Last week, we began discussing the prohibition against lending items that may rise in value. The term Chazal give in describing this prohibition is se’a bese’a, meaning “a measure for a measure,” i.e., lending a certain measure of grain and expecting to receive the same measure back, despite the rise in value. This prohibition is commonly relevant when it comes to lending a foreign currency (for example lending dollars in Eretz Yisrael).
We explained last week that money doesn’t rise or fall in value because it’s the constant against which all else is measured. However, this applies only to the local official currency; a foreign currency, though, is deemed an item that can be purchased and sold for the local currency. Therefore, its value in a foreign country is subject to change and falls under the umbrella of se’a bese’a. One residing in Eretz Yisrael must be careful neither to lend nor borrow dollars, euros, or any other foreign currency, unless certain conditions are met. These will be discussed in the future.
Not only is this prohibition an issue at the time of the loan, but it will present a problem at the time of payment as well. For example, say someone in Eretz Yisrael lent another person $1,000 when the dollar was valued at 3.5 shekel, and by the time the borrower wants to return it, the dollar is valued at 3.75 shekel. Since the dollar isn’t the currency of the land, it is considered (according to almost all poskim) an item whose value appreciates and depreciates. Therefore, it turns out that the borrower has borrowed items priced at 3,500 shekel and now wishes to return 3,750 shekel. This is prohibited, as the borrower will be returning more than he borrowed. He may only repay $933.33 (or the shekel equivalent), which is now valued at 3,500 shekel.
In this case, the lender will lose almost $70, and although the borrower feels terribly guilty, there is no way he can pay the ribbis. Therefore, it’s important to know the leniencies that permit such a loan and consequently its full repayment, despite the appreciation of the foreign currency during the interim of the loan. We will discuss these in detail in the coming weeks b’ezras Hashem.
