Comentário sobre Levítico 25:35

והחזקת בו THOU SHALT RELIEVE HIM — Do not leave him by himself so that he comes down in the world until he finally falls altogether when it will be difficult to give him a lift, but uphold him from the very moment of the failure of his means. To what may this (the differences between whether you assist him at once or whether you wait with your help till he has come down in the world) be compared? To an excessive load on the back of an ass. So long as it is still on the ass’s back, one person is enough to take hold of it (the load) and to keep it (the ass) up, as soon as it has fallen to the ground not even five persons are able to set it on its legs (Sifra, Behar, Section 5 1).

THAT HE MAY LIVE WITH THEE. The meaning thereof is that he [i.e., the stranger or settler]²⁰⁴See Note 33 in my Hebrew Commentary pp. 180-181, that this is the correct interpretation of the intent of Ramban. Thus the expression before us speaks of our duty to help the stranger and settler, “and surely [this duty applies to] one of our brethren of the children of Israel, who had become poor.” It is from this positive commandment that he may live with thee that we derive the principle that the saving of life overrides the Sabbath etc., as Ramban continues. shall [be enabled to] live with you, it being a positive commandment to support him, and it is from here [that we deduce] that we are commanded by means of a positive commandment to save life. It is from here too, that the Sages have said:²⁰⁵Torath Kohanim, Behar 5:3. Baba Metzia 62 a. “That thy brother may live with thee.²⁰⁶Verse 36. This was explained by Ben Peturi: If two people were going on a journey [in the desert], and one of them has a pitcher of water which [contains such an amount that] if he [alone] drinks it, [it would suffice to enable him to] reach an inhabited place, but if both drink from it, both would die. Ben Peturi stated: ‘It is better that both should drink and die, rather than that one should witness the death of his colleague,’ until Rabbi Akiba came and taught: that thy brother may live with thee²⁰⁶Verse 36. — thy life takes precedence over the life of thy colleague.”
He repeated [the phrase] that thy brother may live with thee,²⁰⁶Verse 36. in order to emphasize and stress [that we are not to take from him any interest or increase, as is stated in the first part of that verse]. And the Rabbinical interpretation is as follows:²⁰⁷Baba Metzia 62 a. “Return to him the interest, so that he may live with you.” Thus He commanded the return of [previously] stipulated interest, similar to that which He said in the case of robbery, and he shall restore that which he took by robbery.²⁰⁸Above, 5:23. Interest is only forbidden by law of the Torah if it is previously stipulated, i.e., at the time of the loan, although the Rabbis forbade all interest.
Now Onkelos rendered ‘geir v’thoshav vachai imach’ [generally translated: a stranger and a settler that he may live with thee] as part of the positive commandments [enumerated here, thus meaning:] “he shall sojourn and settle and live with you.”²⁰⁹The sense of the verse according to Onkelos is thus as follows: And if thy brother be waxen poor, and his means fail with thee — then thou shalt uphold him. And the verse continues to explain how you are to uphold him: “he is to sojourn and settle and live with thee.” But according to the Rabbis, as Ramban continues, the sense of the verse is etc. But according to the opinion of our Rabbis in the Gemara,²¹⁰Baba Metzia 71a. See my Hebrew Commentary p. 181. the sense of the verse is as follows: [“And if thy brother be waxen poor …] then thou shalt uphold him, and [thou shalt also uphold] a stranger and a settler, so that each one of them shall live with thee.”

והחזקת בו, in order to keep it in good condition.

וכי ימוך אחיך ומטה ידו, "If your brother becomes poor and his means fail while he is with you, etc." This paragraph tries to awaken us to the reason why the spirit of G'd "our Brother" who used to dwell in our midst has become so infirm. When the Torah describes "our Brother becoming poor," it refers to the "spirit of life within us; the reason it seems to weaken is that it observed that we failed to study Torah and practice the commandments. There is no greater kind of poverty than the dearth of merits due to Torah study and the performance of kind deeds towards one's fellow man. As a result, the individual Israelite's light fails. The word עמך emphasises that the failure is due to its having concentrated on you. Had it not been for G'd channelling His light through you (the Jewish people), His light would have permeated the whole universe from one end to the other. Under the changed conditions, G'd wants to return the רוח light, to His celestial domains as described in Kohelet 12,7: "and the spirit returns to the Lord who had provided it." Shabbat 152 comments on this that G'd demands that the spirit be returned to Him in mint condition, i.e. שנתנה לך "in the condition He gave it to you." The Torah goes on והחזקת בו "you are to uphold him;" this means that you are to assist such a Jew who has strayed from the true path to do תשובה to help him rehabilitate himself. There is no other means which can ensure that the vital רוח be sustained within us which is comparable to the power of repentance.

וחי עמך, “so that he may live alongside you.” This is a positive commandment addressed to you the Israelite with means, to enable fellow Israelites to have secure means of subsistence. The commandment to physically save fellow Israelites’ lives (when they appear to be in danger) flows directly from this verse. The Torah repeats and says:

And what is a “sojourner”? Explanation: But [the verse does not mean] literally “a stranger and [non-Jewish] sojourner” [i.e., a stranger who is a non-Jewish sojourner, because the word גר here refers to a proselyte who converted to Judaism] similar [the commandment] to not to cause anguish to a גר (see above 19:33), and “You are to love the [righteous] convert (גר)” (Devarim 10:19). [גר here must be referring to someone who converted to Judaism] because in the beginning of the verse it is written “If your brother becomes impoverished” and a תושב [i.e. if we translated גר ותושב as “a stranger and sojourner”] would not be considered your brother since he eats neveilos, even though he fulfills the seven Noahide mitzvos and he does not worship idols.

והחזקתי בו,”you shall uphold him;” in case anyone thought that he should be supported even if he had turned to criminal activities, the Torah cautions: עמך, “only as long as he conducts himself legally correct.”

גר ותושב means, even though he be a stranger or a sojourner. And what is a תושב? One who has undertaken not to worship idols (i. e. one who has been converted to the fundamental tenet of Judaism) but eats carrion (does not care for the other commandments of the Torah) (Sifra, Behar, Section 5 1).

גר ותושב וחי עמך, "a stranger or a resident he shall live with you." According to a mystical text קב הישר chapter 32 there are souls G'd places in a body (person) in accordance with the principle we call סוד העבור, so that they can participate in the performance of a specific commandment and that person will acquire the merit which results from performance of that commandment. Other souls are provided for man for no specific task but as an opportunity afforded to the body (person) within whom the soul dwells to rehabilitate that personality. The words גר ותושב refer to these two kinds of souls. The former is called גר, the latter is called תושב. The Torah says: וחי עמך "it shall live within you" concerning either kind of soul, seeing a person does not know which kind of soul he has been endowed with he is well advised to assume that it is his task to rehabilitate himself by doing תשובה so that he would not lose the light G'd has granted him and as a result of which He resides within him. אל תקח מאתו נשך ותרבית, "Do not take an advance from him or accrued Interest;" I will explain presently what is meant by these words. When the verse goes on ויראת מאלוקך, "you shall fear your G'd," this refers to the light which G'd has endowed you with by granting you a pure soul which you are under an obligation to return in mint condition. The Torah demands further וחי אחיך עמך, that when the time comes to return your soul to G'd it should return equipped with additional vitality acquired through the fact that you lived a life dedicated to the service of G'd. While it is true that Kohelet only spoke about returning the רוח in the condition that you received it, this was a minimal demand. Alternatively, you may refer to what I explained in my book חפץ השם on Shabbat 152, that the words "as He has has given to you," mean that the soul by definition is a spiritual force which is apt to add vitality and spiritual light to the body it inhabits.