Posted on 02/24/2012 4:02:43 PM PST by george76
No,but he apologized that he couldn’t make it!
“So does Judaism per Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:36-37, and Deuteronomy 23:19-20, although the Mosaic Law does allow charging interest to a Gentile.”
And that is an interesting point. It all depends upon the economic meaning of the word ‘interest’. Since, according to Exodus 22:10-15, I can rent out a farm animal, there is ZERO economic difference in renting the money the farm animal is worth. So the prohibition about charging ‘interest’ must lie elsewhere.
We know from many passages that we must be generous to those in need. One of the four components of an interest charge is related to the risk of default. But a person who is so poor that he must pawn his only coat so he can pay for the day’s living expenses would be such a poor credit risk that a lender must charge so much interest the borrower could not afford it. So, in this case the loan must be made as an act of charity.
This does not in any way diminish the property rights of the lender, nor the economic necessity for money to have a time value that he is properly able to be compensated for. He could can afford to pay must pay or else the voluntary exchange will not take place.
Since goyim are ‘outside the camp’ of Israel, they do not justify the considerations that God ordered Israel for each other. If any want to come under God’s blessings, they are welcome to convert.
The relentless decline of Capitalism has begun. The time has come to fight against poverty. Time to obliterate the injustices. Time for the correct system.Fascism instead of free markets, yeah! That's what we've been waiting to hear! /s
False conclusion, especially where shemitta is concerned (to you, that would be Deut. 15:1-9; to me it's a book I wrote on the topic of the laws in Lev. 25, which refer very intimately with the matters referenced to Deuteronomy). The macroeconomic goal with this aspect of the Judaic financial system is maximizing money velocity. Stored money has no value, other than its potential for contingencies which is not realized until it is spent. Hence, put it to work, or let someone else do so. What the Torah teaches is that wealth is held in trust for G-d; all we have is in fact His. Do not underestimate the subtlety of this system.
Before you reply assuming I am speaking exclusively in terms religious, I have a degree in economics, I was a manufacturing engineer and R&D project engineer with multimillion dollar responsibilities, and my father was a muni bond guy for thirty years involving projects as large as financing deepwater ports.
I say this because I am certain you do not understand the economic system of Lev. 25. My guess is that nobody does fully, including me, yet I probably know more about the real workings of Lev. 25 than any person alive! It is so much more integrated into the rest of the seven-year system that we have a hard time getting a fix on how it works. Take a gander on that site and I'm certain you'll begin to see what I mean.
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