On So-Called ‘Excessive’ Interest Rates

Here is a brilliant analysis, excerpted from Thomas Sowell’s “Intellectuals and Society” (p. 46 or thereabouts) concerning the laws against supposedly “predatory”, “exploitative”, etc. payday loans:

The underlying costs of providing financial services to people in low-income neighborhoods are likewise ignored by much, if not most, of the intelligentsia. Instead, the high rates of interest charged government intervention to put an end to “exploitative” and “unconscionable” interest rates.

Here verbal virtuosity is often used by stating interest rates in annual percentage terms, when in fact loans made in low-income neighborhoods are often made for a matter of weeks, or even days, to meet some exigency of the moment.

The sums of money lent are usually a few hundred dollars, lent for a few weeks, with interest charges of about $15 per $100 lent. That works out to annual interest rates in the hundreds—the kind of statistics that produce sensations in the media and in politics.

The costs behind such charges are seldom, if ever, investigated by the intelligentsia, by so-called “consumer advocates” or by others in the business of creating sensations and denouncing businesses that they know little or nothing about. The economic consequences of government intervention to limit the annual interest rate can be seen in a number of states where such limits have been imposed.

After Oregon imposed a limit of 36 percent annual interest, three-quarters of its “payday loan” businesses closed down.

Nor is it hard to see why. At a 36 percent limit on the annual interest rate, the $15 in interest charged for every $100 lent would be reduced to less than $1.50 for a loan payable in two weeks—an amount not likely to cover even the cost of processing the loan, much less the risks of making the loan.

Any amount of Ribbis (interest) is forbidden among Jews, and not because it is unfair.

Moshe Feiglin’s Decade-Old Article on Sderot – Still Relevant…

The Finger in the Gaza Dike

Why haven’t we evacuated the children of Sderot?

Moshe Feiglin, 04/03/08 23:52
The writer, former MK and Speaker of the Knesset, is head of the Zehut party, dedicated to providing Israel with authentic Jewish leadership. The party’s goals are based on Jewish identity and liberty. It strives to imbue every facet of Israeli life with the meaning of Jewish destiny.
The children of Sderot are the finger in the Gaza dike. They are there to save us all from the great flood. The difference between them and the Dutch Hans Brinker is that they did not volunteer for the job. We have forcibly stuck their fingers in the dike and returned to our own affairs.
Are we braver than the War of Independence generation?
After one (Italian) bomb, the children of pre-State Haifa were evacuated to Hadera. Haifa’s residents were no less patriotic than today’s Israelis. Winston Churchill evacuated London’s children during the Blitz. Churchill was certainly no less a patriot than Ehud Olmert.
So after seven years of missile bombardment, why hasn’t Israel evacuated the children of Sderot? Are we braver than the War of Independence generation?
The answer is simple. If we evacuate the children of Sderot, their parents will follow and they won’t come back. They won’t come back because the State of Israel is not capable of winning a war that it does not understand, a war that it denies. Unlike the War of Independence or London in World War II, we know that we will not win. That is why the children of Sderot will not return and that is why their parents will follow suit. If we evacuate the children of Sderot, the same scenario will quickly take place in Ashkelon and Ashdod, until everything collapses. We have stuck the children of Sderot in the Gaza dike to maintain Shimon Peres’s “peace legacy” – and then we changed the channel.
At one point or another, Olmert’s prime ministerial chair will begin to quake and he will have to send the IDF back into Gaza. Even if we momentarily ignore the outrageous lack of moral standing of those responsible for the Expulsion, it is still clear that it is absolute folly to send the IDF back into Gaza. A military incursion into Gaza that is not for the purpose of conquering it, solving its overpopulation problem in other places in the world, declaring full Israeli sovereignty there and making the entire area flourish with one hundred Gush Katifs will achieve nothing but the pointless deaths of our soldiers.
Our sons will run through the alleys of Jebalya, being sure not to harm “innocent civilians.” And with maximum consideration and concern for our foes, our sons will be murdered as they fight from house to house, until they complete their mission with supreme heroism. (Assuming that the Four Mothers don’t mix in too early.) And then the prime minister (no matter who he is) will ceremoniously give Gaza to Fatah – the good terrorists. Simply put, we are about to sacrifice our sons so that we can transfer the Gaza Strip from arch-murderer A to arch-murderer B.
Since the Oslo Accords, Israel’s political strategy has been compelled exclusively by the Oslo option. Yitzhak Rabin brought Yasser Arafat to Israel so that he would fight the Hamas. Now terrorist B is launching missiles at us. So we will conquer Gaza, this time for terrorist C. Or even worse and more absurd, we will send our sons to be killed to conquer Gaza and return it to terrorist A. After all, Yossi Beilin is sure to sternly warn that if we do not take advantage of the “window of opportunity” and get killed for terrorist A, then we will get terrorist D or – who knows? – maybe even terrorist E. We will continue to transfer Gaza from one terrorist to the next, and each and every one of them will continue to fire missiles at Sderot.
Do we really think that the world will allow us to rebuild Gush Katif? Of course not. So let’s be serious. Maybe we should just cut off their electricity and water. But if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that the world will not allow us to do that either. And rightfully so. Because if Gaza is not part of our land, then Sderot is not part of our land either. And of course, if we gave the Temple Mount to the Muslims, then there is also no justification for the Jews to settle in Tel Aviv. The fact that the world claims that every potentially effective action that Israel takes in Gaza is illegitimate does not stem from a sudden outbreak of uncontrollable world-wide humanism. In the eyes of the world, it is illegitimate for Israel to defend Sderot because the world is convinced that the Hamas is right.
We are about to sacrifice our sons so that we can transfer the Gaza Strip from arch-murderer A to arch-murderer B.
Just imagine if, at the beginning of World War II, Churchill would have announced that London actually does belong to Hitler. Or even worse, just imagine what would have happened if Churchill himself would have destroyed the border towns of England and then ceremoniously bestowed them on the Nazi murderer. Would he have enjoyed world support after that for bombing Dresden?
But we have already left Gaza? Very true. And by fleeing Gaza, we have also proven that Sderot is not ours, either. The entire world has seen how Israel has driven the Jews who believe in the Jewish claim to the Land of Israel from their homes. Everyone saw how Israel destroyed their towns and abandoned their synagogues to the Arab hordes. In full view of the gleeful world media, the State of Israel performed the most amazing moral hara-kiri of all times – obliterating any measure of justification for Jewish sovereignty over even one grain of the Holy Land in the process.
The Hamas terrorists may not be nice, but in the eyes of the world, they are just. They bomb civilians? So what? The British and Americans also bombed civilians. The world is with them because they are convinced that they are right. Israel has already made that clear.
So now what do we do about Sderot? The solution is to re-build one hundred Gush Katifs. That is impossible to accomplish under our present circumstances? Then we must evacuate the children.
But the children of Sderot are the finger in the dike.
We have only two choices. Either we create leadership that will fight, liberate the Temple Mount and Gaza and restore the justice that we lost in Gush Katif, or we will continue to live in Osloidian denial – at the expense of the blood of Sderot’s children.

שיעור בנושא גבולות ארץ ישראל – פלוס מפה

מהם גבולות ארץ ישראל מהתורה? – הרב שמואל אריאל

Published on Oct 21, 2014

הרב שמואל אריאל, עתניאל

תקציר:

“בשיעור זה עוסק הרב שמואל אריאל, ר”מ בישיבת עתניאל, בבירור גבולות ארץ ישראל המופיעים בתורה, ובעיקר ביחס שבין גבולות מסעי לבין פרשיות אחרות בהן מופיעים גבולות רחבים יותר. כמו כן, נעסוק בקצרה בגבולות עולי מצרים ועולי בבל, ובמעמדו של עבר הירדן.”

צפייה בשיעורים נוספים מבית המדרש של ישיבת עתניאל ניתן לבקר באתר ישיבת עתניאל: http://www.otniel.org

מאתר יוטיוב, כאן.

Temple Institute Statement of Principles

The Temple Institute is dedicated to all aspects of the Divine commandment for Israel to build a house for G-d’s presence, the Holy Temple, on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. The range of the Institute’s involvement with this concept includes education, research, activism, and actual preparation. Our goal is firstly, to restore Temple consciousness and reactivate these “forgotten” commandments. We hope that by doing our part, we can participate in the process that will lead to the Holy Temple becoming a reality once more.

Why build the Temple?

Why this fuss over an ancient, seemingly outdated concept? What relationship does the Holy Temple have to our world today? The people of Israel have lived without a Temple for nearly 2,000 years, and seem to be doing fine without one. We don’t seem to need it, and G-d certainly doesn’t, so why think about rebuilding?

202 Biblical Commandments

The Jewish people accepted the “Yoke of Heaven,” the structure of their relationship with the Creator and their spiritual responsibility, at the Mount Sinai revelation. This relationship is based on Israel’s acceptance and fulfillment of the Torah’s 613 Divine commandments. But in fact, fully one third – 202 of these commandments – are totally dependent on the existence of the Holy Temple for their fulfillment. But what is our attitude regarding these commandments? Do we think of them as inactive, dormant, dead? Do we believe that they are no longer applicable? Do we perhaps relegate them to that nebulous time of messianic redemption; that they will only be activated in the future with the coming of the messiah?

The Torah’s commandments are eternal, for now and forever

Nothing can be further from the truth. Maimonides teaches (Sefer Igeret Ha’Shmad) that the performance of all the commandments is not dependent on the coming of the messiah. They are to be fulfilled at all times. G-d does not change His mind or nullify any of the commandments included in the Torah, which were given once, for all time. In lieu of Temple service, we may observe various “remembrances” of these commandments, but that is all they are – merely gestures of nostalgia.

Fish out of water

But we fool ourselves if we think that the state of Judaism today, without the Temple, is normal. On the contrary, we are like fish out of water. If 1/3 of all the Torah’s commandments center on the Temple, it would seem that Biblical observance in the Temple’s absence is but a skeleton of what G-d had intended it to be.

Our spiritual alienation

Sadly, much of our contemporary attitudes regarding the Holy Temple are a reflection of our own spiritual bankruptcy and alienation from the spiritual underpinnings of true Torah knowledge and faith. The Holy Temple was not some magnificent building. It was the direct arena for our direct relationship with G-d; the unfolding saga of man’s greatest spiritual longing. It was a place where heaven and earth met; a meeting place for man and G-d.

Our relationship with G-d

At this one place on earth, unlike any other, the one place that the Creator Himself chose to rest His presence, the rectification of man’s connection with G-d takes place. All people were able to come to the Temple to partake in this direct and fulfilling bond; to recharge their spiritual batteries and come away with a renewed sense of purpose and being.

A new era of universal harmony

Every prophet of Israel, without exception, prophesied that the Temple would be rebuilt, ushering in a new era of universal harmony and peace unparalleled in the history of man. Thus, the “movement” to rebuild the Holy Temple is not new. It was born almost 2,000 years ago, at the moment of the Second Temple’s destruction. For when the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, it was the soul of Jewish people… and the entire world… as we believe it will be once again.

The rebuilding of the Holy Temple: In our time?

The reality of the Jewish experience means that the Temple will be rebuilt. Many people who visit the Temple Institute are incredulous and cannot help but exclaim: “Do you really think that you will live to see the Holy Temple rebuilt?” The answer to that question is of little importance. Let us rather recall that Jewish history has a trajectory, which began when the patriarch Abraham smashed his father’s idols. That trajectory has spanned the millennia, and it is obvious that we are rapidly approaching climactic times, in which the Holy Temple will once again become the focal point for mankind’s spiritual focus. Whether this transpires in our generation or not, we can still choose to be active participants, and not simply spectators, in G-d’s bold plan for the Redemption of Israel and all humanity.

From The Temple Institute, here.

חסרון הבקיאות והבנת המורכבות בפסק הלכה בתעניות: התוצאות

ציטוט מתוך “תעניות” – מאמר שני בסדרת מדור ‘ורפא ירפא’ שע”י ד”ר מיכאל פקטורוביץ, “במה – מגזין תוכן לבית היהודי“, גליון #52 מיום כ”א תמוז תשע”ט עמ’ 11:

דוגמא נוספת של חולה שמקבל באופן קבוע טיפול בשל חרדה ודיכאון במינונים משתנים, ועל אף שבתקופה שקדמה לתענית – במקרה זה מדובר בתשעה באב, היה יחסית יציב, אך עדיין היה בתקופת ההסתגלות למינון חדש.

בפנייתו לרב הפוסק ציין שהוא נוטל טיפול נפשי במשך שנים רבות ומרגיש טוב. הרב, עקב חוסר מודעות למורכבות הפסיקה בנושאים הללו, לא בירר האם חלו שינויים במינונים של התרופות ומה היה מצבו מספר שבועות לפני כן, שמתוך כך היה מבין שלא הייתה כאן יציבות אמיתית.

בסופו של דבר החולה הזה הידרדר בצורה משמעותית ביותר, ותקופה מעל שנתיים מיותר לומר שלא צם כל התעניות כולל יום כיפור.

מקרה נוסף של בחור בן ארבע עשרה שלמעשה גופו מכל הבחינות היה מתאים לגיל אחת עשרה, שלא סבל לכאורה משום מחלה, אך המציאות ההלכתית שלו הייתה כמי שאסור לו לצום.

אביו שאל את הפוסק לפי בקשת אימו של הבחור, ונוסח השאלה היה: יש לנו בחור בן ארבע עשרה שהוא נמוך וקטן ואשתי שואלת האם עליו לצום.

הרב הפעם כן שאל איך מרגיש הילד באופן כללי והאם הוא בריא, והתשובה הייתה שהוא בריא, כאשר בעצם הבחור לוקה באיחור בכל ההתפתחות הגופנית כשהמצב גובל בחולי והמציאות שבעצם איננו בר חיוב לצום!

הבחור התעלף בזמן התפילה, לא יכול היה ללמוד, במשך שבועיים כמעט לא יצא מהבית (א”ה, נ”ל שכך צריך לפסק). בהמשך סבל מחולשה ממושכת שפגעה בתפקודו ברמה מערכתית למשך מספר שנים וכמובן שלא יכול היה לצום ביום כיפור עד שגופו הגיע בפועל לגיל מעל שלוש עשרה, שהוא היה כבר בן כמעט שש עשרה שנים.