Sephardi Heter Iska

The concept of heter iska was much more common in Ashkenazic circles than Sephardic ones in past millennium. Nonetheless, the concept of a heter iska in the past few centuries also made its way into Sephardic customs. Practically, there isn't any fundamental different between a heter iska that is Ashkenazi and one was is Sephardi. Indeed, Rav Moshe Levy writes that he heard some Sephardic rabbis today advising to use the heter iska of ginat veradim since it is a Sephardi heter iska. Rav Levy argues that there's no reason to distinguish between Sephardim and Ashkenazim for purposes of heter iska and Chachmat Adam's is superior to that of the ginat veradim. Nonetheless, today there are several Sephardim gedolim who have composed a heter iska.

Heter Iska of Rav Moshe Halevi

I, _______________, the undersigned, agree that I have received ___(amount of money)___ from ___(name of lender)___ as an iska. I have agreed to invest all of these funds in ventures that I consider profitable. If I need to use the money for my personal needs I shouldn't be considered a thief. All profits and losses should be shared equally, aside for one dollar which shall be deducted from the portion of the lender and paid to me as compensation for my work for the duration of the iska.

We agreed that I shall not be believed that there were losses to the iska unless two kosher trustworthy witnesses, who are not relatives and have no connection to this iska, testify to that effect. We also agreed that I shall not be believed about the amount of profits unless I take an oath to that effect.

Nonetheless, we agreed that if I want to pay ____(specified amount)____ to the lender on behalf of his portion of the profits minus the one dollar for my salary, I may do so and will be exempt from taking any oath. Also, if I profit in excess of that amount those profits shall belong to me exclusively.

I agreed to return the iska funds no later than ___(date)___. Nevertheless, as long as the iska funds have not been returned they shall remain bound to the conditions of iska set forth above.

I accepted all of the above with a kinyan sudar as the rabbis of blessed memory established. All of the above is binding and clear. [If they did not do a kinyan sudar, this line should be erased.]

________________________ (signature of borrower)

Heter Iska of Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul

This heter iska is found in Ribbit L'or Hahalacha by Rabbi Moshe Peniri based on the rulings of Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul.

I, the undersigned __(name of borrower)__, admit that I accepted __(amount of money)__ from __(name of lender)__ as an iska until __(date)__, on condition that I will invest all of the money in good investments and I will work as hard as I can in order to increase profits and limit losses chas v'shalom. If I don't have any investments I hereby make the lender by partner in my other businesses, assets, or investment that I have or will have in the future. If I use the money for personal needs I shall not be considered a thief. I hereby give acquisition to the lender a portion of my investments up to the value of the money he gave me as an iska, and I shall keep those investments in my domain as an iska.

Profits or losses from the investment shall be split evenly, except 10 shekalim from the portion of the lender shall be given to me as compensation for my work. I shall not be trusted to say I lost from the capital without verification from two trustworthy kosher witnesses. Regarding profits I shall not be trusted to say how much I made unless I take an oath to that effect.

It was explicitly stipulated that if I want I can give to the lender (specified amount) in lieu of his portion of the profits of the iska, such that, if I were to profit more than the specified amount the excess profits would belong to me exclusively. It was also agreed that as long as the money was unreturned it shall remain an iska. It was agreed that any money that I received from the lender going forward shall be considered part of the iska subject to the above conditions, and any profits not paid to the lender on time shall be considered part of the capital going forward subject to the above conditions.

_______________________ (signature of borrower)

I also agree that all of the arrangements are proper and in accordance with the rabbis of blessed memory.

_______________________ (signature of lender)

Heter Iska of Rav Meir Mazuz

I, __(name of borrower)__ ("Borrower"), the undersigned, have received ___(amount of money)__ ("Capital") from __(name of lender)__ ("Lender") for the purposes of transacting business ("Iska"), which is to be considered half loan and half investment, until ___(date of termination of loan)__. I have obligated myself to invest these funds in any investment that I considered to be a good investment, and I will try my utmost to produce profits and limit losses. However, if I do use the funds for my own personal uses I shouldn't be considered a thief. The gains and losses from all of the funds should be split evenly between me and the Lender asides for one percent of the gains from the portion of the Lender that are to be paid to me as compensation for my work.

The Lender and I agreed that I will not be trusted to claim any losses unless I verify this with two kosher witnesses, known to be trustworthy individuals. We also agreed upon between us that I am not trusted to claim that I did not profit unless I take an oath.

The LENDER and I explicitly agreed that I have the right to pay the Lender ___(specified amount of money as the expected return)__ ("Settlement Amount") every ___(time interval, such as month or year)__ in lieu of his portion of the profits minus the amount I am paid as a salary, and thereby I would exempt myself from an oath, and any profits greater than this Settlement Amount shall belong to me exclusively.

We agreed that any money or benefit that I give the Lender before I made profits shall be considered advanced payment of the Iska funds in a permitted manner. If it comes out that the profits were insufficient to cover these payments, the payments shall be deducted from the original Capital.

We also agreed that as long as I did not return the Iska funds they shall continued to be considered an Iska as defined above and subject to the above conditions. Also, any funds that I receive henceforth from the Lender shall be considered to be part of the Iska and subject to the above conditions.

We agreed that this agreement supersedes any other agreement we made regarding the Capital, whether that other agreement is made before or after this one. It is also agreed that even if one of the parties does not understand this agreement it is nonetheless binding. This agreement should be binding in court and bet din and no claim shall invalidate this agreement.

We agreed that any questions or conflicts that arise regarding this Iska agreement shall be mediated by ____(name of Bet Din)___.

All of the above was accepted through a formal act of acquisition by passing of a handkerchief in an important Bet Din.

________________________ (Borrower) signed on ___(day of month)___ day of __(month)___

________________________ (Lender)

Heter Iska of Ginat Veradim (Rav Avraham Halevi)

This document is from Ginat Veradim from the 1600's. It is no longer in use and it is advisable to use one of the above heter iska's.

We, the undersigned witnesses, testify that _______, the borrower, received __(amount of money)__ from ________, the lender, as an iska for __(duration of time)__. It was stipulated that the borrower would work to invest the money in any investment that he deems fit to make profits and avoid losses. Any profit that Hashem grants for the iska is split equally between the borrower and lender. Similarly, if there are any losses, chas vshalom, they are split equally between the borrower and lender. May they see blessing in their endeavor.

The borrower admitted that upfront he received his compensation for his work for the duration of the iska.

The borrower agreed that he would store the iska funds under the ground. If he violates this condition from this moment the borrower is obligated in all responsibilities or damages, even for unforeseen circumstances such as armed robbers, that happen to the iska.

They agreed that if the lender profited from his portion of the profits of the iska ___(specified amount or percent)___, then the borrower is exempt from any verification of his profits. If there are profits in excess of that amount, the borrower may keep all of those profits. If there aren't less profits than that amount , from this very moment the borrower has accepted to take an oath that he didn't profit that amount of money.

A kinyan sudar was made with the borrower and lender to acquire these rights and conditions and this agreement shouldn't be considered an asmachta (conditional agreement). Both parties swore to each other to accept and fulfill the conditions above.

_____________________ (witness 1)

_____________________ (witness 2)