The Talmudic Law of Mortgages in View of the Prohibition Against Lending on Interest
In talmudic times, property owners mortgaged their land in order to borrow money. During the period of the loan, the produce of the land was usually taken by the creditor. Since the creditor thereby profited, this arrangement appeared to violate the biblical law against lending on interest. The rabb...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
HUC
1982
|
| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual
Year: 1981, Volume: 52, Pages: 153-162 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
|
| Summary: | In talmudic times, property owners mortgaged their land in order to borrow money. During the period of the loan, the produce of the land was usually taken by the creditor. Since the creditor thereby profited, this arrangement appeared to violate the biblical law against lending on interest. The rabbis developed several types of mortgage transactions which they hoped would not be in violation of the law. In one such transaction, the value of the produce taken by the creditor was calculated and was used to reduce the debt. In another type of mortgage, the produce consumed by the creditor was offset by a fixed annual deduction. But flaws were discovered in both of these types of mortgage agreements and they were not accepted by all of the authorities. The solution proposed in the Talmud was a form of contract known as the mortgages of Sura. Such mortgages were written to indicate that after a certain number of years, the land returned to the debtor without payment. A mortgage written in this way meant that the debtor was, in effect, selling the produce of his land to the creditor for a fixed number of years. The mortgages of Sura were allowed by all the rabbis and apparently became the normal way to mortgage property without violating the biblical law against lending on interest. |
|---|---|
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual
|