Parshat Hashavua Rabbi Michael Laitner If you have comments please feel free to e-mail Rabbi Laitner at: michael@southhampstead.org

‘Do not take ‘neshech’ interest or ‘tarbit’ interest from another person – and you shall fear your G-d, and your brother shall live with you.’ (Vayikra 25:36)
 
This pasuk (verse) is part of the material dealing with the prohibition of charging interest of the ‘neshech’ and ‘tarbit’ variety (as in English law, Jewish law refers to different forms of interest), a topic which also appears in the sidrot (weekly Torah readings) of Mishpatim and Re’eh.  The context here is of laws relating to personal land and financial rights, as well as to rights of workers. 
 
We will focus on why the two sections of this pasuk are together.  Initially, there may appear to be a non-sequitor.
 
Da’at Mikra, a modern Israeli commentary, suggests that the juxtaposition of ideas in the pasuk is to emphasise the severity of the prohibition of charging interest and how charging interest can be disguised by the lender.  Therefore, the Torah uses the phrase ‘and you shall fear your G-d’ to stress that G-d knows the intentions in a lender’s heart even if the lender’s actions attempt to disguise his intentions (this idea is quoted from Rashi, the primary commentary on the Torah). 
 
Da’at Mikra continues to discuss the effect on society of charging interest in such circumstances.  Debt can spiral through charging interest, so that eventually neighbours cannot live together in an honourable way either financially or socially.  This is the opposite of the Torah’s teaching. 
 
Therefore, the pasuk tells us not to charge neshech or tarbit, thereby avoiding the societal problems which may result from such charging.
 
Intriguingly, there is a Mitzva to extend a loan to somebody who is in need.  However, this Mitzva is not taught here, instead appearing in the Sidra of Re’eh.  This is a topic for another time.
 
Ramban (Rabbi Moses ben Nachman), the famed medieval exegete, writes that the second half of this pasuk – ‘and your brother shall live with you’ - is one of the sources for the Mitzva of pikuach nefesh, saving a person’s life.  To remind us of how this source is applied, Ramban quotes the discussion in the Talmud (Masechet/Tractate Bava Metzia 62a) relating to pikuach nefesh, in a case where one person has the choice and capability to save either only himself or only his colleague.
 
In the context of our verse however, Ramban writes that the phrase ‘and your brother shall live with you’, teaches that this phrase applies not only to decisions of life and death, but also to the type of conduct that people must display to each other on a day to day basis.
 
The details of the prohibition to charge interest are a complex area of Jewish law which covers a diverse range of situations, be they commercial or personal.   Our pasuk focuses on personal loans between individuals, the prohibition on charging neshech or tarbit and the consequences of ignoring the prohibition.

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