Based on Ahavas Chesed vol. 2 chapter 24

We have discussed in great detail the mitzvah to lend to others. We will now discuss the equally important obligation to repay those from whom we have borrowed.

The gemara in Kesubos (86a) teaches that repaying a debt is a Torah obligation, just like succah, shofar and tefillin. The gemara in Baba Metzia (113b) discusses the court’s power to enforce the repayment of loans, selling off the borrower’s possessions in order to satisfy the debt.

If a person has the means to pay his debts and simply chooses not to do so, he violates the Torah prohibition against oppression (Vayikra 19:13). This is because the borrower received money that was handed over willingly, but then forcibly withheld it from its rightful owner (Shulchan Aruch CM 359:8).

The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 18:12) says that four kinds of people are considered evil; one of these is a borrower who refuses to repay his loan, a position that is explicit in Tehillim 37:21. Wouldn’t a person feel shame if a friend called him a rasha? Well, here God Himself says that this person is a rasha! And that’s the name by which he’ll be known before the Heavenly hosts. How shameful is that? So maybe don’t do the thing that earns one such a title. This is what is meant by Avos 2:13, which tells us, “Don’t make yourself a rasha.”

If the one defaulting on a loan is a Torah scholar, that’s even worse because then it’s also a chillul Hashem (a desecration of God’s Name). The gemara in Yoma (86a) defines a chillul Hashem as when a Torah scholar buys on credit and then doesn’t pay the bill right away. If that’s a chillul Hashem, how much worse is it when he doesn’t pay what he owes at all?

Similarly, it’s prohibited to borrow money and then squander to such an extent that one lacks the means to repay the loan (CM 97:4). One who does this is considered evil, so how much more that must be the case with one who has the means to repay but refuses to do so!

We must recognize that attempting to acquire wealth in such a manner is doomed to fail. Yirmiyahu 17:11 teaches, “One who acquires wealth unjustly, it will leave him at half his life.” The could mean that he loses his wealth at the midpoint of his life or – even worse – that he’ll die prematurely, leaving his ill-gotten gains behind. It’s certainly not worth gambling on which outcome one might receive!

Along similar lines, the “minor” tractate of Derech Eretz Zuta teaches that if one takes things that don’t belong to him, he’ll end up losing even what does belong to him (ch. 3). But being scrupulous in such things hastens the redemption, as we see from Yeshayahu 56:1: “Guard judgment and perform righteousness, because My redemption is to come soon, and My righteousness to be revealed.”

This concludes volume 2 of the Chofetz Chaim’s Sefer Ahavas Chesed. We will continue IY”H in our next installment with volume 3.

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