Creating a Jewish Economy

By Moshe Feiglin

You shall not lend with interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of any thing that is lent upon interest. To a foreigner you may lend with interest; but to your brother you shall not lend with interest; so that G-d your G-d may bless you in all the works of your hand, in the Land to which you are going, to possess it. (From this week's Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, Deuteronomy 23:20-21)

Israel's economic situation is excellent, thank G-d. Our economy is faring much better than the other Western economies. The great world crisis has passed over us, more or less. Israel's external debt is among the smallest in the world, its currency is among the most stable in the world, commercial consumption is on the rise and unemployment is at reasonable levels compared to the industrialized nations.

Just a few years ago, it was considered prudent for Israelis to keep some dollars stashed away for a rainy day. Today, an American who wishes to keep the value of his money intact would be prudent to buy the Israeli shekel. Not only that, but we have begun to argue over how to divide up the unprecedented revenues from natural gas that has recently been discovered off of Israel's shores.

Israel seems to be at the beginning of a major economic upswing, while the economies of the rest of the world are failing. Nevertheless, most of the households in Israel are overdrawn. The state has a lot of money, but the values at the foundation of its use – both private and national – do not allow the abundance to effectively trickle down to the people.

Can Israel operate a modern economy based on the principles of Judaism?
Can a bank be profitable without charging its individual customers interest? Can a bank be profitable strictly from its finance of investment and trade? Can Israel transfer all the loans for the funding of private consumption to private, interest-free loan societies? How can we translate the concepts of Shmittah, Monetary Shmittah and Jubilee to the modern marketplace?

G-d is showering us with abundance. We must work hard to understand how to integrate this blessing so that it does not become a stumbling block, G-d forbid.

Shabbat Shalom