Questions tagged [money]
Questions pertaining to money, including both physical currency and finances, in general.
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Prosperity in Judaism
Is there a duality notion of prosperity in Judaism? I say this because there are texts that suggest that prosperity or well-being leads to destruction, as in Proverbs 1:32. If the impression of well-...
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Bets with prior knowledge
If two people make a bet, and it comes out that one of them had knowledge that gave him the upper hand on the bet, is the bet valid? What if the person with prior knowledge was wrong?
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Why money is not mentioned in Job's wealth?
Job was famously a rich guy:
"his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yokes of oxen and five hundred she-asses, and a very large household. That man was ...
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Is a ketubah valid without agreement on value of zuz/zekukim?
I would have thought that a contract is only valid if both parties agree on the definitions of the terms mentioned, especially when it comes to specifying how much money is at stake. That said, as ...
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What can a husband do halachically if his wife steals money from him?
Suppose a wife takes a significant amount of money from her husband without his knowledge. Or perhaps, she transfers an asset into her name, without him knowing.
Or in another case, she misleads him ...
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Wife's money belonging to husband [duplicate]
If the wife's money belongs to the husband, does it mean she has no voice in financial decisions?
May he forbid her from having the access to the money (savings accounts) because "it is all his ...
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Profiting from Palestinian businesses that harm Jews
Many Orthodox men in Israel (who are relatively poor and frequently save on car insurance) fix their cars in Palestinian garages over the border. Prices can be ridiculously low relative to Israeli ...
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Who pays for extra time spent on a defective product?
The scenario: a guy charges $50 an hour, offers to replace a computer disk with a bigger one. For convenience, he also buys the new drive for the client from a supplier. After three hours of work (...
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Question about reincarnation
I once heard a Rabbi recount a story of the Baal Shem Tov. A student of the Baal Shem Tov witnessed a rich man leave some money in an area, a poor man found it and took it. The student asked the Baal ...
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Inflation in ancient times
The Tanakh, the Talmud and the midrashim are full of references to the cost of things. But can comparisons be made, or was there an inflation factor that devalued the currencies?
Consider:
-Abraham ...
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paying for food on Yom Tov
In my daf yomi study of Chapter 3 of Beitzah, people are going on the Yom Tov itself to butchers for meat and stores for groceries for their holiday meals. There are all sorts of stipulations on how ...
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What role did the Jews play in the Medieval money system (pre-banking, merchants, etc.)? [closed]
I just read here:
In the middle of the 13th century, groups of Italian Christians, particularly the Cahorsins and Lombards, invented legal fictions to get around the ban on Christian usury;[147] for ...
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How does a Jewish operated bank make money if the clientele are all Jewish?
As it was/is forbidden for the Israelites to charge usury/interest to a fellow Israelite, I began researching the banking practices of the Israelites in the Torah. That being said/written, interest ...
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Where to look for seforim funding?
I'm working on a book to bring iyun torah to everyone through a clear, English, user-friendly book of 11 essays of chiddushim in various talmudic topics. The idea is that learning in depth is ...
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Must one give maaser on cash back?
Does one need to give maaser on cash back earned, as a percentage of the sum spent, through extensions such as Rakuten or Honey, or via debit/credit card offers?
Is it considered new income, and ...
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Should we accept donations of tainted money?
A lot has been written on whether donations of tainted money should be accepted. The money is tainted either because it is ill-gotten or because the donor is ethically challenged (e.g., sexual ...
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Is there a rabinical ruling where coins that circulate decides who the legitimate king is?
I've heard there is a story. The story is that David got angry to a civilian because the civilian doesn't obey him.
However, he is told by somebody that his coins didn't circulate yet.
So the ...
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Why is the flour option available in only one case?
Vayikra 5 describes the offering required as a Chatat. This subcategory allows offerings of varying value, depending on what the guilty person can afford. Vayikra 5:11 reads
וְאִם־לֹא֩ תַשִּׂ֨יג ...
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Is there a teaching that states, those who work deserve to be paid?
Is there a teaching that states, those who work deserve to be paid?
The longer version is:
Where in the Torah, as according to the rabbis, is there a concept or a mitzvah that states, something like, ...
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Selling a house after COVID
According to the mishna on 25b of Masechet Megilla, "בני העיר שמכרו רחובה של עיר לוקחין בדמיו בית הכנסת" (if the people of a city sell an open area, the money is used to buy a synagogue). ...
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What are the economics of charity collectors who come from outside the United States?
In my shul from time to time someone from outside the United States, usually from Israel, comes to collect charity. I would like to better understand the economics of this process. I had heard ...
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Handling food valued as currency on Shabbos
What is the status of a food item on Shabbos which a country declares as legal tender? For example, if a developing country designates chocolate as legal tender, may one consume, handle, or "...
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Different languages describing forefathers' wealth
Off the top of my head, I bring three different verses describing the (enormous) wealth of our forefathers, each mentioning different parts of it:
Abraham: "וְאַבְרָם כָּבֵד מְאֹד בַּמִּקְנֶה ...
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Is having a bank account a violation of the mitzvah not to charge interest?
Since when you have a bank account you are technically loaning money to the bank and charging the bank interest, is this a violation of the negative mitzvah not to charge interest on a loan? Or for a ...
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Do the Sources include any halacha on insurance companies?
Is there any evidence that they had insurance companies, with policies and premiums, in biblical or Talmudic times? If so, what halachic constraints were placed on these practices?
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If shemittah passed, is it still honorable to repay a debt?
If Reuven owes Shimon $10, and shemittah passed, and Reuven remembered he never paid Shimon, yet he still wants to, should he? Is it honorable?
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Can you be forgiven for a debt without paying?
Two part question here.
Curious if anyone knows of anything chazal says on the concept of owing people money and not paying back in a timely fashion, or not paying back at all, regarding the severity ...
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Asking a monetary Shaila on Shabbos
Is it Mutar to ask a Rav a monetary Shaila on Shabbos (assuming your are not merely asking for the sake of Torah, but the Shaila is actually relevant practically)?
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When forgiving a loan, in front of whom do you need to say it ? Which details need to be mentioned?
Reuven lent Shimon money indefinitely, he said "pay me back when you have extra money". It's been a number of years, and Reuven has never brought it up, and would like to forgive Shimon. He ...
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Giving Tzedakah Less than a Perutah
The consensus among poskim is that a prutah is 1/40 of a gram of silver, which is usually more than 1 cent but less than 5 cents. So if a person only gives a penny to tzedakah (let's say that is all ...
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Finance in the Torah
Knowing that Finance is an integral part of one's daily life, is the idea of how one should budget mentioned in the Torah Sh'beksav or Torah Sh'baal Peh?
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Is destroying money Bal Tashchit
Aside from the national legality of destroying currency, does the Torah consider the intention of lowering inflation a valid reason for destroying money, or will it fall under Bal Tashchit?
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Who is rich in matters of courtship?
The Mishna says: If a man says to a woman, "Marry me. I am rich.", and she agrees, but it turns out he is poor, the betrothal is not valid. If a man says to a woman, "Marry me, even though I am poor."...
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When making bank deposits, does one have to filter out foreign coins if the bank itself doesn't?
Where I live, one can go to any bank and buy rolls (or cases!) of pennies, and one can also redeem such rolls. Merchants do both of these often.
I have noticed that rolls of pennies occasionally ...
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Forefathers and consumerism - why they had more that they can eat?
Yaakov said (Gen 33.11):
... כִּי־חַנַּנִי אֱלֹהִים וְכִי יֶשׁ־לִי־כֹל ...׃
... for God has favored me and I have everything...
Rashi:
יש לי כל: כָּל סִפּוּקִי; וְעֵשָׂו דִּבֵּר בִּלְשׁוֹן ...
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What punitive powers, if any, does a modern day Beit Din posses?
If a person is summoned to a Beit Din today for a legal or monetary dispute and refuses to come to the Beit Din or participate in the process in any way, what punitive powers does a Beit Din in ...
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Charity given to poor person who then becomes wealthy
If someone decided to help a poor family out by giving them a substantial amount of money (years worth) and then subsequently the poor gets yerusha or wins the lottery, according to the halacha does ...
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Halachic definition of a house for rent
House renting services like Airbnb are very popular these days and I've used their services while traveling abroad. Usually, the advertisement requires pictures of the place, but many times those are ...
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Paying taxes to a corrupted government [duplicate]
There are many countries with corrupted governments who steal taxpayers' money. Is one still obliged to pay taxes if the government is corrupted and steals a big fraction of the taxes one pays? What's ...
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Can Etrog and Lulav be too cheap?
In the last years, in Israel, on Erev Chag Succot, about 4 hours before the Chag begins, we witness an interesting phenomenon - incredible price drop for the 4 Minim, especially the expensive Etrog ...
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When selling a house, what pieces of furniture go with it?
Based on Baba Batrah 65-67, what are the opinions in the contemporary Halacha about what pieces of furniture are considered "house" and what not, when one sells a house at a fixed price?
Is selling ...
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Is there ever a case that the groom can get back the money he used for the wedding
Halachikly the groom is the one who pays for the wedding (last paragraph on this page Igros Moshe 7 even ezer 4:92:1 and can the bride's family force Sheva Brachot )
Is there ever a case that the ...
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"Penny Press" machines and erasing G-d's name [duplicate]
NOTE: while a bit similar to this question, they're not entirely the same. For example: this question is more of a "grama"/ indirect causation of erasing G-d's name (via pushing a button) vs. a person ...
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How come the Rambam forbids picking up money found in the street?
I always understood that, when one sees a banknote in the street, one is allowed to keep it (and others wrote this way, e.g., R Belsky here and businesshalacha there #17).
Then I saw the Rambam ...
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Issues with owning publicly-traded stock of certain companies and deriving benefit from it? [duplicate]
Is it prohibited to own publicly-traded stock in a company that owns and runs restaurants that sell cheeseburgers and/or other foods where the meat and milk is mixed together while cooking or owns ...
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Torah Source For Emergency Fund?
Although it might seem obvious to responsible individuals to have an "emergency fund", some might say it's a lack of bitachon - is there a Torah source (Gemara, Midrash, Halacha, etc) for saving up ...
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Does a broker keep the leads he worked on?
A broker works at a Merchant Cash Advance Company and the company provides leads to the broker. The broker's job is to sort through those leads, identify the ones that are really interested, build ...
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What Jewish monetary laws defy common logic?
While most laws stem from the Sages' logic presented in the Gemmorah, there is a subset of Halochos called Hukim (decrees) that are to be taken without understanding their reasoning.
Are there Hukim ...
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Why is the word for silver in Torah the same word for money? [closed]
Is there a reason why the Hebrew word for silver is the same word for money in Hebrew?
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What can the proceeds from the sale of a pasul Sefer Torah be used for?
What are the restrictions, if any, on what the proceeds on the sale of a pasul Sefer Torah can be used for?
Can the proceeds be used for capital improvements to the Shul?
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