If you lend money to My people, to the poor who is among you, you shall not be for him as a creditor and you shall not take interest from him.
Rashi quotes Chazal in the Mechilta that whenever the Torah says the word אִם, it denotes an option. A person may lend money to Hashem’s people. However, in this case, that is the wrong explanation. Here, the Torah is commanding a person that he must lend money to the poor, if necessary.
The Ohr Hachaim asks, why does the Torah use a doubtful expression to convey an absolute commandment? Why did the Torah not write this commandment as it writes all others; in a definitive manner?
He explains that a person may ask a question. He will see someone with vast wealth and riches, far more than he could ever need in his lifetime, and he may wonder why this happened. Yaakov Avinu requested that Hashem give him bread to eat and clothing to wear. Why would someone need more than that? What is the point of bank accounts filled with money that will never be used, housed stuffed with opulence that nobody will enjoy?
This person understands that some other people will have less than their needs. Although it is upsetting to see a person suffer, we can understand that Hashem sometimes punishes a person who has sinned by taking from him the basic life’s needs.
But the riches of some people is impossible to understand. He cannot even enjoy his riches, so it cannot be a reward for his Mitzvos. What is the purpose?
The Ohr Hachaim explains that the reason for the great wealth that Hashem sometimes bestows on a person is not his great actions and he truly does not deserve it. However, Hashem runs the world with a logic that provides each of his creations with its needs. Nobody is ever lacking what he needs. However, if a person does an aveira and needs to be punished, Hashem takes his portion and gives it to someone else. It is not held back in the Heavens, the bounty must be sent to earth. But it is sent to someone else instead of him. Essentially, Reuven’s money is in Shimon’s bank account.
Hashem does this for two reasons; first, to pay off someone’s aveiros in this world. Punishment in the next world is quite severe, and it is certainly better to have been punished in this world. Second, in order that the person who is holding the other’s bounty shall have the Mitzvah of Tzedaka and will receive his own reward.
The possuk reads like this; כֶסֶף תַלְוֶה אֶת עַמִּיאִּם – if you see that money is lent to my nation. This means that a person sees one person’s money in someone else’s hand. He should know אֶת הֶעָנִּי עִּמָךְ – that of the poor man is in your hands. This hints to a person that he must give of his own to the other. He should not feel proud that he has more money than someone else, because, in reality, he is merely holding someone else’s money for him.
This is also why לֹא תִּהְיֶה לוֹ כְנֹשֶה - you shall not be for him as a creditor. The word כְנֹּשֶה could also be read as an expression of נשיאות. The rich man, the lender, should not consider himself greater than the other, because he is merely a safe deposit box for the other person’s money.
