✦ ❖ ✦ D A A T · L E V E L 3 — S Y N T H E S I S / R E V I E W ✦ ❖ ✦

Siman 160 — The severity of the prohibition of interest, and how far one must guard against it

גודל איסור הרבית ועד היכן צריך ליזהר ממנו

Twenty-three seifim, and the foundation of the whole block on lending at interest: how many prohibitions, who transgresses them, what is recovered in court, and how far vigilance reaches when nothing was stipulated
Structured review, ruling tables, rapid memorisation

Source: Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah ק״ס — 23 seifim
Commentators: ש״ך (37 ס״ק) · ט״ז (22 ס״ק) · פתחי תשובה (25 ס״ק) · באר היטב (25 ס״ק) · נקודות הכסף (6) · בית יוסף · טור
Compilation: הרב יוסף חיים סממה · DAAT
For students who have mastered Levels 1 and 2
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📑 Plan of the synthesis

The axiom: interest is measured by the slope, not by the sum
The 3 reflex questions
Master table — the twenty-three seifim, one line each
The double table: רבית קצוצה and אבק רבית
Who transgresses, and which prohibition
What was not stipulated — seifim 4 to 9
Interest that costs nothing — seifim 10 to 12
The four third-party arrangements — seifim 13 to 16
The special regimes — seifim 17 to 23
Golden rules, mnemonic, pitfalls and flash card

1. The axiom: interest is measured by the slope, not by the sum

The starting point:

The siman never asks how much. It asks whether something passed from borrower to lender because of the loan. That is why a morning greeting stands in it on the same footing as a principal sum, and why reciprocity — two friends doing each other turns by turns — does not stand in it at all.

Hence the axiom: the prohibition of interest is a prohibition of direction. Twenty-three seifim follow from it, and the two words that classify them — רבית קצוצה and אבק רבית — do not state gravity but regime: what is recovered in court, and what is not.

The two verses from which everything starts, and the Talmudic line that classifies them:

« לֹא־תַשִּׁ֣יךְ לְאָחִ֔יךָ נֶ֥שֶׁךְ כֶּ֖סֶף נֶ֣שֶׁךְ אֹ֑כֶל נֶ֕שֶׁךְ כׇּל־דָּבָ֖ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִשָּֽׁךְ׃ » (דברים כ״ג:כ׳)

« אַל־תִּקַּ֤ח מֵֽאִתּוֹ֙ נֶ֣שֶׁךְ וְתַרְבִּ֔ית וְיָרֵ֖אתָ מֵֽאֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ וְחֵ֥י אָחִ֖יךָ עִמָּֽךְ׃ » (ויקרא כ״ה:ל״ו)

« אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: רִבִּית קְצוּצָה יוֹצְאָה בְּדַיָּינִין, אֲבַק רִבִּית אֵינָהּ יוֹצְאָה בְּדַיָּינִין » (בבא מציעא ס״א ע״ב)

💡 The marker: the siman’s word is not כמה but מחמת — not “how much”, but “on account of what”.

2. The 3 reflex questions

1. Has anything changed hands? A sum, an object, a service, a word, a piece of information, an honour. The verse says נשך כל דבר אשר ישך, and the baraita adds אפילו דיבור אסור.

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2. Is it because of the loan? The siman’s test is almost always the same: אם לא היה רגיל בזה מקודם. What existed before continues; what begins with the loan is interest.

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3. Was it cut and fixed in advance? שקצץ והתנה — then it is fixed interest, from the Torah, and it is recovered. If not, it is dust of interest, rabbinic, and it is not recovered.

3. Master table — the twenty-three seifim, one line each

Seif	In one line
1	One must guard against interest; several prohibitions were stated, and the borrower, guarantor and witnesses transgress too. Gloss: no difference poor/rich; and the borrower transgresses only in Torah-level interest.
2	Whoever lends at interest — his property crumbles, and it is as though he denied the Exodus and the God of Israel.
3	One who passes his money off as a non-Jew’s in order to lend it at interest — Heaven will exact payment from him.
4	A surplus given willingly at repayment, unstipulated and unnamed as interest: forbidden. Gloss: permitted if the money was held by way of a sale.
5	“I give it to you as a gift” achieves nothing; but a waiver, once the interest is due back, works as in any theft.
6	Forbidden to advance or defer the interest; if he did, it is dust of interest. Gloss: provided he specified, or the gift is large.
7	The lender may not benefit from the borrower without his knowledge; with it, only what he would have done anyway, and never in public.
8	It is forbidden to lend at interest even to one’s sons and household.
9	Forbidden to work for another against heavier work, even the same work in a harder season. Gloss: a loan repaid by a loan — two views.
10	Forbidden to teach the lender or his son, if he was not accustomed to before.
11	Forbidden to greet him first, if he was not accustomed to.
12	Forbidden to ask him for information. Gloss: likewise all interest in words, and even a mere benefit; and one does not betroth a woman with the benefit of a loan.
13	Permitted: “here is a zuz, lend ten dinars to so-and-so” — with no reflux, no instruction from the borrower, and on one view not even persuasion.
14	Forbidden: “I lend you on condition you give a zuz to so-and-so”, even to a non-Jew — and it is fixed interest.
15	Some say: forbidden to say “tell so-and-so to give you four dinars and I will lend you”.
16	Permitted: “here is a zuz, tell so-and-so to lend me”, even to the lender’s son if he is an adult and independent. Gloss: the agent’s permission, disputed, upheld at need, and its three limits.
17	Talmidei ḥakhamim, on foodstuffs, up to a fifth: permitted. Gloss: some permit even with a stipulation, in a small amount — but let them not make a habit of it.
18	All rabbinic interest is permitted with orphans’ money, hekdesh of the poor, Talmud Torah, synagogue. Gloss: the custom is lenient; lending at fixed interest is a mistaken custom; the orphan is believed without an oath.
19	The guardian who lent at fixed interest: if the borrower earned as much as was stipulated, he must give it to the orphans.
20	If he fed the orphans with it, they are exempt even once grown; and so is the guardian. The lender is not believed to say it was hekdesh, without proof.
21	A hundred lent for a hundred and twenty, the value having fallen: forbidden by Torah law — we follow the outset. A hundred for a hundred, the value having risen: rabbinic.
22	Permitted to borrow at interest for the saving of life. Gloss: not for communal needs, except in great need.
23	Lending on condition of receiving all the borrower’s work: forbidden. Gloss: on the view that a benefit counts as money, it is fixed interest — but reciprocity is permitted.

4. The double table: רבית קצוצה and אבק רבית

The case	Regime	Where	What follows
Interest stipulated in advance	רבית קצוצה	Seif 14	Torah-level — recovered from the lender
A gift sent before the loan, with specification	אבק רבית	Seif 6 · Shach ס״ק ח	Beit Yosef in צ״ע — the Ateret Zahav: dust, not recoverable
A gift sent after repayment	אבק רבית	Seif 6	Rabbinic — not recoverable
A surplus at repayment, unspoken	אסור	Seif 4 · Shach ס״ק ד	Forbidden because מחזי כרבית
Interest paid to a third party named by the lender	רבית קצוצה	Seif 14 · Shach ס״ק יט	Recovered — ומפקינן מיניה
A zuz given to a third party so he lends	מותר	Seif 13	Permitted — the interest does not come from the borrower
The wage of a word	מותר	Seif 16 · Bava Metzia 69b	Permitted — but not to a dependent son
Near to profit and far from loss	אבק רבית	Seif 18 · Rambam ch. 4	רשע for anyone · permitted for orphans
The artisan’s work, stipulated	רבית קצוצה	Seif 23 · gloss	On the view that טובת הנאה counts as money
Reciprocity between two friends	מותר	Seif 23 · end of the gloss	Permitted — the direction cancels

💡 Do not confuse. אבק רבית does not translate as “a light prohibition”: seif 6 is a full prohibition. The word says only that the judge will not order it returned.

5. Who transgresses, and which prohibition

Who	Which prohibition	Source
The lender	בכולן — ששה לאוין	Mishna · Rambam ch. 4 §2
The borrower who pays	לא תשיך לאחיך · ולפני עור	Seif 1 and its gloss — Torah level only
The guarantor	לא תשימון עליו נשך	Seif 1 · Pitḥei Teshuva ס״ק ב on the oral loan
The witnesses	לא תשימון עליו נשך	Seif 1 · Pitḥei Teshuva ס״ק ג — rabbinic: לפני עור only
The scribe	לא תשימון עליו נשך	Mishna, in the Sages’ name · Shach ס״ק א
The broker and anyone assisting	לפני עור לא תתן מכשול	Shach ס״ק א in the name of the Rambam and the Semag

The mishna, and Abaye’s division of it:

« וְאֵלּוּ עוֹבְרִין בְּלֹא תַעֲשֶׂה: הַמַּלְוֶה וְהַלֹּוֶה וְהֶעָרֵב וְהָעֵדִים. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים: אַף הַסּוֹפֵר » (בבא מציעא ע״ה ע״ב)

« אָמַר אַבָּיֵי: מַלְוֶה עוֹבֵר בְּכוּלָּן. לֹוֶה עוֹבֵר מִשּׁוּם ״לֹא תַשִּׁיךְ לְאָחִיךָ״. ״וּלְאָחִיךָ לֹא תַשִּׁיךְ״, ״וְלִפְנֵי עִוֵּר לֹא תִתֵּן מִכְשׁוֹל״. עָרֵב וְהָעֵדִים אֵין עוֹבְרִין אֶלָּא מִשּׁוּם ״לֹא תְשִׂימוּן עָלָיו נֶשֶׁךְ » (בבא מציעא ע״ה ע״ב)

6. What was not stipulated — seifim 4 to 9

Six seifim and one question: where is the line when no one said anything? The Shach formulates it in a sentence, and that sentence reconciles the poskim.

« אלא נראה לי דודאי היכא דאיכא למתלי ברבית ובמתנה אסור משום דמחזי כרבית » (ש״ך יו״ד ק״ס ס״ק ד)

« ונראה לי דהכל לפי הענין ולפי מה שניכר בדעת משלח ועל פי זה יש לומר דלא פליגי הפוסקים » (ש״ך יו״ד ק״ס ס״ק י)

« שכיון שנהנה ממנו בלא רשותו נראה שסומך עליו שבשביל מעותיו שבידו יסבול לו » (ש״ך יו״ד ק״ס ס״ק י״א)

💡 The thread of seifim 4 to 9. Nothing was stipulated, and yet everything there is forbidden — except what existed before the loan. That is the one thread running through all six.

7. Interest that costs nothing — seifim 10 to 12

Three seifim in which nothing changes hands: a lesson, a greeting, a piece of information. The baraita gives the foundation, and the Rambam repeats it.

« רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחַי אוֹמֵר: מִנַּיִן לַנּוֹשֶׁה בַּחֲבֵירוֹ מָנֶה, וְאֵינוֹ רָגִיל לְהַקְדִּים לוֹ שָׁלוֹם, שֶׁאָסוּר לְהַקְדִּים לוֹ שָׁלוֹם – תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: ״נֶשֶׁךְ כׇּל דָּבָר אֲשֶׁר יִשָּׁךְ״ – אֲפִילּוּ דִּיבּוּר אָסוּר » (בבא מציעא ע״ה ע״ב)

« רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר: יֵשׁ רִבִּית דְּבָרִים. לֹא יֹאמַר לוֹ ״דַּע כִּי בָּא אִישׁ פְּלוֹנִי מִמָּקוֹם פְּלוֹנִי » (בבא מציעא ע״ה ע״ב)

« וְאֵין צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר שֶׁיְּקַלְּסוֹ בִּדְבָרִים אוֹ יַשְׁכִּים לְפִתְחוֹ » (רמב״ם הלכות מלווה ולווה פרק ה׳ הלכה י״ב)

« פי׳ שבזה שמצוה עליו והוא נכנע לו הוה רבית דברים » (ט״ז יו״ד ק״ס ס״ק ה)

8. The four third-party arrangements — seifim 13 to 16

Four seifim, four variants, and a line of Rava that separates them:

« לֹא אָסְרָה תּוֹרָה אֶלָּא רִבִּית הַבָּאָה מִלֹּוֶה לְמַלְוֶה » (בבא מציעא ס״ט ע״ב)

Seif	The case	Regime
13	“Here is a zuz, lend to him” — the third party gives to the lender	Permitted, with three reservations
14	“I lend you on condition you give to so-and-so” — the borrower gives the third party	Forbidden — fixed interest
15	“Tell so-and-so to give you four dinars” — the third party gives the borrower	Some say forbidden — Bach: a copyist’s error
16	“Here is a zuz, tell him to lend me” — the borrower pays for a word	Permitted — שכר אמירה

💡 The gloss on seif 16 lays over these four cases the controversy of אין שליח לדבר עבירה: the Beit Yosef, the Levush and the Taz reject it; the Rama, the Shach, the Nekudot HaKesef and the Bach uphold it — and the Rama himself limits it to לעת הצורך.

9. The special regimes — seifim 17 to 23

Seif	The case	What follows
17	Talmidei ḥakhamim, foodstuffs, up to a fifth	Both must be (Shach ס״ק כד) · the fifth is מלגיו (ס״ק כה)
18	Orphans, hekdesh of the poor, Talmud Torah, synagogue	Avak only · the Shach never saw the custom · the Noda BiYehuda gives the written form
19	The guardian who transgressed, and the profit	Taz: half of all the profit · Shach: not beyond the stipulation
20	Interest already consumed	הגוזל ומאכיל בניו — exempt · the guardian too
21	The value of the currency	בתר מעיקרא אזלינן — Torah or rabbinic depending on the direction of the shift
22	Saving of life, and communal needs	Borrowing only · for the community, לצורך גדול
23	The borrower’s work, and the benefit	Shach ס״ק לז: two configurations, and one is fixed interest in everyone’s view

« ובכל מקומות שהייתי לא ראיתי מנהג זה וגם חקרתי ודרשתי ולא שמעתי שנוהגין כן » (ש״ך יו״ד ק״ס ס״ק כ״ו)

« אבל המלוה פשיטא שעושה איסור דמה פיקוח נפש יש לו שצריך ליקח רבית אדרבה מוטל עליו להלוות בחנם שנאמר לא תעמוד על דם רעך » (ט״ז יו״ד ק״ס ס״ק כ״א)

10. Golden rules, mnemonic, pitfalls and flash card

The 7 golden rules

Direction, not amount. A greeting suffices; reciprocity does not.
The test is almost always prior habit. אם לא היה רגיל בזה מקודם — seifim 7, 10, 11.
The ketzitza decides the regime, not the gravity. Fixed: recovered. Dust: not recovered.
The borrower is not caught as the lender is. In rabbinic interest only לפני עור remains for him.
A third-party permission rests on three conditions. No reflux, no instruction from the borrower, and — on the third view — not even a request.
Orphans’ money opens avak, never fixed interest. The contrary custom is named מנהג טעות.
Saving of life permits borrowing, never lending. The Taz, ס״ק כא.

Mnemonic — the word רבית
ר — רגילות החטא: why the borrower too is warned (Tur)
ב — בתר מעיקרא אזלינן: the moment of measurement (seif 21)
י — יתומים: the one place avak is permitted (seif 18)
ת — טובת הנאה: the siman’s last gate (seif 23)

The 5 classic pitfalls

Confusing gravity with regime. אבק רבית does not mean “light”: it means “not recoverable in court”. Seif 6 is a full prohibition.
Thinking seif 22 permits lending. It permits borrowing. The Taz insists: the lender is obliged to lend for nothing.
Taking seif 16’s permission as a general device. The Rama upholds it לעת הצורך; the Levush and the Taz reject it entirely; and it falls if the borrower received the money himself.
Thinking orphans’ money is a regime of favour. The Shach (ס״ק כט) applies “orphan” to any adult unable to handle his property: the reason of the device governs, not age.
Reading seif 4 as though silence saved. Silence is precisely what is forbidden there, and the Shach explains why: מחזי כרבית.

Flash card. וכמה לאוין נאמרו בו → מלוה · לוה · ערב · עדים · סופר → רבית קצוצה יוצאה בדיינין → אבק רבית אינה יוצאה → מדעתו בשעת הפרעון אסור → מועלת מחילה → מוקדמת ומאוחרת → רבית דברים → שכר אמירה → תלמידי חכמים עד חומש → מעות יתומים → פקוח נפש → טובת הנאה.

🎓 Recap of the study path

Level 1 — Base: the text of the twenty-three seifim, its translation, the vocabulary, the apparatus
Level 2 — Lamdan: the ten disputes, the ḥakirot and the nafka minot
Level 4 — Halakha lema‘asse: the practical ruling and contemporary cases