An Interesting View on Interest

If you (singular) lend money to My people, to the poor who are with you (singular), you (singular) shall not be to him as a demanding creditor, nor shall you (plural) put charge him interest.            Exodus 22:24

            Our Sages understood the verse to present two mitzvot: a positive command to lend money to the poor, and a negative command prohibiting (both taking and giving) interest on the loan. [Maimonides Sefer haMitzvot, Positive Mitzva 197, Negative Mitzva 237; Sefer haḤinuch, Mitzvot 66;74]

            It should be noted that in the original Hebrew, the verse begins with the singular “you,” and switches to the plural.

            Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch explains that interest is not intrinsically opposed to the Torah’s system of justice, but interest does clash with “the principle upon which Jewish life is to be founded.”  The Torah’s outlook is that an individual’s wealth is a gift from God, and the prohibition against interest expresses the concept that one’s money should be regarded as also belonging to God. Thus, the decision to make a loan to a fellow – Jew who is need is not an arbitrary decision of the lender, rather it is a mitzva. The lender is not merely an individual, but part of “My people,” a member of the nation which founded on the spirit of Torah.

            This approach, which sees the prohibition of interest on loans is an acknowledgement of God, explains the fact that the Torah forbids not only taking interest, “But in quite equal degree the Torah expressly prohibits the payment of it.”

            At first glance, the words of the verse “My people” and “who are among you” appear unnecessary. Based upon his exposition, Rabbi Hirsch explains that the positive command to lend money is worded in the singular, since it is addressed to the lender, who is usually an individual. Further, the addition of the phrases “My people (ami) and “who are among you” (imi) conveys the thought that the individual is part of the community and the nation. The verse teaches that the lender must understand and appreciate that he is connected to the borrower, and feel that he is part of “my (lower case m) nation.” In a clever play on words (or more exactly, on the vowels of the words “ami” and “imi” (which contain the same consonants), Rabbi Hirsch comments that it is the feeling of “imi” (literally “with me” which creates “ami,” the feeling of common nationhood.

            Ultimately, Torah teaches that Jewish society must be based upon acceptance of mutual responsibility among Jews.

            Ba’al haTurim [Leviticus 25:36] notes that the gematriya of “ribit” (interest) equals 612, implying that violating the prohibition of taking/giving interest is the equivalent of violating the remaining 612 mitzvot.

            Rabbi Hirsch adds:

The duty of lending money without interest is one of the rocks on which Jewish social life rests.

In a much higher sense does the rich man need the poor man, than the poor man needs the rich one. The poor man finds in the rich man only support for his material necessity, but the rich man finds in him the means for carrying out his highest spiritual and moral calling, to render to God the tribute of acknowledging that every halfpenny of our possession is lent to us by God.