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The Prohibition of Interest

TANAKH

The prohibition of charging interest on loans is a fundamental principle in Jewish monetary law, emphasizing ethical treatment in financial matters. The book of Leviticus, the third book of the Torah, states this prohibition, underscoring the importance of fairness and compassion in financial transactions.

Do not lend your money at advance interest, nor give your food at accrued interest.

Leviticus 25:37

Lending with Compassion

TANAKH

The Torah commands ethical treatment of the poor, including the prohibition of charging interest on loans to them. The book of Exodus outlines the commandment to lend money to the poor without acting as a creditor or charging interest.

If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, do not act toward them as a creditor; exact no interest from them.

Exodus 22:24

The Consequences of Lending with Interest

HALAKHAH

The Shulchan Arukh addresses the serious implications of lending with interest, including the disqualification of both lender and borrower from testifying in court. This 16th-century legal code by Rabbi Joseph Karo, Choshen Mishpat, delves into the Torah's prohibition against usury and its impact on legal testimony.

10. One who lends with interest is disqualified from testifying. Both the lender and borrower are disqualified. If it was literal interest, they are biblically disqualified. If it was rabbinical interest, they are rabbinically disqualified. There are those that say the only the lender, and not the borrower, would be disqualified if lending with avak ribbis.

Shulchan Arukh, Choshen Mishpat 34:10

The Burden of Wealth

CHASIDUT

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov teaches that increasing possessions can lead to increased worry and sadness. In Likutei Moharan, Rabbi Nachman emphasizes the importance of spiritual wealth over material wealth, drawing from the ethical teachings of Pirkei Avot.

This is what our Sages taught: One who increases his possessions increases his worry (Avot 2:7). For he certainly increases worry and sadness because of an increase in possessions and wealth. For the possessions which he owns are themselves the aspect of sadness. Therefore, the more they increase, the more the sadness and worry increase, as above. Thus money and wealth shorten and consume a person’s days and life. For there is nothing that saps one’s vitality like worry and sadness, as competent doctors know. And the money and wealth add worry and sadness, as explained…

Likutei Moharan 23:6:5-6

A Communal Effort for Temple Repair

SECOND TEMPLE

The innovative approach to fundraising for the temple repair demonstrates the power of communal effort and voluntary contributions. Josephus recounts how a wooden chest with a hole was placed in the temple to encourage voluntary donations, leading to a successful collection of funds.

2. Now Jehoash, king of Jerusalem, had an inclination to repair the temple of God; so he called Jehoiada, and bid him send the Levites and priests through all the country, to require half a shekel of silver for every head, towards the rebuilding and repairing of the temple, which was brought to decay by Jehoram, and Athaliah and her sons. But the high priest did not do this, as concluding that no one would willingly pay that money; but in the twenty-third year of Jehoash's reign, when the king sent for him and the Levites, and complained that they had not obeyed what he enjoined them…

The Antiquities of the Jews 9:8:2

The Court's Authority in Monetary Law

GUIDES

The court's authority in monetary law is crucial for establishing a just civil order. Adin Steinsaltz's introduction the the Babylonian Talmud, tractate Gittin elucidates the court's power to impose penalties and fines and to enable property acquisition for those halakhically unable.

Most of the enactments enumerated here are in the sphere of monetary law. This is an area in which the court has tremendous authority, as it can even deprive one of ownership rights to his property in order to grant the property to another. In this chapter, some of the enactments assist in establishing a just civil order, some grant those who were halakhically unable to acquire property the ability to acquire it, and some enumerate sundry penalties and fines.

Introductions to the Babylonian Talmud, Gittin, Introduction to Perek V 2

The Ultimate Act of Charity

MIDRASH

Elazar, the man of Birtha, exemplifies extreme generosity by prioritizing the needs of orphans over his own family, even giving away everything he has. Ein Yaakov, a compilation of Talmudic stories and parables, highlights the Jewish value of charity and communal responsibility through Elazar's selfless actions.

(Fol. 24) The charitable collectors would hide themselves when they saw Elazar, the man of Birtha because (they knew) he would give away everything he had. One day he went out into the market to buy the wedding outfit for his daughter's marriage. The collectors of the charity perceived him, and hid themselves. He, however, pursued them swiftly, and said: "I cause you to swear that you will tell me for what purpose ye are collecting." And they answered: "We are collecting money for the wedding outfits of two orphans who are about to be married…

Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Taanit 3:22

The Transience of Wealth

TALMUD

Wealth is fleeting, and pride in one's riches can lead to moral downfall. The Jerusalem Talmud, a central text in Rabbinic Judaism from the 4th-5th centuries CE, discusses the transient nature of wealth and its moral implications.

“Maybe he would become poor”. Are these not changed circumstances? Rebbi Ze‘ira said, poverty is frequent. As the following: A man had a lawsuit against a rich man. He wanted to be judged before Rav; Rav sent for [the rich man], who said: For this one I should come to court? If all the camels of Arabia came they could not carry all the leather sacks containing my mortgages! [Rav] heard this and said, what does this one pride himself with what is not his! There should be depreciation of it! Immediately there came a royal decree that he and his property should belong to the treasury…

Jerusalem Talmud Nedarim 9:4:4

Debts and the Sabbatical Year

TOSEFTA

The debate over whether debts to a shop are canceled during the Sabbatical year reveals differing rabbinic perspectives. The Tosefta, a late 2nd-century compilation of Jewish oral law, presents these differing opinions, highlighting Rabbi Yehuda's view versus the sages' view.

A debt to a shop is canceled by the sabbatical year, the words of Rabbi Yehuda. And the Sages say, it is not canceled (Sheviit 10:1). Said Rebbi, the words of Rabbi Yehuda are preferable as to one with a monetary debt, and the words of the Sages as to a debt [to be repaid with] produce.

Tosefta Sheviit 8:5

Compensating for Injury

MISHNAH

The Mishnah provides a comprehensive and nuanced approach to compensating an injured party, ensuring justice and fairness in every aspect of indemnity. The Mishnah, compiled around 200 CE, in tractate Bava Kamma, outlines the principles of liability and compensation for personal injury, covering various types of indemnity such as damage, pain, medical costs, loss of livelihood, and humiliation.

One who injures another is liable to pay compensation for that injury due to five types of indemnity: He must pay for damage, for pain, for medical costs, for loss of livelihood, and for humiliation. How is payment for damage assessed? If one blinded another’s eye, severed his hand, broke his leg, or caused any other injury, the court views the injured party as though he were a slave being sold in the slave market…

Mishnah Bava Kamma 8:1

The Perils of Wealth

MUSAR

Prioritizing wealth over ethical considerations and Torah study can lead to moral and spiritual dangers. The 15th-century ethical work, Orchot Tzadikim, offers guidance on balancing material pursuits with spiritual and ethical obligations.

For this is clear, he who has much pity for his children thinks chiefly how to earn money for their needs but does not reflect on how this money will come to him — illegally or legitimately, for the love (he bears his children) blinds him to honest appraisal ("spoils the straight line"). Then too because of absorption, in that he is busy day and night to secure, in large quantity, their foods and their other needs, he has no time for the words of the Torah, for he makes his business the important thing, and from this wrong emphasis all his deeds are confused.

Orchot Tzadikim 8:15

The True Value of Wealth

TARGUM

Amassing wealth for its own sake is futile; using money for charity gains merit in the world to come. The Aramaic Targum to Ecclesiastes offers ancient Jewish insights into the value of charity over materialism.

A merchant who loves to acquire money, and men of business, shall not be satisfied in amassing money ; and he who loves to heap up great mammon, has no praise in the world to come, unless he has done charity with it, because he has not deserved to eat fruit; this, too, is vanity.

Aramaic Targum to Ecclesiastes 5:9

The Financial Obligations in a Ketuba

HALAKHAH

The ketuba is not just a ceremonial document but a legally binding contract with specific financial obligations. This text delves into the monetary amounts and conditions stipulated in a ketuba, highlighting the differentiation between the standard ketuba amount and the additional amount that a husband may choose to add.

The standard amount of money in the ketuba is 200 zuz for a first marriage. Additionally, in many instances, a husband obligates himself to add to the value of the standard ketuba amount, and this is called tosefet ketuba. In Ashkenazic ketubot, the standard amount is 200 zekukim of pure silver. Usually one hundred zuzim are earmarked for the ikar ketuba and another one hundred zuzim are earmarked for tosefet ketuba.

Rabbinic Authority II, Part II; Rabbinic Authority; The Reality, Chapter 6; Decisions in Even haEzer, b) "A Dead Marriage" and its Halakhic Aftermath 32

Balancing Business and Belief

HALAKHAH

A special type of partnership agreement called an 'iska' allows for profit-sharing in business investments without violating the prohibition against charging interest between Jews. This halakhic mechanism, dating back to the Talmudic era, balances commercial needs with religious principles, ensuring compliance with Jewish law.

A type of partnership agreement termed an “iska” implicitly addresses our question. Halakhah prohibits the charging and paying of any amount of interest between two Jews, regardless of how reasonable the rate would be considered in the commercial world. As such, interest-bearing loans are prohibited. In light of this proscription, there is a technique, dating back to the days of the composition of the Talmud, that allows for the structuring of a loan as a business investment for which profits may be paid…

Rabbinic Authority I, Part I; Rabbinic Authority; The Vision, Chapter 2; The Business Judgment Rule in the Corporate World; A Comparative Approach 30

Ethical Business Practices

TANAKH

Conducting business with fairness and precision in measurements is a timeless principle that ensures ethical commerce. This text from the Torah portion Ki Teitzei emphasizes the Jewish value of honesty in business practices.

You shall not have in your pouch alternate weights, larger and smaller. You shall not have in your house alternate measures, a larger and a smaller. You must have completely honest weights and completely honest measures, if you are to endure long on the soil that your God יהוה is giving you. For everyone who does those things, everyone who deals dishonestly, is abhorrent to your God יהוה.

Deuteronomy 25:13-16

Charity Over Wealth

COMMENTARY

It is a greater mitzvah to give charity to the poor than to adorn the synagogue with valuable items. The Tze'enah Ure'enah, a Yiddish commentary on the Torah and Haftarot, recounts King Solomon's ethical decision to prioritize charity over the accumulation of wealth for the Temple.

“When all the work was completed” [7:51]. When the work of the Temple was completed and King Solomon brought all the gold, silver and vessels of his father David into the Temple. He did not use it for the Temple, but he placed it all in the treasury. Some sages say that he placed it in the treasury because he did not want to use it. Solomon knew that the Temple would be destroyed and the nations would say that it was destroyed because David had taken much of the silver and gold through force and robbery and allowed the Temple to be built from it…

Tze'enah Ure'enah, Haftarot, Second Day of Sukkot 2

Secure Your Wealth with Tithing

COMMENTARY

Tithing is not just a charitable act but a safeguard for wealth, ensuring divine blessing and prosperity. Ovadiah Bartenura’s commentary on Pirkei Avot emphasizes the importance of tithing as a divine commandment that governs ethical financial behavior.

"Tithes are a safeguarding fence around wealth": As it is written (Deuteronomy 14:22), "aser taaser (you shall surely tithe)," [which is interpreted as] "tithe (taaser) so that you will become rich (titaasher)." (Taanit 9a)

Bartenura on Pirkei Avot 3:13:2

Coins from the reign of Herod Agrippa (from Mishnat Eretz Yisrael on Pirkei Avot 1:15)

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