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Moneylending and Jewish Law. In numerous places the Torah (Hebrew Bible) prohibits a Jew from borrowing, lending or being a party to a transaction that involves charging another Jew interest. 1 The Hebrew term generally used is ribit, which roughly means “increase.”. The prohibition of ribit is a strange one.
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Practically speaking, if Jewish law deems certain speech to...
- Are Early Bird Specials Kosher
The Talmud states that, as a general rule, “any reward for...
- Lending With Interest
The Torah prohibits a Jew from borrowing, lending or being a...
- Doing Business With G‑d
If your brother becomes poor, and his means fail, you shall...
- A Culture of Dependency
Lending money to those in need is generosity of the highest...
- Negative Commandment 235
Leviticus 25:37 "You shall not give him your money for...
- Maimonides' Eight Levels of Charity
Being “Jewish” under Jewish law means to have a Jewish...
- What Is The Torah Perspective on Safe Spaces, Trigger Words and Political Correctness
For example, Maimonides states that a person can offer money to a second person attaching a requirement for the second person to give a certain larger amount of money to a third person, or a requirement for the second person to persuade a third person to lend a certain larger amount of money to the first person. [20] When a non-Jew was involved ...
- Biblical Period
- The Talmudic Period
- The Geonic Period
- The Early Rabbinic Period
- The Late Rabbinic Period
- From Otherhood to Brotherhood?
- The Historical Context
Deuteronomy 23:20–21 states: "You shall not lend on interest to your brother, interest of food or money or anything on which interest can be charged. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but not to your brother that the Lord, your God, may bless you in all you put your hand to in the land into which you are going, to possess it." This text has b...
After the destruction of the Temple, halakhists and aggadists determined the development of Jewish religious law proper, at least until the 17th century. The tannaitic Midrash Sifrei Deuteronomy 23:20f. understands la-nokhri tashikh as a positive commandment; i.e., you shall lend at interest to a foreigner. Although this is possible on philological...
This period lasted from about the seventh to the 11th centuries. During that time, the main autonomous center of Jewish life was in Babylonia, although the decisions of the geonim were considered binding in the remotest communities of Europe and Africa. The Jews were active as artisans, builders, merchants, and as experts in agriculture and horticu...
The center of Jewish life shifted toward Europe. The academies of Babylonia were gradually replaced by famous schools in France, Germany, and Spain. Monographs on the various European countries contain detailed accounts of the general and specific in their history. Two factors, however, stand out: growing anti-Jewish legislation and the development...
The Jewish analogue of this position was expressed by the 14th-century French philosopher and exegete, *Levi b. Gershom , who also holds that it is a positive commandment to lend money to an alien on interest, "if he needs it…, because one should not benefit an idolator… and cause him as much damage as possible without deviating from righteousness,...
From the 17th century onward, the collapse of the traditional Christian exegesis of Deuteronomy 23 is apparent in Europe and in the U.S. On the Jewish side, too, responsa on the subject become less frequent; even the records of the Council of the Four Lands have relatively little to say on the matter. The hetter iska (see *Usury ) had opened the pa...
The biblical injunctions against usury relate neither exclusively nor mainly to money-lending on interest. Their spirit reflects a nomadic and village society where the borrowing of goods is the norm, and moneylending the exception. Yet the so-called archives of the *Murashu house discovered at Nippur show Jews in Babylonian regions engaged in exte...
With your help, My Jewish Learning can continue to provide nonstop opportunities for learning, connection and growth. This said, it should be noted that the halakhah [applicable Jewish law] regarding free loans apply only to loans made to other Jews. It is permissible to make loans with interest to non-Jews. Clearly, this policy is discriminatory.
[Moreover,] even if a gentile comes to borrow money at interest and a wealthy Jew [requires a similar loan] at no charge, precedence should be given to [granting the loan to] the Jew23 if [the latter] requires the money for his livelihood or to maintain the standard of living to which he is accustomed.24 [This is preferable to] lending it to gentiles at interest, or using [the money] for other ...
- Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi
One should also extend loans to poor non-Jews.11 But one is allowed to charge interest from a non-Jew.12; It is also a mitzvah to lend money to a rich person if he needs it for some reason,13 but one should give precedence to the poor.14; One who is asked for a loan for an amount of money that he can afford, has an obligation to provide it—up ...
Non-Jews are not obligated in this matter. Therefore, one may borrow from them at interest and charge them interest. To forgo the interest due from a non-Jewish borrower would make the transaction lopsided and, to put it bluntly, make the Jewish lender something of a sucker.
