Mishpatim: Our Abilities Are For Us But We Must Use Them For Others

Rabbi Zweig examines the pasuk in Mishpatim "Im kesef talveh es ami" (If you lend money to My people), asking why the Torah (תורה) uses conditional language ("if") when lending money is actually an obligation. He notes that while Chazal in the Mechilta say "im" here means obligation despite its usual conditional meaning, the Rambam (רמב"ם) appears to learn that this pasuk itself is genuinely conditional, requiring another pasuk to establish the obligation. This raises the question: why does the Torah phrase an obligation conditionally? The shiur then explores a Midrash Tanchuma that connects this pasuk to Kohelet's statement about "wealth guarded for its owner to his harm." The Midrash teaches that God tests wealthy people through whether they open their hands to the poor, particularly through lending money. The poor are also tested on whether they accept their situation without complaint. Those who pass receive reward in the world to come, while the wealthy who fail are destroyed along with their wealth. The Midrash brings examples: Korach (wealth used for harm), Goliath (strength used for harm), and Bilam (wisdom used for harm) all died horrible deaths, while Yehoshaphat (wealth), Dovid (strength), and Yehoshua (wisdom) used their gifts properly and benefited from them.