About Rabbi Jack Abramowitz
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz served as Director of Programs for NCSY before becoming Associate Director of the Pepa and Rabbi Joseph Karasick Department of Synagogue Services. Rabbi Abramowitz holds degrees in Jewish studies, communications and Higher Education Administration. Among his accomplishments, he authored NCSY's Torah on One Foot series of educational pamphlets and created negiah.org, the first abstinence web site for Jewish teens. Rabbi Abramowitz is the author of The Shnayim Mikra Companion on Torah, The Nach Yomi Companion volumes 1 and 2 on the books of the Prophets and the Writings, and The Tzniyus Book.

Recent Posts

Taryag: A Mitzvah a Day

Questions? Contact us at taryag@ou.org

PARSHAT Re'eh
MITZVAH COUNTER
Mitzvos to date: 476
Positives:197
Negatives:279
That can be performed today:206
Plus those that can be performed only in Israel:22

476. Collection Agent part 2: The obligation to collect from non-Jews


The outsider you shall press… (Deuteronomy 15:3)

We said in the previous mitzvah that debts owed to us by other Jews are to be considered voided by the Shemittah year. Not so when it comes to loans we may have made to non-Jews. Not only are they not canceled by the Sabbatical year, the Torah tells us to actively pursue repayment.

This makes sense, since debts we owe other Jews are canceled while those we owe non-Jews are not. Really, it just reflects a level playing field with both Jews and non-Jews; everything comes out in the wash. To forgive debts owed by non-Jews when there is no reciprocal forgiveness of debts owed to them would kind of make one a sucker, or at the very least a very poor businessman. Nevertheless, the Sefer HaChinuch ascribes a deeper meaning to this mitzvah. He sees it as one of those things that helps keep the Jews separate and distinct. There’s an aspect of anti-assimilation in ensuring that we must treat Jews and non-Jews differently. (Please note that even though we treat the two groups differently, we still treat each group equitably.)

This mitzvah applies all times and places. It is discussed in the Midrash in the Sifre and is codified in the Mishneh Torah in the first chapter of Hilchos Malveh v’Loveh. This mitzvah is #142 of the 248 positive mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos; it is not listed in the Sefer HaMitzvos HaKatzar of the Chofetz Chaim. The Ramban (Nachmanides) does not count this among the 613 mitzvos, saying that it is merely a statement in contradistinction to the way we must treat Jews, as outlined in Mitzvah #475.



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