Our Parshan HaShanah (Torah Commentator of the Year) is Ramban, Nahmanides, who lived most of his life in Girona, Catalonia, from 1194-1270. We have noticed that he often disagrees with Rashi and brings an explanation of his own. Other times he catalogs a collection of sources, explicates them and opines as to which is the best understanding of a certain verse or word in the Torah. Yet, as we will see here, sometimes he does not state which source is the absolute best to explain a word, phrase or verse. Such will be the case with this study. What does the Torah mean when it explains: “If your brother becomes impoverished and his means falter in your proximity, you shall strengthen him - or a proselyte or a resident sojourner - and he shall live with you.” (Leviticus 25:35)
(א) וטעם וחי אחיך עמך שיחיה עמך והיא מצות עשה להחיותו שממנה נצטוינו על פקוח נפש במצות עשה ומכאן אמרו (תו"כ פרשה ה ג) וחי אחיך עמך זו דרש בן פוטירי שנים שהיו מהלכין בדרך וביד אחד מהם קיתון של מים אם שותה הוא מגיע לישוב ואם שניהם שותים שניהם מתים דרש בן פוטירי מוטב ישתו שניהם וימותו ולא יראה אחד במיתתו של חבירו עד שבא רבי עקיבא ולמד וחי אחיך עמך חייך קודמים לחיי חבירך
וחזר ואמר (בפסוק הבא) וחי אחיך עמך לחזק ולהזהיר ומדרשו (ב"מ סב) אהדר ליה רבית דליחיי עמך צוה בהחזרת רבית קצוצה כענין שאמר בגזל (לעיל ה כג) והשיב את הגזילה אשר גזל
ואונקלוס עשה "גר ותושב וחי עמך" הכל מן המצוה ידור ויתותב ויחי עמך
אבל על דעת רבותינו בגמרא (ב"מ עא) והחזקת בו ובגר ותושב וחי כל אחד מהם עמך.
(1) [So] that he shall live with you. It is a positive commandment to enable him to live, and from here we derive that we are commanded to save a life as a positive commandment. [Do you think he means physically or economically?]
The Sages derived from here (v. 36): “Your brother shall live with you” — this was interpreted by Ben-Potiri: Two men were traveling [in the desert] and they have ONLY ONE flask of water. If the owner of the flask alone will drink he will reach civilization, but if both of them drink they will both die. Ben Potiri derived that it is better they both should drink and die, and let one not see the death of his fellow, until Rabbi Akiva came and taught: "with you" (the second time, in verse 36, not verse 35) - teaches that your life does take precedence - “So that he shall live with you” — your life has precedence over your friend's life. We should seek to sustain our brothers so that they can live alongside us.
[How does Rabbi Akiva understand the words "live with you?" in verse 36?]
Scripture comes and repeats "let your brother live with you" to reinforce a command to warn against a violation of charging your "brother" interest on a loan! It means that a person should return any interest to him so that he will be able to live; it's an economic matter. Scripture is demanding the return of set interest.
Onkelos made the phrase "ger v'tosha v'hai imakh" part of the commandment - he reads and translates those words as verbs not nouns (we are not talking about a proselyte or sojourner) rather the mitzvah is "he shall dwell and reside and live with you."