Behar - Spritual Vampires Feeding Off Human Weakness

About this episode

This episode explores the spiritual and psychological implications of lending with interest, as discussed by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

What makes Ribis so spiritually destructive that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says the lender “loses more than he gains”? This shmooze, delivered at Mevaseret Mishmar, explores why Ribis is not merely a financial prohibition, but a worldview — one that slowly trains a person to see human vulnerability as opportunity, relationships as transactions, and morality as negotiable when profit is involved. Why does the Gemara say that lending with interest can ultimately lead a person to belittle Moshe Rabbeinu and the Torah itself? A deep psychological and spiritual analysis of desire, scarcity, ego, empathy, and the frightening human capacity to remake morality in the image of appetite.

People in this episode

Host: Rav Mordechai Burg

Topics covered

• spirituality
• morality
• lending with interest
• human vulnerability
• psychological analysis
• desire and scarcity

Keywords

• Ribis
• spiritual destruction
• financial prohibition
• relationships
• morality
• ego
• empathy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mevaseret Mishmar

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