Sometimes you're on top, sometimes you're on the bottom. It's a powerful image, and one that resonates deeply in Jewish tradition.
Shemot Rabbah, a classic collection of Midrashic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, uses this very image to illustrate a profound truth about wealth, poverty, and divine justice. It starts with the verse, "to the poor who is with you" and connects it to the idea that God "humbles this one and elevates that one" (Psalms 75:8).
The text paints a picture: Imagine a water wheel in a garden. The clay pots at the bottom rise up full, while the ones at the top descend empty. That's life, it says. Today's wealthy person might be tomorrow's poor one, and vice versa. Why? Because, as Rabbi Aḥa explains, the world is a galgal, a wheel. He connects this to Proverbs 20:26, "A wise king scatters the wicked, and he turns an ofan upon them," noting that ofan simply means wheel, just as we see in Exodus 14:25, "He removed the ofan of his chariots."
So, what's the takeaway? Extend your hand to the poor. Proverbs 22:2 reminds us, "Wealthy and poor meet; the Lord is the maker of them all." Similarly, Proverbs 29:13 states, "The poor and the deceitful man meet; the Lord enlightens the eyes of both of them." Shemot Rabbah understands this to mean that the poor acquire life in this world, while the wealthy acquire life in the World to Come. But if a homeowner refuses to give to a poor person who asks, then, as the verse repeats, "the Lord is the maker of them all." The One who made this person wealthy can make them poor, and the One who made this person poor can make them wealthy. It's a powerful reminder of the cyclical nature of fortune and the importance of compassion.
The text then takes a sharp turn, focusing on the harshness of poverty. It asserts that there is no harsher attribute than poverty. Someone suffering from it experiences all the suffering in the world, as though all the curses in Deuteronomy have befallen them. Our Rabbis even said that if you put all forms of suffering on one side of a scale and poverty on the other, poverty would outweigh them all.
This leads to a discussion about lending and interest. "You shall not be as a creditor to him," the Torah commands. Shemot Rabbah emphasizes the severity of charging interest on loans. Anyone who does so, it says, violates all the transgressions in the Torah and finds no one to defend them in judgment. When a person sins and stands before God, angels argue for and against them, as described in II Chronicles 18:18. But for someone who lends to another Israelite with interest, none will speak in their defense, citing Ezekiel 18:13: "He gave with usury and took interest, shall he live? He shall not live."
Conversely, an Israelite who lends without taking interest is seen as fulfilling all the mitzvot, all the commandments. David says in Psalm 15, "Lord, who will reside in Your tent?" and answers, "He does not give his money with usury..." (Psalm 15:5).
What does it all mean? The world turns. Fortunes rise and fall. Poverty is a profound hardship. And our actions toward the vulnerable – particularly in matters of lending and interest – carry immense weight. It’s a call to remember our shared humanity, to act with compassion, and to recognize that we are all, in some way, on that spinning wheel together. The Holy One wants us to act justly, with an eye toward the suffering of others, and to remember that our choices have consequences, both in this world and the World to Come.