The prohibition on lending or borrowing at interest. Also known as usury.

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ribis and foreign currency conversion

I am afraid that I have only recently started to study this kind of thing and I completely unlearned compared to most of the contributors here, so I apologize if my question is somewhat ...
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175 views

Why is this not a valid way of evading the prohibition of ribbis?

Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 292:7 states the following halachah (from Bava Metzia 43a): If Reuven deposits money with Shimon (a moneychanger or storekeeper) for safekeeping, Shimon is entitled ...
7
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1answer
132 views

Transfer of loan / mortgage from non-Jew to Jew

What happens if a Jew borrows money on interest from a non-Jew, and then the lender turns around and sells the debt to a Jew? (Such transactions are very common in the mortgage industry.) Is it ...
7
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1answer
102 views

Are magazine subscriptions ribbis?

There are many Jewish weekly or monthly publications (e.g. magazines) that offer the following deal: Individual copies of the magazine are priced at say, $5 each. But, if you "subscribe" by paying in ...
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2answers
149 views

Are late or overdue fees Ribbis?

If I take out a library book, and they charge me $.10 per each additional day extra. Or if I owe money on a bill, and they charge me a $10 late fee for being overdue. Are these a case of Ribbis? Or ...
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311 views

Why does the Torah forbid interest only on loans to Jews?

Why aren't we allowed to charge a Jew interest but we're allowed to charge a non-Jew?
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1answer
138 views

Peer-to-Peer Lending Websites

There are websites (such as Prosper.com or LendingClub.com) which allow laypeople to lend money to borrowers with interest. For example, a typical listing posted by a potential borrower is one in ...
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2answers
118 views

Can donating to a Gemach be ribbis?

Suppose that Reuven is strapped for cash. He goes to the local Gemach and gets a hefty $10,000 dollar loan for his daughter's wedding. 3 months later, Reuven manages to acquire the money and repays ...
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2answers
182 views

How is a heter iska made to work with a non-business loan?

I understand that a heter iska is basically a method of restructuring a loan as an investment, done in such a way that the lender/investor is more-or-less guaranteed to get his capital back, plus a ...
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1answer
85 views

If magazine subscriptions are ribbis, are bus tokens, postage stamps, and other pay-in-advance items also ribbis?

This answer to another ribbis question indicates that deals of the form "subscribe and save X% over news-stand prices" are ribbis and thus forbidden. Does this principle apply to other items you pay ...
4
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1answer
200 views

Is returning a car with a full tank of gas a problem of ribis (interest/usury)?

I was told that if you borrow a car from a friend, it's courteous to return it washed, and with a full tank of gas (even if the car was dirty and had an empty tank when you borrowed it). Is there any ...
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1answer
83 views

Compromising a Doubtful Loan and Ribbis

First let's get the case: Reuven lends $100 to Shimon to be paid back in a year. There is no record of the amount of the loan. And then, one month later, one of the following happen: Shimon ...
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Problem of Ribis in giving loan in order to give Tzedeka

(In order to understand the dinim of Ribis and if this particular case would be problematic I will give a localized example. However please don't close the question or say it's too "local" because the ...
3
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1answer
154 views

Are you allowed to borrow money from another Jew with interest?

So ... I understand you're not allowed to lend money to another Jew with interest, I won't get into the question of why. Does this mean you're also not allowed to accept money from another Jew, where ...
3
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0answers
47 views

Insurance and Ribit

What is the halachick treatment of a long term insurance contract issued by a company held by a Jew? In particular - Is the underlying investment that contributes to the ultimate amount of the ...
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0answers
41 views

Time-limited promotional giveaways for some, fees for everyone later

If someone provides a discount for early payment, and raises the price for others, there is reason to consider this a form offorbidden usury. What if someone is giving away a gift to some as a ...
2
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0answers
29 views

Charging interest to “your brother”

A deleted post from a long time ago made the claim that [W]e are [allowed to charge interest to other Jews] but not from immediate family. Even from another Jew, if he or she is not a member ...
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2answers
643 views

Why usury or interest on loan is illegal within Jews and legal for non-Jews [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Are we allowed to charge interest or not? Any action or deed which is not considered ethical for ourselves, should also apply on others as well. Also throughout the ...
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Paying more for an item — Ribis?

I will ask the question using the following scenario: Reuvan wrote a sefer that he was charging for it 50 Shekels. Came along Shimon who wanted to buy the sefer. At that time he didn't have money on ...
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50 views

Loan in exchange for keeping shabbos, ribis?

The Father (not frum) of a Baal Teshuva asked his son for a loan. The son agreed to give his Father the loan on condition that he starts to keep Shabbos. Is this a problem of ribis?
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1answer
57 views

Early bird discounts and ribbis

Are early-bird discounts ribbis? For example, "buy before March 1, 10% off", or "tickets $12 in advance, $15 at the door" Inspired by http://myparnasa.com/collecting-interest-ribbis/