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This week’s reading contains 53 laws. The first is about the Jewish ‘slave’ and one of the others is to loan money, interest free, to the poor.
Interestingly, according to Judaism loaning money to the poor is better than giving them charity (Maimonides Matnot Aniyim 10:7).

At first glance this is not understood.

How can loaning money be more generous than giving it as a charitable gift? Could you imagine someone winning a million-dollar lottery and then being told that the board decided, after reading this Rambam, to make it a loan instead?!
What is so special about a loan? Has it any connection to the law of a Jewish servant?

To understand this here is a story.

Some one hundred years ago in the city of Vitebsk there lived two friends Rav Leib Pozin and Rav Shmuel Brin. Both were rich and both gave charity, but Rav Leib, the far richer of the two, was businesslike and unemotional while Rav Shmuel was warm and friendly.
Both were Chassidim (followers) of the fourth leader of Chabad, Rebbe Shmuel (A.K.A Rebbe M’harash) and would travel regularly to his headquarters in Lubavitch to consult with him.
Our story begins when Rav Leib made one such visit to the Rebbe and got the bitter news that his friend, Rav Shmuel, got cheated by dishonest businessmen and was not only penniless but in considerable debt.
Rav Leib entered the room of the Rebbe and, after asking his questions and receiving the Rebbe’s answers and advice he let out a heartbreaking sigh and exclaimed, “Oy! My poor friend Shmuel Brin! What a tragedy! He lost all his money! Surely all that G-d does is just; I do not doubt the ways of HaShem, but what a pity!! Rebbe, can you help him?”
The Rebbe didn’t reply.
Rav Leib returned home but shortly thereafter tragedy again struck, but this time to Rav Leib himself. A fire broke out in the city of Vitebsk consuming his store, his home and one of his three immense storehouses; a loss of over fifty thousand rubles none of which was insured.
He immediately traveled to Lubavitch, entered to the Rebbe and burst into uncontrollable weeping as he poured out his heartbreaking story.
The Rebbe looked at him silently and then quietly said. “For your friend Shmuel Brin’s loss you didn’t cry. You even were able to justify his misfortune. But on your loss, you can’t hold back your tears; seems that by you, ‘I’ and ‘he’ are two separate worlds.”
These words struck Rav Leib like a sledgehammer. After several seconds of stunned silence, he slowly backed out the Rebbe’s room and then wandered around Lubavitch like a zombie. It took him three days of deep thought to realize how right the Rebbe was. His entire way of looking at the world was lopsided and selfish.
He again requested an audience with the Rebbe but this time when he entered, he let the Rebbe do the talking.
“Rav Leib” the Rebbe said “The Baal Shem Tov taught that one who genuinely feels bad when his friend suffers will be rewarded in the end. But if one does not suffer at hearing bad news about his fellow man, or worse yet, he justifies that bad news; he draws that bad thing on himself as well.
“Now take all the cash you have, three thousand rubles, and give it to Shmuel Brin as an interest-free loan. Be sure to give it with a joyous heart. Then, go to Moscow, buy merchandise and return to work. HaShem will repay your loss twofold!”
Leib went back to Vitebsk took all the cash money he had (it came out to be exactly the sum the Rebbe said) and walked to Shmuel Brin’s home but to his disappointment Shmuel had left home a few days earlier and his wife didn’t know when he would return.
And so it was every day for over two weeks. Leib was getting desperate; he wanted to travel to Moscow as the Rebbe said as soon as possible but Shmuel was nowhere to be found. Then, on Shabbat evening Shmuel suddenly showed up in the Synagogue smiling as though he just won a million rubles.
When asked where he had been he replied that had been by the Rebbe for the last week and had even had memorized the ‘mimor’ (a deep Chassidic discourse) that he heard from the Rebbe when he was there.
Rav Leib looked at his friend and felt even more ashamed than ever.
Here stood a man that, although he had become a penniless debtor overnight, was full of optimism and joy while he himself was still anxious and sad. He watched and listened as Rav Shmuel repeated the mimor for the congregation and then invited everyone to his home for a gala meal after the morning prayers at which time he would repeat the mimor again.
After Shabbat, Rav Leib went to Shmuel’s house to give him the loan, but before he could open his mouth Shmuel began to comfort him about the fire that ruined his fortunes. “Don’t worry Rav Leib.” Shmuel said optimistically, “The saying is ‘after a fire is richness’. I’m sure G-d will repay your loss a hundred-fold.”
Rav Leib couldn’t contain himself. “Tell me, Shmuel, where were you these last two weeks except Lubavitch? Did you make all your money back? Is that why you are so happy?
“No” Shmuel replied. “I’ll tell you what happened. After I lost my money, I became very downcast and seriously considered just working for someone else and forgetting about the business world. Then I fell ill and was bedridden for a few days which made me feel even more depressed.
“Near the end of my sickness, when I was just beginning to feel better, I had a visit from a Jew, a teacher from the city of Valiz, who said he had been in Lubavitch and the Rebbe told him to visit me and say,

‘The Rebbe said you should stop thinking foolish and sad thoughts and that your mind should rule your heart and make it happy, not your heart making your mind sad.’

“So, as soon as I felt better, I borrowed enough for travel to the Rebbe to ask for advice how to do what he said. He congratulated me that I decided to be positive and told me I should go to Riga, buy merchandise that is already loaded on rafts on the river and try to sell it elsewhere.
So I did it. Even though I didn’t have any money. I did what the Rebbe said. I went to Riga, found choice goods, but the seller wanted three thousand rubles, wasn’t willing to take credit but was willing to wait a week. So I decided to return to Vitebsk to wait.
“That’s when a small miracle happened! As I was boarding the train to Vitebsk I met someone who was on his way to visit me! He told me that two big businessmen in the city of Smolensk heard about me and wanted me to arbitrate in an argument they were having… for pay! So I changed trains to Smolensk, met the men and, thank G-d after a few days of hard work, I succeeded in making peace. And they paid me three hundred rubles for my troubles!
“I felt that the Rebbe’s blessing was beginning to work. At least I had money for my family to live on. Now I’m waiting for the money to buy that merchandise in Riga.”
Rav Leib felt that now was the time. He pulled the wad of cash from his pocket and said “Here! It’s a loan from me. Three thousand rubles! Return it when you can! The Rebbe told me to give it to you.”
But Shmuel refused flatly saying, “The Rebbe ordered you to offer the loan but he didn’t order me to take it. That must be all the money you have, right? Well, I’m sure G-d will provide for me without you having to suffer. You take that money and invest it.”
Rav Leib had no recourse than to travel again to the Rebbe who took the money, put it in an envelope, addressed it to Rav Shmuel with a note; “I’m sending you three thousand rubles to be repaid in full after the successful business enterprise” and sent it back with Rav Leib.
This time Shmuel accepted the loan and headed for Riga while Rav Leib was now free to travel to Moscow albeit with nothing but the Rebbe’s blessing in his pocket.
But the Rebbe’s blessing paid off! The businessmen in Moscow gave Rav Leib unlimited credit and within a year he was twice as rich as he was before,,, as the Rebbe said.
And so too with Rav Shmuel. He succeeded fantastically in Riga. In no time had repaid all his debts and gradually became wealthier than ever.

This answers our question. Why a loan is better than charity and what is its connection to the ‘Hebrew Servant’.

Charity stresses the poverty of the receiver. A loan, on the other hand, makes the receiver into a partner.
So too with G-d and the Jewish people.
G-d gives us ‘charity’. He creates, enlivens and sustains us for free but He mostly wants us to be His partners.
That is why G-d in His infinite wisdom and kindness gave us the Torah which makes us responsible to ‘pay Him back’. And nothing makes a person more happy, valuable and elevated than being a partner to the Almighty!
And that is what happened in our story: When Rav Leib gave the loan, he succeeded in raising both himself and his friend Rav Shmuel.
And that is the connection to the ‘Jewish Servant’.
Before the Jews left Egypt, they were already called the ‘Sons of G-d’ (Ex. 4:22) but when they received the Torah they were raised to the level of ‘Servants’ (Lev. 25: 55); Jewish servants that were able to repay G-d for His kindness.
That is what Moses did and what the Moshiach will complete.
Moshiach will show us of not only how to be grateful for G-d’s miraculous gifts of life, health, success and existence but also how to be Servants of and partners with the Creator, to repay Him with joy.
It all depends on us to bring Moshiach even one moment sooner.
We are standing on the merits of thousands of years of Jewish hopes, prayers and suffering. Now it could be that just one more good deed, word or even thought will bring ……  

Moshiach NOW!!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel

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