“In What Shall He Sleep?”: The Torah’s Emotional Vision of Justice and Compassion

If you do not return the collateral and the poor person cries out to God over his bitter fate, that he does not even have a garment, God says: I will hear his cry, for I am compassionate.

Entering the Poor Person’s World

In this verse, the Torah demands that a person step into the poor man’s shoes and feel his emotions.

Abarbanel notes that people usually sleep with three things: a mattress, a blanket, and night clothing. This poor man has only one garment that serves all three purposes. That garment is his mattress, his blanket, and his clothing.

This is the meaning of the verse:

• “It is his only covering” – the garment serves as his blanket.
  

• “It is his garment for his skin” – it is also his clothing.
  

• “In what shall he sleep?” – it is also what he lies on.
  

How can one even think of not returning such collateral to a poor person?

It is fairly clear that collateral of this kind does not truly achieve its usual purpose. The poor man knows the garment will be returned to him at night, so he is not anxious about its being in the lender’s possession during the day.

Moreover, the inconvenience to the lender in such a situation — going to the borrower every morning to take the garment and rushing back before sunset to return it, hardly encourages the lender to take such collateral at all.

In this mitzvah, the Torah does not provide a general abstract reason. Instead, it takes us on a journey into the emotional world of the poor person.

Midrash Tanchuma intensifies the emotional appeal: “In what shall he sleep?” — the cold will strike him at night. On a cold night, the poor man may become chilled and fall ill.

The Cry That Has No Legal Answer

On the words “And it shall be that when he cries out to Me,” the Midrash explains something remarkable. At first glance, what can the poor man cry out about, if he owes the lender money?

The Midrash answers that he protests before the Creator, saying: “Master of the Universe, I am a human being and he is a human being. He sleeps on his bed, and in what shall I sleep?”

This is not a logical or legal cry, but an emotional one. “We are both human beings,” says the poor man. “Why does he sleep under a warm blanket in a heated home, while I have nowhere to lie?”

Such a cry has no answer in this world. When it comes from the heart, it pierces all barriers, and God hears it.

Justice Alone Is Not Enough

The Talmud teaches that Jerusalem was destroyed because people insisted strictly on the letter of the law and did not act beyond it. Sometimes justice is on our side, yet the heart is distant. We must not allow our hearts to drift away.

We often face conflicts where, “by the book,” we are completely right. Yet this mitzvah teaches us to step into the other person’s place and ask ourselves: “In what shall he sleep?”

He is a human being just like you. Would you want to be in his position?

Thinking Beyond Today’s Victory

There are family disputes over inheritance and similar matters where legally one side may be entirely right. Still, it is worth thinking ahead.

Will you not regret, years from now, that because of this dispute there is a complete rupture, and you no longer know the children and grandchildren of your brother or sister? Will today’s victory and its financial gain justify the pain that may come later?

When we make decisions, we must remember the words “In what shall he sleep?” Not only how the other person will sleep, but how you will sleep, with the pangs of conscience that may one day come.

The Insight of Sforno

Sforno writes striking words on this verse: “Even though he cannot cry out against you for injustice, since he owes you money, nevertheless when he cries out to Me over his poverty, which leaves him naked without clothing because of you, I will give him some of what I would have granted you beyond your own needs, so that you might support others with it. For I am compassionate.”

From Sforno’s words we learn that whatever a person receives from God beyond what he truly needs is given so that he may show compassion to those in need, through charity or loans.

Becoming a Conduit of Blessing

When a person tries to evade this role and ignores the needs of the poor, God withdraws those additional blessings. It is therefore wise to be a person of kindness, who gives and lends, despite the difficulty of taking and returning collateral each day.

In this way, a person continues to be a conduit through which God’s abundance flows to others.

It may be that the primary purpose of taking collateral from the poor and returning it is not to secure repayment at all, but to awaken the lender’s heart. By feeling what the borrower experiences, the lender is inspired to help more and more people, and the more he helps others, the more God adds to him in return.