Money lending is, and always has been, a huge business throughout the world. Nowadays, the availability of credit cards has made shopping much easier, but at the same time, with some companies charging as much as 20% interest, it has also caused big problems for many people. You see, if you don't pay the entire amount, the bill becomes bigger . . . and bigger. . . and bigger! Until it reaches a point that it is almost impossible to pay back. Not a good situation at all!
The Torah understood very well how charging interest can cause terrible problems and therefore encouraged a wonderfully simple system called "G'mach" (short for Gemilut Chassadim, doing kindness).
Here's how it works:
If a Jew borrows $500, he must return exactly $500 when he pays it back -- and not a penny more. The interest charge is 0%! He shouldn't even do a special favor or buy a gift for the person who loaned him the money, as a token of his appreciation, because that would be a kind of "interest" too! Very interesting, don't you think?
