <this verse with> (Prov. 19:17): THE ONE WHO IS GENEROUS WITH THE POOR IS LENDING TO THE LORD.²⁶Tanh., Exod. 6:15. Whoever lends to the poor is, as it were, as if he were lending to the Holy One. (Ibid.:) THE ONE WHO IS GENEROUS WITH THE POOR IS LENDING TO THE LORD, [AND HE WILL REPAY HIM HIS DUE]. R. Pinhas bar Hama the Priest said: What is the meaning of AND HE WILL REPAY HIM HIS DUE? The Holy One said: When a poor person's soul (nefesh) was seeking to leave,²⁷Tanh., Exod. 6:15, expands: “When a poor person’s soul (nefesh) was seeking to leave out of hunger, you gave him a prutah (a small coin) and revived him.” you revived him. By your life I am returning you life (nefesh) for life. Tomorrow, when your son or daughter comes into the hands of guilt or into the hands of death, [this deed] will be remembered on their behalf, and I will give them a life for a life. The Holy One said: By your life, you have been named as the one who gave him a loan, as stated (in Prov. 19:17): <THE ONE WHO IS GENEROUS WITH THE POOR> IS LENDING TO THE LORD. You find that for all the sins which a person commits, the Holy One sits in judgment over him, saying: How did his judgment come about? In the case of one who steals, the Holy One sits over him in judgment, also over the one who commits adultery and over the one who commits <any other > transgression.²⁸Cf. Exod. R. 31:14. And so you find in the days of Ahab that Micah (i.e., Micaiah) said (in I Kings 22:19 or II Chron. 18:18):²⁹The text draws its wording from both I Kings 22:19 and from II Chron. 18:18, but Buber has emended his mss in conformity with I Kings 22:19. HEAR, THEREFORE, THE WORD OF THE LORD: I SAW THE LORD SITTING UPON HIS THRONE, AND ALL THE HEAVENLY HOST WAS STANDING BY HIM TO HIS RIGHT AND TO HIS LEFT. Is there a left above?³⁰See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 4:21; Exod. 1:21; Cant. R. 1:9:1. <Yes,> and is it not written (in Exod. 15:6): YOUR RIGHT HAND, O LORD, <GLORIOUS IN POWER, YOUR RIGHT HAND SHATTERS THE ENEMY>? It also says (in Ps. 118:16): THE RIGHT HAND OF THE LORD IS EXALTED…. And it says here (in I Kings 22:19): TO HIS RIGHT… What is the meaning of TO HIS RIGHT AND TO HIS LEFT? [Those on the right and those on the left.] The first group tilts the balance towards the scale of merit, and the other group tilts the balance towards the scale of guilt. So does the Holy One act towards all who commit <any> transgression. Their judgment is a matter of give and take. But in the case of one who has made a loan with interest, there is no give and take in his judgment. Instead <the Holy One> renders his judgment by himself. Thus the Holy One has said this to the ministering angels (in Ezek. 18:13): WITH USURY HE HAS GIVEN, {AND WITH INTEREST} HE HAS TAKEN [INTEREST]. <SHALL HE LIVE?> Immediately the ministering angels answer (ibid., cont.:) HE SHALL NOT LIVE. HE HAS COMMITTED ALL [THESE] ABOMINATIONS. HE SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH. Therefore Moses has said (in Exod. 22:24 [25]:) IF YOU LEND MONEY TO MY PEOPLE>….>

(Exod. 22:24 [25]:) IF [YOU LEND] MONEY [TO MY PEOPLE], <TO THE POOR PERSON WITH YOU, YOU SHALL NOT ACT TOWARD HIM AS A CREDITOR >. You shall not say: <The verse concerns only> money. Rather <it includes> anything else which you might lend him.³²See BM 71a; Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishamael, Kaspa 1. YOU SHALL NOT ACT TOWARD HIM AS A CREDITOR. So do not say: In the case of money, Torah says not to loan at interest, <but> I am making a loan to him with wheat.³³If the value of wheat rises, then the lender gets his profit. Thus it is stated <in this extended sense > (in Exod. 22:24 [25]): IF YOU LEND MONEY TO MY PEOPLE, TO THE POOR PERSON WITH YOU. Therefore, one looks at a poor person as though he were WITH YOU. Hence our masters have said: In the case of a poor person who is in the market and a poor person [in your own courtyard], the one in the courtyard < being nearer > has precedence <in receiving a loan>. In the case of a poor person dwelling near you and one dwelling in another city, the poor person nearer you has precedence. (Exod. 22:24 [25]:) <IF YOU LEND MONEY…> TO THE POOR PERSON WITH YOU, to that poor person who is WITH YOU and one of your own, YOU SHALL NOT ACT TOWARD HIM AS A CREDITOR. <Do> not <think>, because of what I told you (in Deut. 23:21 [20]): FOR A FOREIGNER YOU MAY DEDUCT INTEREST, <that> you shall lend to a foreigner and abandon Israel by saying: I am profiting from the foreigner. The Holy One has said: Know that I am the one who has made him poor and you rich. I can make you poor again.³⁴See Lev. R. 34:4. Rav Nahman said: [See] what is written (in Deut. 15:10): GIVE TO HIM READILY […], <FOR BECAUSE OF THIS DEED THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL BLESS YOU>.³⁵Tanh., Exod. 6:15. "For the sake of (lema'an)" is not written here, <but> {IF} BECAUSE OF THIS DEED. What is the meaning of BECAUSE OF (GLL)? Know that it is "wheel" (rt.: GLL).³⁶On the interchange of riches and poverty as a rotating wheel, see Shab. 151b (bar.); Exod. R. 31:3, 14; Lev. R. 34:3; Ruth R. 5:9. I have made him poor and you rich. Do not cause me to turn back the wheel and make you poor. R. Shelah said: See what is written (in vs. 7): DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEART <AND SHUT YOUR HAND> [AGAINST YOUR <POOR> RELATION]. What is the meaning of AGAINST YOUR … RELATION? "Against a <poor> person" is not written here, but AGAINST YOUR <POOR> RELATION, because the two of you are on a par. Do not cause me to turn back the wheel and make you like him.

AGAINST YOUR POOR RELATION. On <this subject> they say <the following> about R. Tanhum ben Hanila'i.³⁷See Tanh., Exod. 6:15; PRK 28 (30):3; Lev. R. 34:5; Eccl. R. 7:14:2. When he bought some meat, greens, or anything else for his house, he would say to the children of his household: Separate out for the poor their portion, for I have bought only one pound³⁸Gk: litra; cf. Lat.: Libra. for myself and a half pound for the poor. <He did so> because he was fulfilling (Eccl. 7:14): IN THE DAY OF PROSPERITY BE PROSPEROUS,³⁹Tanh., Exod. 6:15, adds the following interpretation here: “In the charity which you carry out with the poor.” Cf. PRK 28 (30):3, according to which R. Tanhum interpreted these words to mean that one should rejoice when a neighbor is prosperous. AND IN THE DAY OF ADVERSITY, which comes upon others, REFLECT. Why? Because you are not far from poverty. He is close to you, (i.e., in Exod. 22:24 [25]) THE POOR PERSON WITH YOU.

(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.

8 "To these apportion the land" (Numbers 26:53) And who are they? The ones standing on the Plains of Moav. And was the land not apportioned to those that left Egypt? As it is written (Exodus 6:8), "and I will give it to you as a possession." [So] for what reason was it not apportioned to them? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that families from [those that left Egypt] would be destroyed. And who are they? [Of] those written above (Genesis 46:10), "And the children of Shimon were Yemuel, Yamin, Ohad, Yakhin, Tsohar and Shaul," when you read "to Nemuel, the Nemeulite family" (Numbers 26:12-13), one is not there. And so [too,] with Binyamin: "Bela, Bekher, etc." (Genesis 26:21), behold there are ten. But when you come to count them [you read], "to Belaa, the Belaaite family [etc.] (Numbers 26:38-40), five of the sons are missing. Behold [those missing] were lost. Behold six families got lost from the licentiousness of the counsel of Bilaam. There is no [licentiousness] that does not accomplish its [end]. Hence the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "[Why should] I apportion the land to people who will be die in the future?" Once they came to the Plains of Moav, and they stood resiliently, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "To these apportion the land" (Numbers 26:53).