We have been discussing the 13 Attributes of Mercy of Hashem. We left off last week with Middah number three- Hanun, which we are going to spend more time on.
In order to figure out what a word means, we use context clues. As we mentioned in our previous lesson, one of the context clues for Hanun, brought down by the Rishonim, is a story in Mishpatim (chapter 22, pasuk24- 26) where a man lends his friend money and takes a collateral.
In our example, Joe has no money, so he borrows from Abe, and gives Abe his pajamas as collateral. When night comes, Joe says, “Abe, I need my pajamas back.”
Abe says, “What do you mean? I need a collateral.”
So Joe says he’ll switch his pajamas for his winter coat.
And this keeps on going. The Torah says, “It’s his only set of pajamas. What's he going to sleep with?
כִּֽי־יִצְעַ֣ק אֵלַ֔י וְשָׁמַעְתִּ֖י כִּֽי־חַנּ֥וּן אָֽנִי
If he cries out to Me, I'm going to hear, Because I have the trait of Hanun (which we'll call merciful).
We explained that Hanun means that God responds even when a person doesn't have a claim, as we can see from this case, where the borrower really has no claim. He borrowed money with a collateral, which is legal, and it's not the responsibility of the lender to run a clothing gemach, switching back and forth between various collaterals.
But it does sound like the lender is the bad guy here, because the borrower is going to cry out to God and God is going to listen. It sounds like Hashem is going to punish the lender for not giving back the pajamas.But how can that be?
The Seforno says that it’s true that when Joe was crying out to God that he didn’t have pajamas, he really had no claim against Abe. But he explains that the bottom line is that if Abe would have given the pajamas back to Joe, Joe would have had his pajamas and would not have cried out to God.
And now that he is crying out (because of Abe, albeit indirectly),
God is going to divert some of Abe’s charity cash flow to Joe. That is how charity works. We are responsible to give out the money. Hashem puts the charity cash flow in our hands.
So Hashem says, If Abe would have given the pajamas back to Joe, and Joe wouldn't have cried to Me- no problem. I would be able to give Abe whatever he needs. But now that Joe needs his pajamas, I'm going to divert some of the money away from Abe to Joe, because Joe's crying out and complaining, “Hey, it's not fair, How come people are going on trips to Honolulu, and I don't even have pajamas.”
God says, “You're right. We're going to take some Honolulu trip money, and give it to you.” It's not a punishment. It’s just that God says, “When someone calls out to Me, even though he has no claim, I have to respond. And if I don't have the money, so to say, to give it to him, Abe, I'm going to have to take it out of your surplus charity fund and divert it to Joe, because Joe cried out.”
So ultimately, you're better off giving the pajamas back.
That way, Joe doesn't cry out, and the slush fund remains by you Abe.
Again, it's not meant as punishment that Abe is going to lose his surplus slush fund if Joe cries out, it's just, that this is the way it works. God says, “If he cries, I have listen to him, I have to come up with money. And it’s going to come from your slush fund Abe, because, indirectly, you're the one that caused him to cry out.”
What a fascinating Seforno on this concept of Hanun.
Our job, again, is to emulate God. When people cry out, we have to take care of them.
Have a wonderful day.