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Why does the Torah (תורה) prohibit charging interest when most borrowers would actually prefer to pay it? Unlike renting physical objects, lending money forces borrowers to use their creativity and labor to repay more than they received, creating partial servitude. The Torah frames these laws in terms of brotherhood - family members should help develop each other's potential, not profit from their struggles.
This shiur provides a comprehensive examination of the Torah (תורה)'s laws regarding interest (ribbis), addressing three fundamental questions that challenge our modern understanding. The speaker begins by questioning why the Torah prohibits charging interest when most borrowers would actually prefer to pay it, especially when lenders are sacrificing secured returns from banks for unsecured personal loans. The core analysis distinguishes between renting tangible items (cars, houses, furniture) and lending money. Unlike physical objects that have intrinsic use value, money itself has no inherent utility. When someone borrows money and must pay back more than they received, they must use their creativity, ingenuity, and labor to generate the additional amount. Therefore, charging interest effectively means taking ownership of the borrower's abilities and productivity, creating a form of partial servitude.
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Vayikra 25:35-38
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