ביצים ב

And this is the aspect of what Yirmiyahu [Jeremiah] said to Israel: "O generation, see the word of Hashem!" (Jeremiah 2:31). And our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded (Mechilta, Beshalach; Yoma 75a): "'Hear' was not said, but rather 'see' — from here [we learn] that he brought out for them the jar of man [manna]," etc., and he said to them: "See with what your forefathers were sustained," etc. 12

And this is the aspect of the prohibition of ribbis — for this one who needs to borrow: one must have very great compassion upon him to save him from being a ba'al chov, G-d forbid — for debt is the aspect of idolatry, as above. And this is the aspect of "If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you shall not be to him as a creditor" (Shemos 22:24) — for one must perform chesed with the borrower so that the lender should not be upon him as one who dunns him at all — so that the borrower should not be designated by the name ba'al chov at all — for debt is the aspect of idolatry. And this is: "and you shall not place upon him neshech" — for it is forbidden to take ribbis from him on account of the debt — so as not to go with him according to the attribute of strict justice to take ribbis from him for the debt — but only according to the attribute of chesed — to perform genuine gemilus chesed with him — for one must bestow chesed upon this one who needs to borrow, to draw upon him chesed, to sweeten from him the aspect of strict judgment — so that he should not be in the aspect of ba'al chov — so that the Sitra Achra, the aspect of idolatry, should have no sustenance from this debt, as above.

And this is: great is gemilus chesed more than tzedakah (Sukkah 49b) — for gemilus chesed, that is, halvoas chain (a gracious loan), is the very aspect of tzedakah itself — for the essential mitzvah of tzedakah is that it sweetens the strict judgment from the poor person — for the poor person is in the aspect of strict judgment, the aspect of tzedek, as is brought. And through the chesed one does with him — by which one bestows one's money upon him — through this tzedek becomes tzedakah: strict justice is transformed into righteous charity. And it sweetens the aspect of poverty, the aspect of strict judgment, through the chesed bestowed upon him. And this itself is the aspect of halvoas chain called gemilus chesed — for this one who needs to borrow is in the aspect of strict judgment, the aspect of debt — from which comes the sustenance of idolatry, G-d forbid, which is the aspect of chovah. Therefore one must bestow chesed upon him — and thereby sweeten and save him from the aspect of debt, the aspect of idolatry, G-d forbid, as above.

And therefore gemilus chesed is greater than tzedakah — for the poor person who needs to receive does not have as great a grip of strict judgment upon him as does the borrower who needs to borrow — for the debt is the very aspect of obligation and absolute strict judgment, G-d forbid — from which comes the sustenance of idolatry, G-d forbid, which is the aspect of chovah, as above. And therefore this one who bestows chesed with the borrower and lends him a gracious loan and is not upon him as a creditor at all — and the loan is not designated by the name of debt at all but by the name of gemilus chesed — he performs with him a greater chesed than tzedakah — for the borrower requires more sweetening and chesed than the ordinary poor person, as above. And this is why the Torah called the borrower by the name "poor" — as it is said: "If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you..." — for he is the very aspect of poor and requires more chesed than the ordinary poor person — in order to sweeten from him the aspect of debt, as above. And therefore gemilus chesed is greater than tzedakah, as above.

For Israel in the wilderness were nourished through bitachon alone — and this is the aspect of the man that descended for them without any activity or commerce or business dealings whatsoever. And it was all in the merit of Moshe, who is the Da'as [Knowledge/Awareness], and his generation was a dor dai'ah [a generation of knowledge]. For he drew into them such great da'as that they directed the eyes of their awareness to gaze with bitachon toward Hashem, blessed be He, alone — until the man descended for them for forty years, day by day. 13

And this is the aspect of chesed shel emes (true lovingkindness) — that does not wait for repayment of a reward — for the lender is forbidden to receive any repayment and benefit from the borrower in exchange for the loan, as is explained in the Shulchan Aruch, on account of the prohibition of ribbis. It follows that the lender performs with the borrower chesed shel emes that does not wait for repayment of a reward. For thus is the matter — that the lender must perform with him the aspect of chesed shel emes specifically — that is, to illuminate the aspect of truth, which is the aspect of life, the light of the countenance — as is explained there, as above — in order to save the borrower from the aspect of debt, the aspect of idolatry, sadness, darkened countenance, the aspect of falsehood, the aspect of death. Therefore one must perform with him chesed shel emes — to sweeten him with the aspect of chesed, the aspect of truth, which is anpin n'hirin, life and so on, as above. And therefore it is forbidden to accept ribbis from him — for it is forbidden to accept any profit or produce from the debt — for the debt is the aspect of idolatry in which there is no profit or produce whatsoever — for ail acher istaris v'la avad perin. It follows that in the debt there is no profit or produce at all. And this — when one wishes to receive profits and produce from the debt — one blemishes with the blemish of idolatry, as if one gives value, G-d forbid, to the names of idols — as if there is produce in it, G-d forbid — for one wishes to receive produce from the debt, which is the aspect of idolatry, and there is no produce whatsoever, as above. And therefore this one who takes ribbis: in the end nothing remains in his hand — as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: the assets of one who lends at interest collapse. For he is in the aspect of milei d'chadivei ("words of falsehood") — the aspect of the lust for money, which is absolute falsehood — it seems to him that he is profiting, and in the end nothing remains in his hand — for it is the aspect of falsehood, as above — for ail acher istaris v'la avad perin — and it is impossible that there should be genuine produce from the debt — only he deceives himself and wishes to receive produce from the debt as if there are produce, G-d forbid, for idolatry — and therefore he blemishes with the blemish of idolatry. And this is the severe prohibition of ribbis, which is exceedingly severe — for it is the very aspect of the prohibition of idolatry, as above. And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: one who lends at interest denies the entire Torah — for taking ribbis is as one who denies the entire Torah — for it is the aspect of idolatry, and whoever acknowledges idolatry is as one who denies the entire Torah — for he is as one who acknowledges idolatry literally, as if he acknowledges, G-d forbid, that there is produce in idolatry — for he wishes to receive produce from the aspect of debt which is the aspect of idolatry and so on, as above. And this is the aspect by which the prohibition of ribbis is called neshech — the aspect of the bite of the serpent — for it is literally the aspect of the bite of the serpent, the aspect of "and the serpent — dust is his food" (Bereishis 3:14), the aspect of "and dust you shall eat all the days of your life" — afar (dust) is the aspect of atzavus (sadness) and anpin chashuchin (darkened countenance) — as our Rebbe, of blessed memory, said there. And this is the essential bite of the serpent — the aspect of "and dust you shall eat..." — which is the aspect of the lust for money, the aspect of the prohibition of ribbis, the aspect of idolatry and so on, as above. See there at the end of the teaching well. And this is the aspect of ribbis ketzutzah (fixed, explicit interest — the most severe biblical prohibition) and avak ribbis (the "dust" of interest — rabbinic extensions of the prohibition) — this is the aspect of neshech (biting), the aspect of the bite of the serpent — who was cursed in the aspect of "upon your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life" (Bereishis 3:14) — for it had legs and they were cut off. And this is the aspect of ribbis ketzutzah — ketzutzah meaning "cut off" — the aspect of "it had legs and they were cut off" — in the aspect of "falsehood has no legs" (shikra la ka'ai — Shabbos 104a). For in truth there is no monetary profit whatsoever in the aspect of the lust for money, the aspect of idolatry, as above. And this is the aspect of "falsehood has no legs" — for money is the aspect of raglayim (legs/feet), as it is said: "and all the y'kum that is at their feet" (Bereishis 7:4) — this is a man's money that establishes him on his feet. And when one is sunken in the lust for money, one is bound to idolatry — which is the aspect of falsehood that has no legs — for there is no monetary profit, which is the aspect of raglayim — for ail acher istaris v'la avad perin. And this is the prohibition of ribbis, as above — that it seems to him that he is receiving profits, but in the end his assets collapse — for shikra la ka'ai — it has no legs — for it had legs and they were cut off. And this is the aspect of ribbis ketzutzah — the aspect of the corruption of the serpent and so on, as above. And this is the aspect of avak ribbis — the aspect of "and dust you shall eat...", as above. And this is what is said regarding ribbis: "and your brother shall live with you" (Vayikra 25:36) — for you are commanded to give him life — that is, to draw upon him life and the light of the countenance — which is the aspect of gemilus chesed, the aspect of chesed shel emes, as above. And therefore from an apostate (mushmad) it is permitted to take ribbis — for you are not commanded to give him life, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said — for the essential gemilus chesed is to sweeten and save from the aspect of shmad (apostasy) — which is the aspect of the lust for money, the aspect of debt — in the aspect of "and He drove out from before you the enemy and said: destroy" (Shemos 23:28) — as is explained there — that the lust for money is called shmad. And through the chesed that the lender performs with the borrower, he draws upon him chesed and life and the light of the countenance, and saves him from the aspect of shmad, the aspect of debt-idolatry, as above. Therefore the apostate — who has already uprooted himself from the aspect of life and bound himself to idolatry and become apostate — therefore you are not commanded to give him life, to draw upon him life and the light of the countenance. And therefore it is permitted to take ribbis from him — for the essential prohibition of ribbis is to banish from this loan the aspect of debt, the aspect of idolatry, the aspect of falsehood — in the aspect of "you shall not be to him as a creditor, you shall not place upon him neshech" — so that it should not be called by the name of debt at all — only by the aspect of gemilus chesed, the aspect of "and your brother shall live" — to draw upon him life, the light of the countenance, in the aspect of "in the light of the king's countenance there is life" (b'or p'nei melech chayyim — Mishlei 16:15), as above. [Note in the source text: Laws of Gentile Customs (Chukkas ha'Akum) — see in Orach Chayyim, Laws of Purim on the teaching "Who is the man who desires life..." (Tehillim 34:13), see there.]