[Avodah] charging ribis to a Jew / non-Jew

[Michael Makovi]

> R' Micha Berger wrote: "WRT ribis, the pasuq implies what the difference
> is when taking ribis from a Jew vs taking it from a non-Jew. It uses the
> word "achikha". It's not that ribis is inherently immoral, it's that
> brothers don't charge brothers interest."
>
> Fahr vos nisht?  Do brothers not charge brothers 5 cents for a gum ball?
>
>
> Also, I do not know what the phrase "inherently immoral" means.  Please
> provide some hesbir.

I think what he means is that there is nothing intrinsically wrong
with charging interest. Hashem commanded us, however, to go beyond the
letter of (what could have been) the law with our brethren.

However, see what I posted in the lashon hara thread, with the quote
from Rav Epstein's book, that Chazal looked down on charging interest
to a gentile, and in fact Rabbinically prohibited it, and Tosafot's
justification for why we no longer follow that prohibition (viz. high
taxes paid to gentile authorities precluded not charging interest).

It would be interesting then, to do a heter iska with a gentile. The
Gemara offers that it is permissible to pay interest to a gentile,
just not charge, so perhaps no heter iska would be needed if he wanted
to charge you interest. That's fortunate, because it would certainly
be an interesting thing: go to a bank to take out a loan, and ask the
bank employee to sign an Aramaic document permitting you to pay him
interest.

Anyone more expert on this issue than me?

Mikha'el Makovi