Now is a good time to do a Mitzvah
- Prohibition
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Do not demand the borrower pay his debt when you know he does not have it.
“You shall not be unto him as a creditor” Shmos, 22:24
It is forbidden to pass by the borrower when you know he does not have to avoid putting him to shame.
Just as the lender is forbidden to make demands so too is the borrower not to withhold payment when he has the money by saying go and come back.
This is prohibited by the words of Scripture “Do not say to your friend go and return and I will give you tomorrow, when he has it with him.’- Mishle 3:28
It is also forbidden for the borrower to spend the borrowed money needlessly until he is unable to repay it. This is called ‘wicked”
As it says in Psalms 37:21 “the wicked man borrows and does not repay.”
This is in force everywhere, at all times for men and women.
