Most course creators struggle to get people to sign up. Rabbi Shmuel Diamond had the opposite problem. He believed in his online program, Journey to a Blessed Life, so much that he wanted to offer something almost unheard of: a 110% money-back guarantee. If someone took the course and felt it wasn’t for them, they would receive a full refund plus an additional 10%.

Then someone taking the course asked a great question: “Is that ribbis?” The question was brought to Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits, Rosh Yeshiva of Aish, Rosh Kollel of Jerusalem Kollel and one of the most respected halachic authorities in the English-speaking Torah world. Rabbi Berkovits explained that while this would not be classic ribbis d’oraisa, it appeared to be a case of mechzei k’ribbis—something that resembles interest and is prohibited m’derabanan. If someone pays money and later receives back more money than they paid, it can look like interest was earned on the original payment. And therefore, as originally structured, Journey to a Blessed Life could not use a 110% guarantee,

Rabbi Diamond immediately accepted the ruling. If the 110% guarantee could not be offered, then it would not be offered. End of story. Except it wasn’t. Because while Rabbi Diamond was fully prepared to remove the extra 10%, Rabbi Berkovits recognized something unusual: this wasn’t a marketing stunt. It was an educator who genuinely believed in what his students were experiencing and wanted a way to stand behind it. So the conversation continued. And then came the breakthrough. The extra 10% could not be payment for the participant’s money. But what if it wasn’t payment for the money at all? What if it was compensation for the participant’s time, effort, and willingness to give the course a chance? With that distinction, Rabbi Berkovits found a halachically permissible structure that preserved the spirit of the guarantee while remaining fully compliant with halacha.

As a result, the guarantee was reformulated. Today, the Journey to a Blessed Life website offers a full money-back guarantee plus a separate 10% “Thanks For Trying” compensation payout. Same confidence. Different halachic structure. The next Journey to a Blessed Life course begins June 28 at www.jtabl.com.