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Feb 18, 2009
Great use of Technology: Lending Money
P2P is now taking on a new meaning. Taking advantage of the Peer 2 Peer concept, Acceder.com has created a P2P loan system. Basically it is an online money lending gmach.
Acceder allows you to lend as little as $25 dollars to people in the Jewish community who are in dire need of help and are unable to qualify through normal financial resources.
By lending you are alleviating poverty and making people’s dreams and future’s come true. Each person on our website is a real case. By being self sufficient through obtaining one of our loans, the confidence and pride of each person is lifted enormously and they know they have made great strides towards economic independence and have improved life for themselves, their family, and their community .
Acceder provides each donor with an update of the applicant’s situation, showing exactly how and where they used their loan. In each case we meet each individual and film and take pictures of their story from start to finish so you can see how you have changed a life. Just log on to our Blog and see our blissful success stories.
Acceder’s mission was created to accomplish our dream of equal opportunity. As the world continuously changes lives sometimes change too and unfortunately for the worst. It is our pleasure to give each individual the opportunity to access an interest FREE loan so they don’t have to live in unacceptable situations ever again.
Tzedekah means charity but the origin of this word is actually justice. We have the religious responsibility to give and to engage in philanthropic ventures. This beautifully rewarding act applies to everyone, evena poor person can help another. Maimonides, a Jewish philosopher established 8 principles of Tzedekah, the highest is:
"The greatest level, is to support a fellow Jew by endowing him with a gift or loan, or entering into a partnership with him, or finding employment for him, in order to strengthen his hand until he need no longer be dependent upon others."
They've got lots of info as to how the system works.
You can read more about how Person to Person Lending works on the Wiki page.
I don't know if this will revolutionize the system we have of lending and borrowing money, but it looks like an interesting method, and if it is reliable and people actually pay back the loans, I can see it as a blessing.
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this is a great idea! have you found one for Israel or the States? This one seems to be for So. America only.
ReplyDeleteDear Rafi, Thank you very much for your article!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Elias, I'm the founder of ACCEDER Hebrew Free Loan.
I was checking www.acceder.com with Google Analytics and I found that 10 visits came from your Blog!
Hazak u Baruch!
I like your article.
Regarding Shaya g comment, our concept is to make an online "shidach" between the borrower and the lender. Our first Field Partner is in Argentina. We are working with the local Jewish communities to lunch ACCEDER in developing countries like Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico and Former Soviet Union in order to post borrowers from around the world.
We are looking forward to expand our partnerships to all regions across the globe at a pace that is healthy for ACCEDER. So with G'd help sooner you will see borrower from different countries, not only Argentina.
Finally...you are invited to our website www.acceder.com to make a donation in order to help a Jew in need!
It's a nice program but unfortunately a bit misleading - intentionally or not. Their most recent "sucess story" involves a loan to two non-Jews. See http://accederfreeloan.blogspot.com/2007/12/camilas-smile.html
ReplyDeleteThere's of course nothing wrong with that. But that disqualifies it from being a program for Jews.
Menashe, Thank you for your post. We are not intending to be misleading.
ReplyDeleteWhen we are living among the nations, we are to exend our tzedakah obligations to our Gentile neighbors even when they are not fulfilling all the laws of the universal moral code. For acts of tzedakah promote shalom in the world, as the Prophet proclaims, "And the act of tzedakah shall bring shalom" (Isaiah 32:17).
Maimonides then cites two verses which remind us that, wherever we live, we are to follow the unifying ways of shalom. The first verse states: "The Compassionate One is good to all, and His compassion is over all His works" (Psalm 145:9). I asked my teachers why Maimonides cites this verse, since it does not directly refer to shalom. Based on my discussion with my teachers, I would like to share with you the following answer: This verse describes how the Compassionate One increases shalom in the world through extending the Divine goodness and compassion to "all" creatures, without discrimination.
The second verse cited by Maimonides is from a passage which describes the wisdom of Torah, and it states: "Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are shalom" (Proverbs 3:17)." This verse is teaching us that shalom is an underlying principle of the mitzvos of the Torah. In fact, the Talmud states, "The entire Torah is for the sake of the ways of shalom" (Gittin 59b). In his explanation of this teaching, Maimonides writes in his Mishneh Torah:
"Great is shalom, as the whole Torah was given in order to promote shalom in the world, as it is stated, 'Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are shalom. ' " (The Laws of Chanukah 4:14)