A friend kindly arranged a private loan with interest that will allow me to buy a home. I understand that with the proper heter iska we can make this happen. However the friend has been very vague about who the benefactors are. It is clear that the benefactors want to be anonymous. When I pressed him for details citing the fact that I can’t make a heter iska with an anonymous entity, he said that I should make the heter iska with him.
Do I need to concern myself with where the money is actually coming from or what halachic arrangements my friend makes or doesn’t make with others?
Answer:
Whoever the money is actually coming from, if the contract you are signing is between yourselves and your friend, and the contract does not make any mention of the fact that there are other lenders involved, it follows that your friend is the actual lender in the eyes of halachah. He might have raised the money from others, and promised to repay them, but this is not your concern, because the actual loan is from your friend to yourself (provided nothing else is stipulated in the contract).
Therefore, provided the description above is true, there is no problem of making the loan, and stipulating your friend as the lender for purposes of the heter iska.
Best wishes.
