(א) לא תשיך לאחיך... וביאר בכאן שיהיה רבית הנכרי מותר ולא הזכיר כן בגזל ובגנבה כמו שאמרו (ב"ק קיג) גזל גוי אסור אבל הרבית שהוא נעשה לדעת שניהם וברצונם לא נאסר אלא מצד האחוה והחסד כמו שצוה (ויקרא יט יח) ואהבת לרעך כמוך וכמו שאמר (לעיל טו ט) השמר לך פן יהיה דבר עם לבבך בליעל וגו' ועל כן אמר למען יברכך ה' אלהיך כי חסד ורחמים יעשה עם אחיו כאשר ילונו בלא רבית ותחשב לו לצדקה וכן השמיטה חסד באחים לכך אמר (שם פסוק ג) את הנכרי תגוש וקבע לו ברכה כי הכתוב לא יזכיר הברכה רק בצדקה ובחסדים לא בגזל ובגנבה ובאונאה...
Scripture elaborates that taking interest from a non-jew is permissible, but robbery and theft remain forbidden as it says in “Robbery from a non-jew is forbidden.” Consensual interest is only forbidden because of an aspect of brotherhood and kindness (and thus would not apply to non-jews) as it says “love your friend as yourself” and “Beware, lest there be a lawless thought in your heart.” Therefore it says “for this HaShem, your Gd will bless you”, for it is a kindness and mercy that is performed with his brother when he lends without interest, and will be considered an act of righteousness. A parallel law exists in Shmittah where the remission of debt is a kindness between brothers. Therefore it says: “You may collect from a non-jew”, and a blessing is conferred upon the debt forgiver as blessing is only conferred upon those who are righteous and kind, and not on those who do not steal, or rob, or overcharge.
Job! When My graciousness engulfed you in the manner expressed by the prophet, “Behold, I will extend prosperity to [him] a like a river” (Isaiah 66:12) and you were well known and a man of influence (“And this man was the greatest of all the children of the East” [Job 1:3]), you did not fulfill the role that My grace placed upon you. You were a sound and just man, God-fearing and avoiding of evil. You did not use your power and wealth for ill. You gave much charity (“Righteousness I wore, and it robed me, my justice was a robe and turban” [Job 29:14]). You did not hesitate to offer assistance and support to others, and you stood by them in their hour of peril and distress (“Did I not deliver the poor that cried out and the orphaned that had none to help him?” [Job 29:12]). However, you were still short of attaining that great trait of loving-kindness in two respects: (a) never did you bear the communal yoke, nor did you participate in the trouble and grief of the community,A and (b) you did not feel the pain of [i.e., empathize with] the individual sufferer. As a man blessed with a good heart, you may have momentarily pitied the orphan. You had vast amounts of money and you wanted for nothing, hence you gave a respectable amount of tzedakah [charity]. However, loving-kindness encompasses more than fleeting sentiment and cheap sentimentality. Loving-kindness demands more than a momentary tear and a cold coin.B Loving-kindness means empathizing with one’s fellow man, identifying with his hurt and feeling responsibility for his fate. You did not possess this attribute of overflowing loving-kindness [in imitation of the Creator], neither in your public nor in your personal relationships.
(4) You were a contemporary of Jacob,4 who wrestled with Laban, Esau, and the angel at the stream of Yabok (Genesis 32:23–32). Did you help Jacob with advice? Who was Jacob? A poor shepherd. And you? You were rich and a man of influence. Had you related to Jacob with appropriate sympathy and with steadfast loving kindness, he would not have had to pass through such a multitude of tribulations.
(5) You lived in the time of Moses, and you were numbered among the advisers of Pharaoh. Did you lift a finger when Pharaoh issued his evil decree that “Every son that is born you shall cast into the river” (Exodus 1:22), or when the oppressors enslaved your brethren with back-breaking work? You were silent then and did not protest, for you were afraid of identifying yourself with the unfortunate slaves. To toss them a coin? Yes; but to publicly demonstrate for them? No! You were afraid that you would be accused of dual-loyalty.
(6) You were active in the generation of Ezra and Nehemiah, the returnees to Zion. You, Job, with your wealth and influence, could have hastened the process of settling the Land of Israel and rebuilding the Temple. However, your ear was deafened and did not heed the historical cries of the nation.
(7) You did not storm out in protest against the Sanballites, the Samaritans, and the rest of Israel’s enemies who wanted to destroy the Yishuv and extinguish the spark of the last hope of God’s people. What did you do in the hour when the returnees from the Diaspora cried out from the depths of suffering and despair: “The strength of the bearers of the burdens has faltered and there is much rubbish, so that we are not able to build the wall”(Nehemiah 4:4)? You sat with folded arms! You did not participate in the travail of those who fought for Judaism, for Israel, and the redemption. Never did you bring even one sacrifice on their behalf. All these years you worried only about your own welfare and only for your own benefit did you pray and offer sacrifices:
(8) And so it was when the days of their feasting were over, that Job sent word to his children to sanctify themselves and he [Job] rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings for each of them all, for Job said: “It may be that my sons have sinned, and blasphemed God in their hearts.” —Job 1:5.
(ג) כִּֽי־אָמַ֗רְתִּי ע֭וֹלָם חֶ֣סֶד יִבָּנֶ֑ה שָׁמַ֓יִם תָּכִ֖ן אֱמוּנָתְךָ֣ בָהֶֽם׃
For I said, “Forever will the world be built with kindness; as the heavens, with which You will establish Your faithfulness
(א) מודִים אֲנַחְנוּ לָךְ. שָׁאַתָּה הוּא ה' אֱלהֵינוּ וֵאלהֵי אֲבותֵינוּ לְעולָם וָעֶד. צוּר חַיֵּינוּ. מָגֵן יִשְׁעֵנוּ אַתָּה הוּא לְדור וָדור: נודֶה לְּךָ וּנְסַפֵּר תְּהִלָּתֶךָ עַל חַיֵּינוּ הַמְּסוּרִים בְּיָדֶךָ. וְעַל נִשְׁמותֵינוּ הַפְּקוּדות לָךְ. וְעַל נִסֶּיךָ שֶׁבְּכָל יום עִמָּנוּ. וְעַל נִפְלְאותֶיךָ וְטובותֶיךָ שֶׁבְּכָל עֵת. עֶרֶב וָבקֶר וְצָהֳרָיִם: הַטּוב כִּי לא כָלוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ. וְהַמְרַחֵם כִּי לא תַמּוּ חֲסָדֶיךָ. מֵעולָם קִוִּינוּ לָךְ:
(1) We gratefully thank You, for You, O Lord our God, are our fathers' God for all eternity, our Rock, our Shield of salvation generation to generation. We thank You and recount Your praise for our lives. We trust our lives into Your loving hand. Our souls are in Your custody and Your miracles are with us every day and Your wonders and goodness are with us at all times: evening, morning and noon. You are good, for Your mercies never fail us, and the Compassionate One, for Your loving kindness never ceases; forever we have placed our hope in You.
(ז) שְׁמוֹנֶה מַעֲלוֹת יֵשׁ בַּצְּדָקָה זוֹ לְמַעְלָה מִזּוֹ. מַעֲלָה גְּדוֹלָה שֶׁאֵין לְמַעְלָה מִמֶּנָּה זֶה הַמַּחֲזִיק בְּיַד יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁמָּךְ וְנוֹתֵן לוֹ מַתָּנָה אוֹ הַלְוָאָה אוֹ עוֹשֶׂה עִמּוֹ שֻׁתָּפוּת אוֹ מַמְצִיא לוֹ מְלָאכָה כְּדֵי לְחַזֵּק אֶת יָדוֹ עַד שֶׁלֹּא יִצְטָרֵךְ לַבְּרִיּוֹת לִשְׁאל. וְעַל זֶה נֶאֱמַר (ויקרא כה לה) "וְהֶחֱזַקְתָּ בּוֹ גֵּר וְתוֹשָׁב וָחַי עִמָּךְ" כְּלוֹמַר הַחֲזֵק בּוֹ עַד שֶׁלֹּא יִפּל וְיִצְטָרֵךְ:
(7) There are eight levels of tzedakah, each one greater than the other. The greatest level, higher than all the rest, is to fortify a fellow Jew and give him a gift, a loan, form with him a partnership, or find work for him, until he is strong enough so that he does not need to ask others [for sustenance]. Of this it is said, (Lev. 25:35) [If your kinsman, being in straits, comes under your authority,] and you hold him as though a resident alien, let him live by your side. That is as if to say, "Hold him up," so that he will not fall and be in need.186See Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 63a.
ת"ר בשלשה דברים גדולה גמילות חסדים יותר מן הצדקה צדקה בממונו גמילות חסדים בין בגופו בין בממונו צדקה לעניים גמילות חסדים בין לעניים בין לעשירים צדקה לחיים גמילות חסדים בין לחיים בין למתים
The Sages taught that acts of kindness are superior to charity in three respects: Charity can be performed only with one’s money, while acts of kindness can be performed both with his person and with his money. Charity is given to the poor, while acts of kindness are performed both for the poor and for the rich. Charity is given to the living, while acts of kindness are performed both for the living and for the dead.