Ask Rabbi Dan
by Rabbi Dan S. Wiko PhD
I'm a Goy and borrowed $50 from one of my Jewish friends. He
was very anxious to get his money back. I’m not doing it justice but he really
wanted the debt paid quickly…. Anyway, I did pay him back a week later but it’s
always stuck in my head. This past weekend I read the list of 613 Mitzvot.
#57 To exact the debt of an alien (Deut. 15:3) - Is this part of the reason that
my friend was SO interested in me paying back the debt? Does this line in the
Mitzvot mean “To make right any debt with a stranger?”
Dear "goy", (How I hate that term)
I would think that your friend's desire to get his fifty dollars back ASAP has
far more to do with money not growing on trees than his observance of all 613
Mitzvot (well, I could be wrong about his motivation). I believe your friend
just decided that it was time to get his money back.
By the way, borrowing from friends often leads to losing the friendship and
borrowing from relatives could lead to your changing your name.. :-)
