Question:
- If my friend bought me a ticket to an event to pay him back later. it was about 37.50 and I paid him back 40$ is that a problem and if yes how do I solve it. Also I gave him more because I was thankful that he went through the hassle to get me the ticket.
- Secondly if I have borrowed and not returned and worked with interest d’rabanan not knowingly and time passed and I’m not sure of what I did, what do I do? I am scared I’m not going to get up for techiat hametim because I’m not proficient in the halachot and I for sure made mistakes and have not corrected them because of time and unsure how to or how much. am I disqualified from techiat hametim and olam haba. How strict is this judgement? Thank you
Answer:
- If the reason you gave him extra was not because he laid out the money for you, but because he had the hassle of going and getting the ticket for you, that is permitted and not ribbis.
- Borrowing and not returning is not a ribbis issue, but a gneiva issue. Do whatever you can to return what you took from other people. After you have seriously done whatever you can, daven to H-shem and He will take care of the rest. Regarding past ribbis d’rabonon mistakes, mistakes are mistakes, and this is what we are here in this world to do. To learn and grow. We were not made all knowledgeable, and we have to try the best we can. This is why H-shem, in his infinite kindness created the idea called teshuva, so we can correct the things we did wrong in the past. From your letter it seems that you have remorse for what was done and therefore there are two morethenig that you have to do to complete the teshuva. Viduy- confess verbally to H-shem that you are sorry for any mistakes that you made in regard to Hilchos ribbis. Secondly you should do something to help yourself that you should not make ribbi mistakes. The best thing is to learn the halachos of ribbis. There are a number of practical seforim on this topic. There are a few seforim from R’ Pinchos Vind shlit”a, called Bris Pinchos in Hebrew that are easy to read and practical. If you want something specifically in English, the only Sefer on Hilchos Ribbis that I know of, is The Halachos of Ribbis by R’ Yisroel Reisman shlit”a.
Best Wishes
