Positive Commandment 198 (Digest)
Taking Interest from a Gentile
"Take interest from the gentile"—Deuteronomy 23:21.
When issuing a loan to a non-Jew, we are commanded to charge interest. [This commandment only applies to a non-Jew who has not accepted upon himself the Seven Noahide Laws.] The Sages enacted various restrictions to this mitzvah [such as forbidding the charging of outright interest].
The 198th mitzvah is that we are commanded to charge interest to a non-Jew and only then lend him money, in order that we not assist him nor give him rest. Rather we should cause him [financial] loss, even with the kind of interest that we are forbidden from taking from a Jew.
The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement (exalted be He), "You shall take interest from a non-Jew." The Oral Tradition explains that this does not only give permission, but is a command, as stated in the Sifri: "The phrase 'You shall take interest from a non-Jew' constitutes a positive commandment. The phrase 'You shall not take interest from your brother' constitutes a prohibition."
This commandment also has rabbinically ordained conditions, as explained in tractate Bava Metzia.
Rabbi Berel Bell is a well-known educator, author and lecturer. He and his family reside in Montreal, Canada.
From "Sefer Hamitzvot in English," published by
Sichos in English.
Translation of (the unabridged text of) Sefer Hamitzvot by Rabbi Berel Bell, member of the Rabbinical Court of Montreal and director of Teacher Training for the Jewish Learning Institute.
From "Sefer Hamitzvot in English," published by
Sichos in English.
