Комментарий к Шмот 22:26

כי הוא כסותה FOR THAT IS HIS RAIMENT — i. e. his upper garment;

AND I WILL HEAR FOR I AM GRACIOUS — showing favor and accepting everyone’s supplication even though he is unworthy, the word chanun (gracious) being derived from the word chinam (for nothing). And the meaning of the verse is that you should not think: “I will not take the righteous man’s garment as a pledge, but the garment of a man who is not righteous I will take as a pledge and not return to him, for G-d will not hear his cry.” Therefore He said, for I am gracious and I hear the cry of all who beseech Me.

ושמעתי כי חנון אני, even though the debtor cannot complain to Me about you, seeing he owes you repayment for a loan, if he nonetheless cries out to Me complaining about his economic situation which causes him to be practically naked seeing you took his clothing as security for his overdue loan, I will give him part of what I had intended to give you as recognition of your supplying his needs. If you had been granted more financial means than you needed, the only reason was so that you could use your excess to assist the needy.

ושמעתי כי חנון אני, even though the creditor has obtained the pledge legally, and he does not have to return it except in exchange for payment of the loan it secures, the Torah expects you to do more than the law requires, something known in Talmudic parlance as לפנים משורת הדין. G’d warns that although from a legal standpoint He should ignore the pleas of the debtor, He will nonetheless listen to his plea as He is compassionate by nature. When discussing G’d’s attitude to the pleas of a widow or orphan in verse 22 the Torah describes this as not only based on His compassion but on legal considerations. Hence the words: “for I am compassionate” do not appear in that context.

ושמעתי כי חנון אני, “I shall listen for I am compassionate.” G’d is concerned that the reader should not conclude that G’d’s concern for the property and comfort of the righteous does not also extend to the not so righteous, such as in the legislation not to take as a pawn for a loan which is overdue certain necessities. (compare Deut. 24,17) Some commentators interpret the line והיה כי יצעק אלי to mean that if the individual in question was in the habit of thanking the Lord for the acts of kindness he had experienced that had been performed by you, such as not taking your bedclothes as a security for a loan, He in turn would respond to the prayer when he asks for help.

.ושמעתי כי חנון אני , “I shall listen for I am compassionate.” Nachmanides interprets these words to mean: “in order that no man should reason that the poor man whose garment was taken as a pledge was not worthy in the eyes of G’d and taking his garment would therefore not be sinful even if he did not return it to him at the time he is need of it.“ This person might reason that G’d would not answer his outcry seeing he was not worthy. G’d therefore goes on record that He would listen to such an outcry not because it was necessarily justified or that the petitioner was worthy, but because G’d Himself is compassionate. The word חנון is derived from חנם, “for free, without recompense.” It is similar to Exodus 33,19 וחנותי את אשר אחון, “I will show grace to whoever I decide to show grace.” According to Berachot 7 this means that G’d reserves the right to listen to people who entreat Him regardless of merits we are aware of.

V. 26. במה ישכב. Da das vorhergehende von Tagesbedeckung spricht, so muss mit dieser Frage eine andere Kategorie von Gegenständen, das Bedürfnis für die Schlafstätte, מצע, die Unterlage, wie es in der מכילתא erläutert wird, bezeichnet sein. Es muss daher damit eine neue Gedankenreihe angedeutet sein, etwa: "Worauf auch soll er schlafen?" Auch diese Frage hast du dir vorzulegen und danach zu handeln. Das Objekt für den Tagesbedarf hast du für den Tag, das für den Bedarf der Nacht für die Nacht zurückzugeben.

והיה כי יצעק אלי, “and it will come to pass that if the borrower cries out to Me,” (complaining about unfair treatment) the borrower’s complaint to Me will sound as follows: “we have both been created by You as equals. Why should the lender sleep comfortably each night with a pillow to rest his head on, while I have to rest my head on a stone?” At first glance the wording of the Torah describing G–d’s response, i.e. “I will listen for I am gracious,” to the borrower’s complaint does not appear to fit his complaint; This is why I, (author) have decided to interpret the verse differently. It appears to relate to what was written previously in verse 25, where the Torah commanded the lender to restore the pledge (pillow) by nightfall, so that he can also rest his head on a pillow. G–d’s response is to be understood as follows: “if the borrower in his prayers mentions that you have treated him with consideration, I too will consider your own problems having due regard for the empathy you have shown the borrower.” This is spelled out clearly in Deuteronomy 15,10, where the subject of how to relate to destitute people is discussed at greater length.

כי היא כסותה לבדה “for it is her only blanket to cover herself with (at night).” The same is the case if she has only one garment to wear during the daytime. If she possesses more than one of each of those items, the lender need not return the pledge every evening and morning for exchanging one against the other.

שמלתו means HIS SHIRT (the שמלה for the skin);

כי חנון אני, I will therefore display My compassion for anyone who has no one else to turn to. It is in your own interest then to demonstrate your compassion by returning his pledge to him when he is in need of it. If you will do this you will ensure that I will not withdraw My compassion from you. This, in turn, will enable you to extend loans to other needy people.

Wir haben oben zu V. 24 die gesetzliche Vorschrift bemerkt, auch bei gerichtlich beizutreibender Zahlung dem unvermögenden Schuldner das Nötige an Bett, Kleidung etc.etc. für seinen Leibesbedarf zu lassen, מסדרין לבעל חוב. Dabei tritt somit das Bedürfnis der Rückgabe nicht ein. Hier aber spricht es von einer Pfändung, die nicht bereits Zahlung bewirkt, sondern die Zahlung sicher stellen soll. Es wird das Pfand nicht als Zahlung, sondern als Sicherheit hingenommen. Gleichwohl gewinnt der Gläubiger schon insofern ein Anrecht an das Pfand, dass nunmehr die Schuld im Erlassjahr nicht aufgehoben wird und das Pfandobjekt nicht den Erben verfällt, sondern eventuell für den Gläubiger als Zahlungsmittel bleibt (Ch. M, 97, 16). — כסותה mit ה femin.: fühle seine Schwäche!

והיה כי יצעק אלי, “it will be that if the borrower will cry out to Me in prayer,” (accusing you of inhuman conduct) if the borrower had died from frost during the night because you had not given him or her back her only blanket then I will pay the lender back for such harshness. An alternate explanation of the line כי חנון אני: even though it cannot be expected that the lender, who had demonstrated empathy by lending the poor borrower his money in the first place, should now be expected to restore the security deposit to the borrower who had not repaid him,I will pay heed to his prayer because I am compassionate; you, on the other hand, instead of emulating My attributes, have acted brutally. The Torah had not used this statement of G-d reminding the reader of His being compassionate in connection with the treatment of orphans and widows, as their mistreatment had been forbidden by law, not merely by an appeal to the people’s good nature.

במה ישכב WHEREIN SHALL HE LIE DOWN — These words are used to include amongst the articles which must be returned to him during the day the couch and its coverings on which he rests during day-time (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 22:26:3).

Diese Rückgabe des Pfandes zur jeweiligen Zeit des Bedarfs ist eine lästige Pflicht, um so bedeutsamer ist ihre gewissenhafte Übung, auf die daher die Schilderung eines pflichtgetreuen Mannes (Jecheskel 18, 7) mit den Worten hinblickt: חבלתו חוב ישיב, "sein Pfand gibt er mit der Pünktlichkeit einer Schuld zurück".