THE CABALA OF INTEREST

Barclays has been caught mis-selling complex interest-rate insurance to small companies and, more important, a LIBOR scandal has emerged; the London Interbank trading system sets the benchmark for interest rates around the world.

Neshek in Hebrew means both, Interest and the Poison from the Snake; the Midrash-Book of Metaphor explains, The snake bits the heel but eventually kills the brain – similarly, interest take a small bit of the principle but in the end, erodes the original value of the product.

The Jewish People are prohibited in the Torah from charging interest to one another, but permitted to collect interest from the nations; as a result of not being allowed to own land in Europe, the Jewish People became bankers, charging interest to the sanctimonious Christians.

My teacher taught me, There are three things that must affect a person and if he says, They had no effect, he did not have enough. The three things are: alcohol, money and Torah. Revit in Hebrew and Reba in Arabic are rooted in the word Rav/More. Rav also means, A High Person.

The righteous lend money to help their brother and sister during difficult times without interest – using the excess to help the world. The Cabala coined the word Tikun Olam/Fixing the World through righteous behavior – using the Rav/More for something other than greed.