Behar-Bchukosai: Miracle Money. Rabbi Tuvia Bolton Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim Kfar Chabad, Israel

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Parshat Behar-Bechukotai

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 This week's Torah reading contains the prohibition of taking interest on money loaned to a Jew by a Jew (25: 35-9). It is so important that one who takes interest is considered denying the Exodus from Egypt!

 This is not understood. What is wrong with taking interest? Money that is loaned becomes inactive for the giver; he cannot invest or even pay his bills with it, while the borrower can use and even profit from it. So why not allow the loaner to at least cover his own loss and take interest? 

 Furthermore, this prohibition is only regarding Jews. It is permissible and some say even mandatory to take interest from a gentile. Why? 

 To understand all this here is a story: 

 Hundreds of guests had been waiting almost two hours in the crowded wedding hall for the wedding to begin. The food was prepared, the tables were set, the band was sitting on the stage, even the bride and groom were ready, but the Baal Shem Tov (Besh't for short) wasn't ready, and the wedding couldn't begin without him. 

 No one really thought it would be an ordinary wedding. The groom was an orphan that the Besh't had adopted, and the bride, also an orphan, had been raised in the home of one of his holiest pupils, Rabbi Zev Kitzes.

 But now the two Rabbis were secluded in one of the side rooms of the wedding hall and no one dared to knock on the door. Who knows what awesomely mystical and intensely holy matters they were occupied in! 

 But in fact, the delay was because of …. money. 

 It seems that both Rabbis had promised dowries of two hundred rubles (a small fortune) to the newlyweds, but so far only Rabbi Kitzes brought his portion and for some reason the Baal Shem Tov did not…. and the wedding couldn't begin until he came up with his share. After all, the future of the newlyweds was at stake and without both Rabbis blessing would be lacking. 

 The strange thing was that the Besh't didn't seem to be worried in the least. He just calmly sat back and waited, as though it was only a matter of time until the money would drop from heaven. While the minutes ticked by. 

 Suddenly the sound of horse's hooves was heard outside. The door to the hall burst open and a well-dressed, bearded Jew, clothes disheveled, ran in, desperately trying to talk in a low voice, "Where is the Baal Shem Tov?" He gasped, trying to catch his br

Everyone recognized the rider; it was none other than the wealthiest Jew in the area, Rav Shraga. He was a devoted follower of the Baal Shem tov. It must have been a pretty important thing that kept him from the wedding up to now. They pointed to the room where the Besh't was but told him not to disturb. 

 Ignoring their warnings, he ran to the door, knocked once or twice, and without waiting for a reply, entered. 

 "Rebbe!" He said to the Besh't closing the door behind him, "You must run! Leave here immediately!" He was on one knee before the seated rabbi and was almost in tears. "Rabbi! I have a horse and here is some money, run for your life!!" 

 The Besh't shrugged his shoulders and turned his hands palms up as to say "what for?" and Rav Shraga continued. 

 "It's very serious! It's awful!! Just a few hours ago the Mayor came to me at the risk of his life, and told me that that devil, the Baron is blazing mad at you. He claims you owe him one thousand guilders! You know how much money that is? It's a fortune! And how much the Baron hates Jews! He said that if he doesn't get the money in cash by sunset, he's going to imprison you, and that means sure death. Your only hope is to run!! Here, see? I brought a horse! Take my horse and …. " 

 The Besh't just looked at him as though he just heard the most trivial news and said, "So just go to the Baron and fix it up!" 

 "But Rebbe!" exclaimed Rav Shraga "OY!! If only I could! If it was only so easy! Rebbe, where can I come up with such a sum? I would have to sell two of my factories and even then, I wouldn't be paid in cash. Rebbe he wants cash! And he wants it now! Rebbe, he's a murderer!! There's no time!!" 

 The Besh't just looked at him serenely and repeated, "You don't need money. Just go to the Baron in his castle, and fix it up. Nothing to worry about." 

 Rav Shraga understood that something supra-rational was going on here. He took one last look at the Besh't, nodded, turned, ran out the door to his horse, jumped on and rode off in the direction of the Baron's huge, menacing castle trying not to think of what he was doing; "a Chassid does what his Rebbe says ….. with joy!" he kept saying to himself. 

 One hour later he was being led by four huge guards into the Baron's chambers. Surrounded by servants and soldiers the evil man was seated in an ornate chair behind a huge table. "Ahh Jew! I suppose you have come to pay the debts of your thieving Rabbi; ONE THOUSAND in CASH?! RIGHT??" He asked with a wicked smirk. "Let's see the money, Mister Jew! NOW!!!" 

 Rav Shraga suddenly felt a strange calm come over him, as though he was talking to his best friend. "Certainly, dear Baron! But first, could you be so kind as to show me the account, I would just like to see that everything is in order." 

 The countenance of the Baron suddenly changed. "Ahh! That is certainly a reasonable request." He said congenially. Then turning to one of his servants he requested that the books be brought. 

 Moments later the servant returned with two large ledgers, the Baron took one from his hands and began to turn the pages. "Ahh, here it is! Israel Baal Shem, here it is….. hmmm. A strange silence filled the room broken only by the Baron's occasional murmuring. Without looking up from the book he mumbled to himself, "Well, a man is just a man. After all we are all only human." 

 No one dared interrupt him or ask for an explanation. He just kept looking at the figures going over and over them and repeating the same phrase, "Well a man is just a man etc." until he looked up at Rav Shraga apologetically. 

 "Well, looks like I made a mistake. The figures don't lie. It seems that your Rabbi loaned me some money, a fairly large sum, and, well in any case he owes me nothing. In fact……… I ….. owe …… HIM! Plus interest! Just a moment." He stood, head hung as though really ashamed, walked to a safe in the wall, turned the dial back and forth several times, opened its thick metal door, counted out a large number of coins, put them in a small bag and handed them to the Jew saying, 

 "Here! It's two hundred guilders. And tell him I'm sorry. Actually, I'm beginning to rethink my entire attitude toward the Jews. Tell him I would like to pay him a visit at his convenience." 

 Rav Shraga took the bag, warmly shook the Baron's hand, assured him he would relay his message and in less than an hour was entering the room where the two holy Jews were sitting. 

 "Ahh! Boruch HaShem! Thank G-d!" said the Besh't when he saw Rav Shraga enter. He took the bag of coins and without even looking inside, gave it to Rav Kitzis and said "This is what I was waiting for, now the wedding can begin." 

 This answers our questions. The purpose of the Jewish people is to 'elevate' and bring blessing to the world as is explained in length in the writings of the Chassidic Rebbes and in Kaballa. It is called "Raising the sparks". 

 In other words, G-d created this world like a jigsaw puzzle with seemingly unrelated and meaningless pieces.

 But when we Jews use each detail of the world properly according to the Torah the pieces are 'elevated' as parts of an entire picture; namely one miraculous universe that is constantly being created by G-d.  

 This will be accomplished totally by Moshiach and is likened (in the 'Song of Songs', the Zohar and elsewhere) to a marriage, between the Creator and the creation.

 But until then, until the arrival of Moshiach, one of the most difficult things to use properly is money (some even call it the root of all evil). 

 Often the only way to purify it is "above understanding" as we saw in our story. 

 And one of the examples of this is not taking interest from a Jew. 

 That is why G-d connects this prohibition of taking interest with the redemption from Egypt (25:38) because both are above reason. 

 When G-d took them from Egypt He separated them from the rest mankind with an eternal covenant. As it says near the end of our Torah reading that even if the Jews sin and are cast into exile;

  "Nevertheless, even in the land of their enemies I will not negate my covenant with them …. I made when I took them from Egypt" 

 But when it comes to dealing with non-Jews one can act normally in one detail; we may take interest as the Baal Shem did with the Baron, thereby purifying both the money and the Baron as well, to make… a wedding 

 This will be the main accomplishment of Moshiach; making the marriage between the eternal, above all logic and the world. As the Maimonides says at the end of his work; "The Moshiach will …. fill the world with the knowledge of G-d like the sea is filled with water." 

 It all depends on us; even just one more good deed, word or even thought can tip the scales and bring; 

 Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton

Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim

Kfar Chabad, Israel

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