Nothing can quite make you feel as old as quoting a comic strip that is unknown to your listener. When I spoke to a group of college students, I knew better than to refer to Doonesbury (even though it is still around). I thought I was safe, though, with Dilbert. Nope. Sigh...
Anyway, on strip that is spot has Alice, the female engineer, looking for a better position in the company. The rule in companies, by the way, is that when you want to promote an internal candidate to a new position, you often need to post it, just in case there are better qualified candidates than the one you want to promote. The idea is sound, but when the manager just words the requirements in such a way that only one person fits. In the Dilbert example, Alice reads the job description: near-sighted, has a red pickup truck, and answers to "Bob". Dilbert notes that "they probably have someone in mind"; Alice still contemplates if she could make it work. (I have seen -- and even written -- job descriptions that, without specifying eyesight, vehicle, nor "answers to", were just as targeted.)
In parashas Mishpatim, we are told (Shmos 22:24), "When you lend money to My people, to the poor person with you, you shall not behave toward him as a lender." Rashi notes the unusual phrase אֶת־הֶֽעָנִי֙ עִמָּ֔ךְ/"the poor person with you" and comments (quoting Tanchuma): look at yourself as if you were a poor person. Really? The Torah is here saying it doesn't want me to behave toward him as lender, that is, pressuring him to repay. But if the lender is himself poor, isn't he going to have more reason to put pressure on the borrower? After all, he wants to be a nice guy, but he also needs to feed his family. I would have expected the Torah to want me to feel wealthy, as if I didn't need the money; then I can let the borrower slide as long as he needs to.
So I looked around. The Kli Yakar has a lengthy piece on this verse, all worth learning; but I was on a mission and this part caught my eye (end of the fourth paragraph my print): The poor person is with you in that you are getting much more out of the deal than he is. Because you (the lender) need help; lots and lots of help. For whatever other reasons he needs to be lacking funds, one of the reasons that he has been impoverished, part of the Divine calculation is for you to get saved from the judgements of gehinom in the merit of giving him an interest free loan and not behaving toward him as a lender. The Kli Yakar says that part of the reason you are not allowed to take interest is simply because you are already making an incredible profit on this deal. The borrower is getting funds to help him manage in this world. In return, you -- the lender -- are getting infinite reward in the world to come and being saved from gehinom. You want to also make a few bucks on the side? Puleeze.
I think that is what Rashi (and the medrash Tanchuma) means: be real; the lender is really the one who is lacking. Appreciate that. Back to Alice... it is very tempting when you have funds to lend and are approached by someone in need to think, "Whew... good thing for him I am around!" Or, let's say you have some unique skills, oh... I don't know... say a Ph.D. in physics. It is so tempting to feel, "Wow! Good thing I am around; there is nobody around with all the skills needed for this position. They are so lucky." Yeah, right, Bob. Or someone wrote the job description to help you out and make sure you get the job, because you are the one who needs help and to be saved from the judgments of gehinom.
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