What is the Torah law regarding charging a gentile interest?
The Oral Tradition teaches that Deuteronomy 23:21 'You may offer interest to a gentile' is a positive commandment.
Question 2
If a Jew borrows money from a gentile at interest, then another Jew offers to take on that debt at the same rate — what is the ruling?
Even if the gentile participates, the practical result is one Jew paying interest to another — fixed Scriptural interest forbidden by Torah.
Question 3
A borrower who was not previously in the habit of greeting the lender — may he now greet him first?
'All types of neshech' (Deuteronomy 23:20) includes verbal deference — the Rambam rules that even new greetings to a lender violate the prohibition.
Question 4
When is a person considered 'pious' regarding iska investments?
The Rambam calls it pious to invest one's money in a way that exposes oneself to greater downside risk than upside gain.
Question 5
A gentile converts after borrowing from a Jew at interest. A reckoning was made before the conversion. What happens to the interest?
If the reckoning was made before the conversion, the full principal and interest are collectible. After conversion, only the principal can be collected.