Who Shall Never Be Moved

"If you lend money to My people" (Exodus 22:24). This is what Scripture says: "He who has not put out his money at interest" (Psalms 15:5). Come and see: anyone who has wealth and gives charity to the poor and does not lend at interest, it is reckoned for him as though he had fulfilled all the commandments, as it is said, "He who does these things shall never be moved" (Psalms 15:5). And who was this? This was Obadiah, who was a wealthy steward of Ahab, as it is said, "And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household; now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly" (1 Kings 18:3). And he sustained the prophets from his own property throughout that famine, and he borrowed at interest from Jehoram son of Ahab. Obadiah fulfilled, "He who has not put out his money at interest." But Jehoram, who lent at interest, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: He is still alive until now; let Jehu come and kill him, as it is said, "He has given out at interest and taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live" (Ezekiel 18:13). And it is written, "And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and struck Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot" (2 Kings 9:24), because he had pressed him hard and stretched out his arms to take the interest, to fulfill what Ezekiel said, "He has given out at interest and taken increase; he shall not live." And in Jerusalem too there were people who lent at interest, as it is said, "Your silver has become dross" (Isaiah 1:22). And what was done to them? "Rejected silver they are called, for the LORD has rejected them" (Jeremiah 6:30); therefore "your silver has become dross." And it is written, "They shall cast their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing" (Ezekiel 7:19). Why? Because they transgressed the Torah, as it is said, "You shall not give him your money at interest" (Leviticus 25:37). When Solomon built the Temple, he stood in prayer and said: Master of the universe, if a person prays for wealth in this House, and You know that he will be ruined by his wealth, do not give it to him; but if You see that the wealth is good for him, give it to him, as it is said, "Then render to each whose heart You know according to all his ways, for You alone know the hearts of all the children of men" (2 Chronicles 6:30). For in this world the wicked are rich and they dwell in tranquility, because the Holy One, blessed be He, pays them in this world for the few good deeds in their hand, as it is said, "And He repays those who hate Him to their face" (Deuteronomy 7:10). And it is written, "When the wicked spring up like grass" (Psalms 92:8). But in the time to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, opens His storehouses to the righteous, His servants, in the Garden of Eden. And the wicked who consumed interest gnaw their own flesh with their teeth and grieve, as it is said, "The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh" (Ecclesiastes 4:5). And he says: Would that we had been laborers and carried loads on our shoulders, as it is said, "Better is a handful with quietness than two handfuls with toil" (Ecclesiastes 4:6). And the poor are the people of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "For the LORD has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones" (Isaiah 49:13). The way of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like the way of flesh and blood. In the way of flesh and blood, a rich man who has poor relatives hates them and does not acknowledge them, as it is said, "All the brothers of a poor man hate him; how much more do his friends keep far from him" (Proverbs 19:7). But the Holy One, blessed be He, with all His wealth and honor, shelters and has compassion on the poor, as it is said, "For the LORD has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of His people take refuge" (Isaiah 14:32). "You lend to My people." David said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the universe, "May he be enthroned in God's presence forever" (Psalms 61:8); set Your world in order with equality, the rich and the poor. He said to him: If so, "Appoint mercy and truth, that they may preserve him" (Psalms 61:8); if all were rich or all were poor, who would be able to do kindness? "You shall not be to him as a creditor" (Exodus 22:24). If you have lent to him, do not press him. Do not look upon his field and vineyard, or his house, and say to him: Take a hundred thousand from me and do business and sign over to me your field and your vineyard and your house; and tomorrow he loses, and you take his vineyard. From here you learn that anyone who lends at interest does not fear the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "Take no interest from him" (Leviticus 25:36). Do not lay interest upon him. Our Rabbis taught: These transgress a negative commandment: the lender, the borrower, the guarantor, the witnesses, and the scribe. Therefore all of them are flogged. And from where do we know that the borrower is flogged? As it is written, "You shall not exact interest from your brother" (Deuteronomy 23:20). To what is interest comparable? To one whom a snake bit; he did not feel it, to say who bit him, and he did not know until it swelled up upon him. So too interest: he does not feel it until it swells up upon him. "If you take your neighbor's garment in pledge" (Exodus 22:25). The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: If he owes you, you too owe Me, as it is said, "When they sin against You, for there is no man who does not sin" (1 Kings 8:46).