parshaמפרשי הפרשה

רמב"ן — את הנכרי תגוש

The Sifri reads "את הנכרי תגוש" and "לנכרי תשיך" as mitzvot aseh, and Rambam counts them in ספר המצוות (ק"מב, קצ"ח) — a positive obligation to press a גוי for repayment and to lend to a גוי with ribbit. The verses look like they say exactly that. Why does Ramban reject this?

פירושו מצות עשה באחיך, הנכרי תגוש ולא אחיך, ולאו שבא מכלל עשה עשה... והרב רבי משה עשאן שתיהן מצות ממש, לנגוש את הנכרי ולהלוותו ברבית, טעה בלשון הזה השנוי בספרי. ושם הוא מורגל במקומות רבים... ודבר ברור הוא.

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רמב"ן

רמב"ן על דברים ט״ו:ג׳

Ramban on Deuteronomy 15:3

Re'eh

Q — The Sifri reads "את הנכרי תגוש" and "לנכרי תשיך" as mitzvot aseh, and Rambam counts them in ספר המצוות (ק"מב, קצ"ח) — a positive obligation to press a גוי for repayment and to lend to a גוי with ribbit. The verses look like they say exactly that. Why does Ramban reject this?

A — Famous Ramban-Rambam machloket. Ramban: "את הנכרי תגוש" is a mitzvat aseh ABOUT YOUR BROTHER, not the נכרי. The verse's main point is "ולא אחיך"; phrasing it positively creates a לאו הבא מכלל עשה — the prohibition-derived-from-positive-statement itself counts as an aseh. So one who pressures a brother for repayment violates both לא תעשה and עשה — but there's no mitzvah to actually press the נכרי. Same exact analysis for ribbit: "לנכרי תשיך" creates an aseh-prohibition against taking interest from a Jew, not a mitzvah to charge interest to a non-Jew. Ramban: "ודבר ברור הוא." (Raavad's השגה on הלכות מלוה ולוה ה,א sides with Ramban.)

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