Guaranteed Credit: Arvus and Honor

The Value
of Credibility

 By: Rabbi Tzvi Price

One of
the aspects of the study of Choshen Mishpat that makes it so extraordinary, is
the way in which it combines razor-sharp logic and strict legalism, with the
swirling emotion and drama that money seems to always engender. The Torah looks
into a person’s heart, understands the assumptions, the emotions, the motives
that it finds there, combines that with Truth and Justice, and produces Laws.
Anyone who studies those Laws senses that they are uncannily in touch with the
human condition, and yet, never without an inner-core of Truth, Spirit, and
Logic.

 An example of this dynamic
can be seen in in Parshas Vayigash. Back in Parshas Mikeitz, Yehudah had made a
promise to his father Yaakov that Binyamin would return home safely. “I will
personally guarantee him; of my own hand you can demand him. If I do not bring
him back to you, and stand him before you, then I will have sinned to you for
all time…,” said Yehudah (Breishis 43:9). Now, in Parshas Vayigash, it was time
for Yehudah to accept the consequences of that promise. After finding his
goblet in Binyamin’s sack, the all-powerful viceroy of Egypt (who, unbeknownst
to Yehudah, was his brother Yosef) had declared that slavery would be
Binyamin’s punishment. Yehudah steps up and offers himself as Binyamin’s
replacement. After describing the special relationship that Yaakov has with his
son Binyamin, Yehudah pleads with the viceroy, “Now, therefore, please let your
servant remain instead of the youth (Binyamin) as a servant to my lord, and let
the youth go up with his brothers. For how can I go up to my father if the
youth is not with me, lest I see the evil that will befall my father?”
(Breishis 44:34-35)

The scene
is one of tremendous pathos; a son, knowing that his father has a special
relationship with another brother, a relationship that his father could not
live without, sacrifices himself out of love for his father and takes the place
of that brother as a slave, never to see his father again. One might think that
there is no place for legalities or Talmudic reasoning here. However, Chaza”l
see in this episode an opportunity to learn a very important principle of
Jewish monetary law.

 In
Bava Basra 173b, the Gemara explains that Yehudah’s promise to his father
Yaakov to bring back Binyamin was not without legal ramifications. In fact,
Yehudah’s promise was that of a legal guarantor for Binyamin. In Choshen
Mishpat, this type of obligation is called arvus. Rav Shamshon Rafael
Hirsch, zt”l, explains that the word arvus is derived from the root
meaning ‘to mix.’ Arvus describes a situation in which a
person ‘mixes’ together a borrower with a lender by accepting responsibility
for the borrower’s financial obligation to the lender. In Yehudah’s case, who
was the other party whose legal obligation he was accepting when he guaranteed
Binyamin’s safe return?

 Because
of the famine that was going on at the time, all the brothers were in desperate
need of food. However, in order to obtain grain from the storehouses of Egypt,
the brothers needed Binyamin. The Egyptian viceroy had made that clear. In
essence, all the brothers needed to “borrow” Binyamin from Yaakov, and return
him safely. However, Yaakov was not willing to “lend” Binyamin to his sons.
Possibly, he did not trust that they would do all that they could to ensure his
safety. After all, given what happened to their brother Yosef, they did not
have the best track record. Only when Yehudah accepted upon himself to be a
guarantor, an araiv, for the brother’s collective obligation, did Yaakov
agree to the deal.

 From
the Gemara’s discussion of this topic, Chazal’s profound understanding of the
human psyche and how that understanding forms the basis for the Laws of Choshen
Mishpat become apparent. The Gemara explains that without an accompanying kinyan (a legally proscribed
method to show intent of obligation), a simple verbal promise to accept someone
else’s existing financial obligation is not legally binding. The deal
is too one-sided on the part of the guarantor; the show of intent to accept the
obligation, too flimsy. The guarantor is not legally bound to keep his word
since he does not feel that he has received anything in exchange for it.

 However,
when a lender agrees to initiate a new loan to a borrower because a
third party agrees to guarantee repayment of the loan, to accept arvus, then no kinyan is required, and a simple
verbal agreement on the part of the araiv is enough to be legally
binding. If the borrower defaults, the araiv must repay the loan.
Therefore, since Yehudah’s promise convinced Yaakov to make the loan of
Binyamin to the brothers, no act of kinyan was required and Yehudah’s
word alone was enough to legally obligate him.

 What
is different about accepting arvus on a new loan, and why does
it not need to be accompanied by a kinyan?  Chazal explain that
in this situation the guarantor does, in fact, receive something from the
lender in return for his willingness to guarantee repayment. He receives the
pleasure of being accepted by the lender as a person of credibility. The lender
would not have made the loan and put his money at risk had it not been that he
believed in the guarantor’s trustworthiness. Knowing that someone believes in
you, trusts you, and is willing to take a risk because he is relying on your
word is the cause for a deep psychological pleasure. It’s the pleasure of
credibility, and it’s worth is more than you can imagine.

 What
makes a person feel good about himself? Psychologists have learned that one of
the ways that parents can build the self-esteem of their child is to create
controlled situations which provide an opportunity for the child to show that
he is capable of being trusted. When it is appropriate, ask the child to do an
errand for you, or accept his promise that he will be back at a certain time.
With every successful task accomplished, with every promise kept, the child
will develop an inner-knowledge of his trustworthiness, capabilities, and
worthiness of respect. That inner-knowledge of credibility is the basis of a
healthy self-image.

 Arvus teaches us an important
lesson. It teaches us the inherent value and immeasurable pleasure that is
found in having credibility. Sadly, the maintaining of one’s credibility is
sorely undervalued in our society. We live in an age of deceptive advertising
and Ponzi schemes, of discredited public figures and dishonourable leaders, of
promises unfulfilled and expectations unmet. It’s becoming almost the norm.
Credibility is under attack and the enticements to lose our credibility are
great. And so, it is imperative that we internalize the lesson that the Torah
teaches us about arvus. We must understand that our
credibility is worth more to our inner-self, to our true happiness, than any
material gain that might come through doing something that causes us to
lose that credibility. It might not be an easy lesson to learn, but well worth
the effort.