שפת תמים- פרק ה

This פרק brings two big, obvious reasons that may bring someone to גזל.

Everything that we said before is for those who aren’t רגיל in the חטא of גזל- they will hopefully be healed easily. But someone who is already seeped in this חטא must ask himself, how did I get so sick?

There are many reasons for this, but we will discuss two:
1. Spending too much money on luxuries- this has caused all of our צרות from within (among Yidden) and מבחוץ (among גויים). When you spend a lot of money, you don’t pay attention to where it’s going to go. The יצה''ר acts like a hunter- he puts down the food. You want the food so badly that you don’t know that it’s a trap. And by the time you realize it, it’s too late. You can see this clearly with the idea of spending money- you say that there’s nothing wrong with something, you spend the money and fall into the trap of גזל.
Really, ה' gives us money in order to sustain ourselves and do מצוות. But the יצה''ר pushes us to think that since we have the money, we should raise ourselves to look nicer and more honorable. Everyone wants to look like the people one step above them. So this is what you do when you get a hold of more money, until it becomes more and more necessary for you to live that way. When there comes a time that you can no longer afford this, but still want to upkeep your standards, he is stuck until the יצה''ר convinces him to steal.
Finally the יצה''ר is able to find a crack in you and he convinces you to steal, take by force, borrow without intending to pay the money back… Why do you do this? In order to keep up with your standards, because if you lower your standards you will be embarrassed. So the יצה''ר finds you in a pinch and he gets you to do bad. In the end, you will become a real thief and you won’t even think twice about the person you are stealing from. You will only worry about your own פרנסה.
He also brings himself to a סכנה because he is so worried about money. So because he wanted a little bit of כבוד, he now has lots of shame and he loses his health. Of course, he will get punished in עוה''ב too.
חז''ל say, "איזהו חכם הרואה את הנולד". Even when you have money, realize that it probably won’t last, so don’t raise your standards too high. Just try to blend in and keep a low profile. If you do have great wealth, don’t wear such expensive and מכובדיק clothing because it will bring you to גאוה. Don’t allow the amount you paid for something to be your status. By doing this, you are inciting your יצה''ר. Also, this will cause others to become jealous of you. Even if you can afford it, maybe they can’t and they will steal in order to copy you. There are so many extravagances which aren’t necessary, but people will think they are because you have them. So they will steal so that they can live up to your standard. Even if you have money, be considerate of those who don’t.
Because of these luxuries, there is a lot of money spent on חתונות to a point where many girls of marriageable age are embarrassed. The parents are crying and no one can help. This is a result of the people who spend too much. They bring bad onto the world at large, not just onto themselves. So you should live normally. You don’t have to give up on everything, but you don’t have to raise your standards to include luxuries. Don’t overdo it.
2. Lack of knowledge- people don’t realize what constitutes גזל. They think that only if you physically steal from someone are you עובר on גזל. But this is wrong! Any time you take something בתסר or without the owner’s consent, you are stealing. The word in ל' הקודש for borrowing is לשאול- to ask, because when you borrow something you must ask for permission first. If someone gives you something to watch for them, you can’t use it. If a poor person gives you a פקדון, you must return it to him if he needs it. Using something without the owner’s permission is גזל.
You can’t delay paying a worker- "לא תעשק". The פסוק says, "ביומו תתן שכרו"- you must pay a worker on time.

If you take back payment more than you lent someone, it’s רבית, which is אסור. It’s also רבית if the person you lent to does an extra favor for you.

Anyone in whose hands remains dishonest money, even if it’s a פרוטה, this is still גזל. We as Yidden don’t differentiate between petty larceny and grand larceny. Stealing is stealing no matter how much money is involved.

A worker might want a certain salary, but you don’t want to pay him that much, so you say that you will only give him a certain amount. This would make you עובר on "לא תעשק", so it’s better to negotiate the price up front.

There is the issue of אונאה- unfair money dealings. Many think that certain things are permissible, but they aren’t. Examples:
1. You can’t falsely praise a product.
2. You can’t say that you bought the product for more than you actually did, or lie that you have a higher offer than the one the individual at hand is offering you so that he pays you more.
3. You can’t raise the price of something if it’s not worthy of that price.
4. You can’t conceal the bad of an item by the good.
5. You can’t have incorrect measurements.

If you are dishonest with these things, you are considered disgusting and hated and your עונש will be worse than the עונש for עריות. For every minute that you have in your possession an incorrect משקל, you are עובר on an עבירה. This is one of the only עבירות you can do while you are sleeping.

You won’t have הצלחה in the end and even עוה''ז will be terrible.

People make התירים with their money. But you must know, "בשלשה דברים העולם ניכר בכסו בכיסו ובכעסו"- you can see what kind of a person someone is based on how he spends his money. It’s better to live honestly and poorly, but this won’t happen because "דורשי ה' לא יחסרו כל טוב".

The יצה''ר gives you נגיעות, so the way you know if you are being honest is not to rely on yourself, but ask a שאלה- "על בינתך אל תשען". The יצה''ר can give you thirty-nine תרוצים of why it’s ok.

We should learn from the אבות- "אם לא תדעי לך היפה בנשים צאי לך בעקבי הצאן (אבות)": יעקב asked for only לחם לאכל ובגד ללבש even though he was raised in such a wealthy home (יצחק was richer than אבימלך). He didn’t even ask for לחם ובגד because that has no קץ- people can take it to the craziest degrees. So he only wants לחם לאכל- not to waste and בגד ללבש- not to have extras of.

So no one should feel pressured to get wealthy. Becoming wealthy is דומה to a man who is so rich with a life so full of luxuries that he was so גאוהדיק and he was מורד במלכות. So they made him sit on a high pole, and he was fed and treated in a luxurious manner, too. But his pleasures don’t mean anything to him because he knows that he could fall any second. נמשל- it’s better that we should be on the ground and not stay on top. When people are wealthy, they aren’t on solid ground. They can lose their money in a second and it’s not worthwhile to have luxuries now because once you get used to it, you won’t be able to break away.
Don’t feel so pressured to strike it rich. It shouldn’t be your goal. And certainly if you do it in a bad way, because you’ll be about to fall from the pole. But ה' will hold back להולכי תמים, even in עוה''ז.

רבית-

רבית can be with:
1. Money
2. A favor
3. Words- you can’t say תזכה למצוות or יישר כחך to the person who lent you money.

ר' שוואב borrowed money from ר' ירוחם and when he was paying it back, he said thank you. So ר' ירוחם said, “the laws of etiquette don’t come before the laws of the רבנים”. So the next time ר' שוואב borrowed money, he didn’t say thank you and ר' ירוחם said, “you still must feel the thanks”.

There is a מחלוקת whether or not you can say a simple thank you. ר' שוואב says that you should tell the person, “you know how much this favor means to me”.

If you are עובר on רבית, you are עובר on up to six אסורים. But רבית with גויים is מותר- you can pay back more than you borrowed for a mortgage if the bank isn’t Jewish.

You can’t borrow a credit card and not the money back, because then the money accrues interest. If you pay back the person you borrowed the card from the money plus the interest, you are paying back interest.

You can’t charge more money for post-dated checks.

Early bird specials are a problem because really, I only owe you the money once my child is in camp. But when I give it to you in advance, I am lending it and you pay me back more than I deserve when you provide me with the service of making the camp.

A היתר עסקא is if you say that you aren’t loaning someone money, you are becoming a partner in his business. So if I invest money in a business and they pay me back dividends, it’s not that I loaned the money and I’m getting back more, I am a partner.

You can only switch favors with someone if they are exactly equal in all the characteristics. You can’t tell someone that you are inviting them over for a meal because they had you over last week.

בל תלין-

It says, "ביומו תתן שכרו ולא תעבר עליו השמש". There is a time frame in which you must pay your worker- before the day is over. There is a מצות עשה and a מצות לא תעשה in both. There is another פסוק, "לא תלין פעולת שכיר אתך עד בקר". It seems to be a contradiction whether it’s referring to sunset or sunrise. The answer is- depending on what comes first. If I pay by the next opportunity it’s a מצות עשה, but it’s not an עבירה if I don’t and they don’t ask for it. You could ask someone if he’s מוחל you not to pay him on time, and if he is you don’t have to.

The same is for rentals- you must pay on the first of the month. The ח''ח says that you would even be required to borrow money in order to pay back on time. Not everyone holds this way, but they say that it’s still good to do so.

If a worker is too embarrassed to come and tell you that he needs the money, this means that he isn’t מוחל you and you must pay him on time.

This also applies to children. If you promise them something, you must give it to them by שקיעה. This is even more complicated because a child can’t be מוחל.

You must pay your workers before you pay for your צרכי שבת.