by their law or only sanctioned by custom? ANSWER: They do not exist, but if sanctioned in some places, it is due to custom.
(11) Does the law of the Jews forbid them to take usury from their brethren?
ANSWER: Jews shall not charge interest(Deut 23:19-21) to those who are poor; it is not limited to usury. However with commercial loans interest may be charged to Jews and Gentiles.
(12) Does it forbid them, or does it allow them, to take usury from strangers?
ANSWER: All usury is prohibited. The various views of rabbinic scholars were cited and it was shown that Maimonides ’ view on this subject was not followed.*
Brief summaries of the discussion which took place were given along with limited citations from the traditional literature. The validity of the sources quoted was occasionally debated. The final response followed the opinion most favorable to Napoleon’s wishes.
These responses which were of world wide interest, as the immediate English and German translations of 1807 demonstrated. The deliberations, much abridged in these reports, bring us more tributes to the Emperor in their 334 pages than details of the debates. Although individuals were named for the specific tasks they performed, such as presiding, and committee membership, none of the statements in the discussions were attributed to anyone, so we know nothing about the attitude of each delegate. We hear only faint echos of real debates. Nor were any of the answers documented with precise citations from traditional sources.