Parashat Re’eh – 5782
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites
In this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh, we come across a rare commandment that is only fulfilled once every seven years, and nowadays, as we will see later, it is almost never fulfilled. However, the spirit of this commandment and its reasons have influenced Jewish heritage and culture until now. We are discussing “shemitat kesafim,” the cancellation of debts.
This commandment deals with loans between people. A person who lent his friend a sum of money is obligated, once every seven years with the end of the shemita year, to forgive the debt. Nowadays, that sounds impossible. Such a practice would destroy modern economies based on available credit. Keeping this commandment today could be unfairly exploited. Just imagine a situation in which banks would have to forgive all debts. They would all immediately collapse and the economy would be destroyed. Therefore, there is a halachic solution called “pruzbul.” This is not the place to go into the practical details of this solution, but it provides a kosher way to collect debts even after the end of the shemita year.
In ancient times, when the economy was based on agriculture rather than on credit, loans were used only to help the needy. Whoever got to the point of needing to borrow from a friend was apparently in financial distress. The commandment of “shemitat kesafim” refers to this situation when, once every seven years, there is a new economic reality that provides a clean slate for that impoverished person: all debts are erased.
Obviously, this commandment also cause damage that the Torah refers to explicitly:
Beware, lest there be in your heart an unfaithful thought, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release has approached,” and you will begrudge your needy brother and not give him, and he will cry out to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin to you. You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him!
(Deuteronomy 15, 9-10)
The Torah commands us to generously loan money to that “needy brother” and not worry about the damage of forgiving the debt. In return, this Divine promise is given:
…for because of this thing the Lord, your God, will bless you in all your work and in all your endeavors.
(Ibid)
“Sefer Hachinuch” is a book written in the 13th century by an author who preferred to keep his identity secret. It details the Torah’s commandments, their reasons, and the halachot involved. Learning this book is a great introduction to Judaism, and indeed, it is accepted around Jewish communities in the world as a core book. Regarding the commandment of “shemitat kesafim,” the author of Sefer Hachinuch writes that the commandment was meant:
to train our souls in the virtuous traits, the trait of generosity and a kind eye, and to fix great faith in our hearts towards God, blessed be He…And also coming from this is a strong fence and partition to distance oneself greatly from theft and from envy for everything that there is to our neighbor. As we will draw an a fortiori argument (kal vechomer) for ourselves by saying, “Even with my money that I lent out, the Torah said to release it in the hand of the borrower when the sabbatical year arrives; is it not all the more so that with not stealing and not having envy for that which is his, that it is fitting for me to distance myself to the [other] extreme?”
(Sefer Hachinuch, commandment 477)
The author of Sefer Hachinuch tells us that this commandment has several interwoven purposes: to teach us generosity and a kind eye and support of others, to train ourselves to have faith in G-d Who told us to forgive the debt of a needy person, and to distance ourselves from stealing and being envious of what someone else has.
As we said, this commandment is not feasible in modern economies and therefore, a halachic solution exists. However, there are other ways to keep this commandment through donations to needy people defined as loans and then, at the end of this year – the shemita year, the debt is forgiven and the loan becomes a grant.
In any case, the messages of this commandment trickled down into Jewish culture. Generosity, a kind eye, and faith in G-d are basic traits of the Jewish people and we are privileged to continue this precious heritage.
