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    Money lending – Ask the Rabbi

    Q. Is lending money with interest permissible in Jewish law?

    A. The Torah prohibits a Jew from any borrowing or lending that involves another Jew in the payment of ribbit (interest).

    A Jew may pay interest to a gentile or charge them interest so long as the rates are fair.

    Why does the payment of interest not apply to a fellow Jew? Because they are family, and family should support each other out of love and concern.

    The Maharal of Prague said that treating each other in this way like loving siblings was rewarded by God redeeming the Israelites from Egypt.

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