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Why can you rent a car for money but not charge interest on a loan? Money has no intrinsic value - it's pure potential that only gains worth through the borrower's wisdom and effort. Charging interest therefore claims ownership over another person's mental faculties, which the Torah (תורה) prohibits as a form of enslavement.
Rabbi Zweig analyzes Koheles 7:12, "Ki betzel ha-chochma betzel ha-kesef" (in the shadow of wisdom is the shadow of money), addressing the apparent contradiction between the Talmud (תלמוד)'s teaching that money is mazal (divinely ordained) and Shlomo HaMelech's connection between money and wisdom. He begins with a fundamental question about ribbis (interest): why can one rent a car for money but not charge interest on a monetary loan? The rabbi explains that when renting a car, one pays for the car's inherent use - transportation, convenience, status. The car itself provides value. Money, however, has no intrinsic use or value beyond being potential. To generate profit from borrowed money requires the borrower's intelligence, effort, and decision-making. When a lender charges interest, they are essentially claiming ownership over the borrower's mental faculties and abilities, which the Torah (תורה) prohibits as a form of enslavement.
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Koheles 7:12
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