Jewish Law in Transition

"A well-known biblical prohibition strictly forbids Israelites to lend to each other on interest. As formulated in Exodus 22:24, the verse reads, "If you lend to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor, and you shall not exact interest from him." The intention of this prohibition was to prevent the wealthy from exploiting the unfortunate, though over time it was seen to have consequences for the economic welfare of Jewish society as a whole. As a result, Jewish law (halakhah) has over the centuries relaxed the biblical injunction, allowing interest charges despite the biblical prohibition." "Gamoran examines the biblical injunction and postulates when it was written, why it was written, and to whom it applied. He then considers the early and later teachers of the Oral Law, the Tannaim and Amoraim, who expanded discussion of the ban in light of various business activities from 70 C.E to 500 C.E. Finally, for each of the five activities, he explores how the original tannaitic proscriptions were upheld or relaxed over the centuries. Each activity is considered in the period of the Geonim (ca. 650-1050), the Rishonim (ca.1000-1500), and the Aharonim (ca. 1500-2000), and for each period, Gamoran shows how the Rabbis, through inventive interpretation, struggled with the law and with one another to create the legal fictions necessary for business life to flourish."--BOOK JACKET.