Mishpatim - Borrowing Power

you're listening to the weekly paral podcast recorded with hm's never earning assistance in ra Israel 5775 2015 this week's para is par in the par this week we have a number of different laws different different concepts of the Torah teaches us in order to become more aware spiritually how to deal with our fellows how to interact with others and speaking about the concept of lending money the T tells us that when a person lends money there's a Prohibition of lending money to one's fellow Jew with ribus with interest and this is very interesting because if I'm going to lend of my money so that you can make money or so that perhaps you can get it back on your feet or whatever it is whatever you need to borrow the money for so naturally this money if I'm giving it to you and I I could have used it so I would have made use of it I might have made money with it nevertheless the terus says that when I L lend you money when I lend someone else money I'm not allowed to take interest I'm not allowed to charge for the fact that you're using the money that I'm lending you now the medish goes into very interesting detail in describing the concept of not of not taking interest for Lending money and in speaking about this idea the maner tells us that the way of Hashem is and this is what we're expected to emulate the way of Hashem is that all of his Creations lend to each other and they don't try to get anything back from one another as a result of having lended something whatever it may be to them we'll see very shortly what this means we'll see very shortly the details of this but the idea is that hashem's way is that a person is meant to lend to give of his own money to someone else despite the fact that he could have made use of that money he's supposed to recognize that the money that a person that that that person has each person has to recognize the money that they have is theirs because Hashem gave it to them and sometimes it's meant to be shared with someone else without trying to get any benefit for oneself now as we read the medish I want to notice as we're going along I want to notice the Sim those things that the medis uses to represent the spiritual aspects the those that represent hashem's Creations that indeed lend to each other it's interesting to note and to notice what the medis uses in this representation so here's the Mish it says like this come and see all of the creations of borrow from one another the day borrows from the night and the night borrows from the day we'll see what this means shortly zabri and they don't get into arguments with each other like human beings do what does it mean so thef here explains that it's referring to the fact that sometimes the days are longer and the nights are shorter and sometimes the the nights are longer and the days are shorter meaning the time of the day the the time of the day sometimes borrows from the night time it's not always equal it's not always the same it fluctuates it goes in and it goes back and forth and nevertheless when the day has more the night doesn't complain so to speak and when the night has more the day doesn't complain the moon borrows from the stars there are times in the month when the moon shines more brightly and one can't see the stars as well and there are times where the stars borrow from the Moon they borrow power so to speak they shine more brightly because when the when the moon waines you can't see the moon but you can see the stars more brightly But ultimately is the source of all of the light when hasem decides he can just make it that all of the stars and the moon all of them are invisible as the verse says in in job 9:7 the verse indicates the fact that Hashem can take away the light of the Stars if he so desires so again the idea that we see here is that the stars have a light that they want to shine which is of course the light of Hashem they want to shine into the world so the people can see the moon has light that it wants to shine so the people can see it wants to benefit the world with hashem's light and but they're willing to give up sometimes the moon doesn't shine as brightly and and the stars shine more brightly sometimes the the the it's the other way around I'm skipping a few lines here there are times that the heavens borrow from the earth so to speak that the heavens have the the evaporation of the water goes up from the earth and comes up to the heavens and there are times that the the rains come down to the Earth and the Earth borrows so to speak from the heavens the verse says God will open up for you his good Treasure House from the heaven and again I'm skipping a few lines the Torah sometimes it borrows from the Commandments meaning someone who is focused completely on learning Torah so there are times where he continues to stay focused even if a Mitzvah comes along if it's a Mitzvah that could be done by others so he stays focused on his Torah he doesn't fulfill that commandment but other times MIT there are times when a Mitzvah comes along it can't be done by someone else there's an obligation to do it himself and so he has to stop his learning and the mitvah the Commandment so to speak borrows from Torah keep my Commandments and live now the me sums up the whole idea and says the creations of they borrow from each other and they have peace with each other without getting involved with words they don't need to talk it out they don't need to to do anything they respect each other each one borrows from the other and they respect each other when it comes to Flesh and Blood to to mankind to to the human [Music] being person will borrow from another and the person who lends will try to swallow him up by taking interest by stealing and now those people the very people who take interest so they say they say to God himself as it were they say God why don't you take any payment any rent so to speak from all the Creations that are within it you should take payment for the fact that you give water to the Earth you water the Earth you should take payment for causing all of the growth to grow should take payment for CA to giving the light to all of The Luminaries should take her a reward a payment for the soul that you blew into the human being should take payment for the body that you guard now the magish when it says this it's not saying that there's an actual conversation that's occurring between those who take interest and God but it's more of a statement that when a person does an action when a person does something there's a statement within that that action there's an assumption within the action so when a person takes interest what he's really doing in his in his what he's really saying with his action is he's saying that something that's that that a favor that I'm doing deserves payment and therefore with their action they're saying to Hashem as it were the favors that you do for the world all the goodness that you give to the world you too should take payment for them what does Hashem say how does hasem respond hem responds through hisra by telling him don't take interest what does hasem say see how much I have lent see how much I give but I don't take interest I don't charge for that which I give look what the Earth gives and doesn't take interest as we said before all I take back is that which I lent if I lend something I take it back and the Earth also takes back that which belongs to it as the verse says in coal in Ecclesiastes 12:7 the dust returns to the Earth just as it was and the spirit meaning the soul of a person will return to God who has given it now in looking at this Mish and thinking about this Mish I think that what we see here is a very powerful idea that really gives us a the torah's perspective on money because us the torah's perspective on what is the idea of that someone has money someone has wealth someone has something and they're going to lend this money they're going to share that wealth that that potential for growth that potential for accomplishment to do to be of service to someone else they're going to share that with someone else and they're not going to charge for that what is the idea what is the Ty coming to teach us what is the idea when the T says don't take interest what is that concept what is that lesson and I think that by the by the different choices that the Mish makes the symbolism that it uses to teach us this lesson is very powerful it's telling us that we have stars and we have a moon now these are things which classically represent the the light that Hashem brings into the world hashem's control Hashem uses the Zodiac uses the Stars as per uses the Zodiac to send the flow into the world that's word masle is flow the the concept of of luck so to speak in Tyra there's no such thing as luck but there is masle and masle means that that which flows from above God's masle the the goodness that God wants to bring down into the world God sends it as it speaks about inem God sends it through the Stars through the celestial bodies through the the that which we see in the heavens there's a represent that we can see things through the Stars if a person studies the proper manual studies the proper cabalistic Works he can understand he can even understand things about the future now what's the idea why is that because a person can look at hashem's creation and see how Hashem is bringing goodness into the world whatever or whatever um thing that's meant to happen in the world it comes through the Stars so to speak so the light of hasem the shef the influx that which hasm wants to bring into the world is brought through the Stars through the moon and the cycle of the moon the cycling of of all of reality the cycle of the Stars the light that they have this is all something that goes in and out as the mes told us it goes in and out this one borrows power sometimes the Moon is ascendant sometimes the stars are ascendant and the idea here is that there's a light there's a shefa there's an influx that God wants to bring into the world and he brings it into the world through these Celestial be beings and there are times when one is more powerful there are times when another is more powerful and the celestial bodies the celestial beings do not have jealousy we find this also in regards to the angels and Angels also are in in a very similar vein the Angels also are these messengers of Hashem they are that which brings hashem's will into the world that's represented by what we say every day our prayer service speaks of these angels speaks of these messengers of God that which brings down God's will into the world and it speaks of them as they all receive they're all ready to do hashem's will and they give permission to each other there's no angst there's no anger there's no this one grabbing at everyone is focused on serving Hashem bringing hashem's light into the world and and doing it a way sometimes I have more sometimes you have more that's how the Angels perceive it you go first no you go first depending on who's supposed to go first but the idea is that there's a balance of power but there's also there there are cycles and there are times when one aspect of hashem's creation has more power and another aspect has more power and and there's this back and forth there's this interplay and there's a it's an amazing L it's an amazing language this one borrows from the other sometimes the daytime sometimes the day which represents the light which represents activity sometimes the day is more powerful in the summertime the day is longer more can be accomplished in the winter time the days are shorter less can be accomplished and so the day borrows from the night in the summertime the day is longer that that time for activity is longer there's more time there's more time to accomplish but in the winter months there there's less time to accomplish now is that good or bad the answer is yes the answer is depends on the time depends on the time and and the day is not jealous of the night when there's when the night is longer and the night is not jealous of the day when the day is longer and I think this's an incredibly powerful parallel here and a lesson here we're going to speak soon about money and and the idea that uh what it represents and the power of money and what it represents as far as a person's purpose in the world and as far as a person doing that which hasem wants him to do in the world but before that there's just it's just very powerful also to see that sometimes the lesson of the day and the night I think is that sometimes a person has more to accomplish more actions can be taken more R more spirituality can be gained and that's represented in the in the summer that's represented when the day is long the nights are short but sometimes there are parts of the year it's cyclic there are parts of the Year where the days are shorter and the night is longer and that means that actions the accomplishments that which I want to do in the world they have to be limited that's represented by the winter when the whole world goes into hibernation where there's limitation in the world where there's darkness in the world where there's coldness in the world where there's constriction and the meish is telling us that the day is not jealous of the night even though the night is borrowing from it and the night is not jealous of the day even though in the summertime the day borrows from the night so to speak and the idea here is the is telling us that there are times when I have more there are times when I can accomplish more there are times when there's more to do and there's more spirituality to be gained there's more physicality to be gained or to be used channeled in the service of Hashem and there are times when there's less and that's okay it's cylic we go through these different Cycles now let's look for a moment at money because the topic here really very much is money it's about lending money it's about giving from my money the money that I have spent time earning lending it to somebody who's in need because he needs to get back into the earning phase he needs to get back into being able to support himself so the tyus says lend him money but don't charge for that what is it saying it's saying recognize that it's cyclic it's saying recognize that sometimes this aspect has more sometimes the day is longer borrows so to speak from the night sometimes the night is longer and borrows from the day there are people who are Richer there are people who have more money accomplish more in the world so perhaps they would say well look Hashem is giving to me I am like the day I am the one who accomplishes I should accomplish more and there are those who are represented by the night time they may be poor they might not have as much of an earning capability so maybe they shouldn't have any money at all maybe they shouldn't be able to earn at allm says no lend them money help them out help them get back on their own two feet help them but but they're the nighttime why should they have money I should charge them for that no no no no the day doesn't charge the night the day doesn't get upset when the night gets longer the night doesn't get upset when the day gets longer no they respect each other they respect the fact that there are cycles that sometimes that one aspect of reality the aspect that seems to shine God's light more the one that you know money or or or earning money when someone pays somebody else for a service that means that they respect that that service that the person is giving is a light from Hashem it's something that has value so to speak it has value and therefore they're willing to pay for it they're willing to take the money that they earned when they gave someone else a service and they're willing to use that money to purchase someone else's service to to to get something else so money represents that which I can shine in the world that which the service that Hashem uniquely gave to me to be able to give in the world and Hashem is telling us that I need to respect someone else I need to be able to respect when someone else needs to be able because this person doesn't seem to be able to do it on his own he needs to borrow from me just like the Knight sometimes needs to borrow from the day and the day needs to borrow from the night there's an there's an inter connectedness in the reality which is what the the magish is telling us so I see here that there are two connected ideas the Mish is coming to teach one is as we said that there there's a cycle within reality there are times when when the the aspect of accomplishing the aspect of shining God's light the aspect of Shining hashem's Light brightly let's say like like the moon or like the daytime is ascendant and there are times when the Stars which only very faintly shine hashem's light into the world they are more powerful or the nighttime when when things go into quietude into hibernation when that aspect of reality is ascendant and there is a time for each one and sometimes this one is ascendant and sometimes that one is ascendant sometimes each of the different aspects is more powerful and person needs to know that it's okay it's okay to be living in a time in this in the winter when we don't accomplish as much perhaps and it's okay to be in a time where we're in overdrive and we're accomplishing more reality is cyclic and we need to recognize that and we need to remember that when we're in the times of the cycle especially when things are down when things are not you know the production capability isn't as as high sometimes perhaps that's the first point and the second point is to respect to respect that there needs to be a there needs to be a lending sometimes the day will lend to the night and sometimes the night will lend to the day sometimes when I get money sometimes that money is not meant for me that money is for whatever reason Hashem gives it to one side to one aspect to to the daytime so that the the night time can now borrow from it it's given to the day initially and the night has to borrow from it and the idea is that I need to recognize that what I have is not all mine and what he has is not all his and at some point I'm going to need to borrow from him as well there's a cycle of reality and I need to respect that and not charge for it not take possession of it and that's what the me says Hashem says when I give that Soul into the world I don't charge for it I lend it but sh with a full heart I give it for it to be used for that soul to be used I send down the rain for for for the water to be used by the Earth the heavens don't begrudge it to the Earth and the Earth doesn't begrudge it when it goes back up to the heavens so I want to bless you and please bless me back Hashem should help us to be able to focus and recognize which parts of the Cycles we may find ourselves in and respect the fact that sometimes we might be in the waning of the Moon we might be in a time where the aspect of Darkness or the aspect of inactivity is borrowing from us so to speak should help to realize that that's okay hasem should help us to be able to be generous to be able to recognize when we have to give up of ourselves give up of our accomplishments even give up of our money give up sometimes there's a there's a time when I'm supposed to shine when I'm supposed to be there and and I'm the one that's supposed to be noticed and there are times where others are meant to be noticed and they're also supposed to to be shining and that's okay and that's good and there there are more than one king that can have the same Crown hasm should help us to to get past the automatic nature of our of the human psych which is to want to grab that money to to try to have someone pay that interest so to speak that feeling of it's all mine it's all mine Hashem should help us get past that feeling and be able to give up be M let others shine even if their light is not perhaps as bright as ours let others shine as well so that all of the different lights all the stars all of the celestial bodies can serve Hashem in the way that they're precisely meant to serve hasem thank you so much for listening have a wonderful shabas this podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you for more podcasts like this please visit www.wag.com or search on iTunes Ari goldwag