The Portion of Ki Teitzei Money Isn't Everything As the Children of Israel prepare to enter the Promised Land, Moses teaches the people a long list of commandments covering almost every facet of life. Commerce and business in the soon-to-be-established Jewish commonwealth need to develop according to certain guidelines. Loans are both given and taken as part of normal business practices. Moses informs the people that charging interest on these loans given to non-Jews is legitimate because this is the way that business is done. However, when it comes to one's brother, one's fellow Jew, here the Torah instructs us to loan without charging interest. The successful existence of the people of Israel in its land successful is based on mutual help, especially when it comes to money where the fear is that everything is based only on profit and loss. And so we find in our portion the following verses: "You shall not lend to your brother with interest- interest of money, interest of food…interest of anything that is loaned with interest. To a stranger you may lend with interest but to your brother you may not lend with interest". (Deuteronomy 23;20-21) The letter lamed in the word "lanochri" (to a stranger) is written in the reverse from the way it is usually written. This is meant to teach us that if your brother is in need he is to be helped first before "the stranger" even though the help that you are providing is without interest. (Remazei Rabbenu Yoel) In certain Sifrei Torah where this tradition was not known or accepted scribes "corrected" the letter "lamed" and turned it into a regular "lamed".
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