ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how the Geonim, in their codes of law and in their responsa, made it possible for Jews to fully participate in the credit economy without violating the law against usury. It describes several ways in which profitable credit transactions were conducted with the approval of the Geonim. The Geonim accommodated the need for credit sales in their day by pointing to a ruling which originated in Tannaitic times. This ruling appeared in the earliest extant Geonic comment on credit buying. “Buying and selling on credit was an accepted and apparently widespread commercial practice.” Dr. Abraham Udovitch has pointed to the Islamic codes of the late 8th century which provided instruments for credit transactions and which did not violate the Moslem ban on usury. In the centuries following the completion of the Talmud, with the growth of the cities, the increase in manufacturing and commerce and the widespread use of credit.
