Questions tagged [lending-interest-ribbis]
The prohibition on lending or borrowing at interest. Also known as usury.
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How do you pay a debt (not a loan) in a different currency?
Shimon, in Eretz Yisrael, makes a purchase on behalf of Reuven, in the diaspora. For Reuven the cost of paying in shekels would be quite high, but Shimon can receive the payment in another currency ...
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Pawnshop Interest in Halacha
Suppose a Jewish fellow needs a loan of $50,000 and has been declined by the bank due to his credit record. The local Gemach can not lend such a large sum so he decides to give his expensive car as ...
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Ribbis exception for non-observant Jew
Shulchan Aruch Yore Deah 159:2 permits charging ribbis (interest) from a non-observant Jew (i.e one who is completely removed from the Jewish people).
Although such a Jew has the status of a Jew in ...
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Is there Ribis in America?
Rav Moshe Feinstein, z"l, is lenient with regard to allowing the loaning of money to a corporation because he maintains that the prohibition of ribis (usury) only applies where there is a shibud haguf ...
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Objective reasoning beyond feelings [closed]
I was learning recently Tosefos in Avodah Zarah and I came to the statement from Kidushin (20a)
ניזבין אינש ברתיה ולא ניזיף בריביתא. מאי טעמא? ברתיה מגרעא ונפקא, והא מוספא ואזלא
A person should ...
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When is Fixed Interest Allowed?
It says in an article at VBM Torah:
It should be remembered that Halakha makes explicit mention of particular bodies to whom it is permissible to lend at interest (e.g., the community)
So what ...
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Is investing problematic?
Are there any issues involved in investing in stocks or other mediums owned by a Jewish company?
I am referring to ribit (interest).
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Are there Ribbis implications in this transaction and what are they?
Reuven wants to lend Shimmon money backed by a piece of real estate that belongs to Shimmon. Instead of lending money, they make a deal that Reuven will purchase the real estate for the amount of ...
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An actual Heter Iska Agreement
Can anyone provide a copy of an actual heter iska agreement used for example by a bank in Israel for purposes of business loans or mortgages? I don't mean a haskama that such and such bank operates ...
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What defines a loan and interest?
What specifically is it that defines a loan ( as opposed to an investment / partnership ) and interest ( as opposed to profit ) under Jewish law?
This is what I've come up with:
Regarding an ...
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Is it usury to give a lender more than you borrowed on a Shemittah-cancelled loan?
Let's say that, prior to Shemitah, Reuven borrowed a bottle of milk from Shim'on, it had already been opened and partially consumed. For whatever reason, Reuven was unable to return the milk, and ...
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Corporations, Jewish Shareholders and Interest
How many Jewish shareholders does a corporation or bank have to have in order for the prohibitions on lending or borrowing at interest to apply?
Is one Jewish shareholder sufficient, or does it ...
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How do Interest Loans work in Israel?
From my understanding, banks in Israel still issue loans at an interest whether it be for commercial businesses or new home owners. However, I was also told that they have a process in Israel where ...
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How was the market price established in the time of the gemoro?
Rambam - Malveh veLoveh - Chapter 9 paskens
א. אין פוסקין על הפירות עד שיצא השער An order for produce cannot be
placed until a market price has been established.
according to the mishnah in ...
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Do the laws of Ribis apply to loans of virtual currency?
If a Jew lends a player in a multiplayer online game money, and he knows without a doubt that that player is Jewish, does the prohibition of ribis apply? (After all, the only thing that changed was a ...
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Lending Money and Inflation
When lending money, Jews are not allowed to charge other Jews interest. However, due to inflation, the value of money decreases with time, such that the money that is repaid is worth less than that ...
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replacing a used borrowed item which broke with a new item which is more valuable
If a person borrowed an item from a neighbor (such as a plastic chair) and the item broke due to negligence by the borrower. Can the borrower purchase a new identical item and give that back to the ...
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Is there a prohibition of paying interest misafek (doubt)?
Reuvain borrowed money from Shimon, and both are unsure if it was ever payed back. Now, of course Shimon can't claim any money from Reuvain, but if Reuvain wants to pay him back out of doubt, should ...
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Not paying interest
Suppose someone asks his friend for a loan and he says "sure, no problem, but there is interest that comes along with that". Later, the borrower repays just the principal and says "the Torah forbids ...
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How does Beis Din handle loans with interest?
If a borrower and a lender go to Beis Din with a loan document that stipulates interest, but the borrower claims he can at least collect the principle, how does Beis Din look at that?
Do they ...
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Can the promise to repay through a credit card be considered a guarantee for a loan to a Gemach?
Money Gemachs typically insist on at least one guarantor before they make a loan.
Someone needing a loan, suggests to the Gemach that his guarantor will be his credit card. He is using the Gemach to ...
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Am I allowed to get miles or points for a loan?
Suppose me and my good friend Shimon are in a store shopping. Shimon wants to borrow $100 from me for his purchase. I graciously agree, but instead of giving Shimon cash, I swipe my credit card for ...
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Borrowing in a foreign currency [duplicate]
If someone borrows money from a friend, and later reimburses him using a different country's money, how can he make sure there are no halahik complications, such as making interest? Based on what rate ...
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Is requesting early payment on a loan considered a (prohibited) form of interest?
Can a Jewish-owned business that extends interest-free house account/credit, billable on a monthly basis (as per signed agreement), demand early payment? Would this be considered taking interest, as ...
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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 of forbidden usury.
What if someone is giving away a gift to some as a time-...
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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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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/
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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
of ...
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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 ...
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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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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 ...
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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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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 ...
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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 known ...
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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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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 ...
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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 ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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