5782 is a Shemittah year. Outstanding debts become void due to Shemittah unless the creditor performs a Pruzbul, thereby remitting all loans to a Beis Din.
One should perform a Pruzbul even if he does not specifically remember having provided any loans.
Although a Pruzbul can technically be performed any time before Shemittah, the Rebbe advised that it be deferred to Erev Rosh Hashana. This is because a Pruzbul applies only to those loans that were provided prior to the Pruzbul, and not to loans that were provided afterwards.
The Rebbe advised further that, for practical purposes, the Pruzbul should be performed immediately following one’s recitation of Hataras Nedarim, in the presence of the Beis Din in whose presence he annulled his vows.
One who forgot to perform the Pruzbul after Hataras Nedarim may recite it before three men any time before Rosh Hashana.
The Pruzbul is customarily performed by making the following verbal declaration in the presence of at least three men:
One should stand when reciting the Pruzbul, whereas the Beis Din sits.
A Pruzbul may also be performed by completing and signing a written document (see below). This is beneficial in a number of circumstances, such as:
- When one is unable to gather three people before whom to make a verbal Pruzbul.
- A woman who has lent money which Halachically belongs to her must also perform a Pruzbul. Since she does not perform Hataras Nedarim, she may find it more convenient to submit a written Pruzbul.
- It may be more practical to encourage a non-observant Jew to submit a written Pruzbul.
- A Pruzbul is only effective when the borrower owns, rents, or has the rights to use real-estate. In the (unlikely) event that this is not the case, one should submit a Pruzbul to a qualified Beis Din who will (as a matter of course) arrange a temporary gift of land to the creditor in a Halachically acceptable manner.
Due to the preciousness of Pruzbul, the Rebbe suggested that it is worthy to lend some money before Shemittah, so that the Pruzbul will be of practical consequence. [There are many determinants influencing which debts are cancelled by Shemittah, and which are not. It would seem best to accomplish the Rebbe’s directive by lending a nominal amount before performing the Pruzbul. The creditor should not accept any collateral. The loan should be made due on a date before the beginning of Shemittah, so that it is outstanding by the time Shemittah begins, and collected after Shemittah ends.]
If one did not manage to perform the Pruzbul before Rosh Hashana, he may rely on the Pruzbul which will be performed at the end of the Shemittah year, i.e. next Erev Rosh Hashana.
[Even if one will forget to perform a Pruzbul altogether, he may rely on those opinions who allow loans to be collected after Shemittah, on the basis that there is an assumed understanding (akin to a properly formulated stipulation) that the loan will be repaid even after Shemittah.]
Pruzbul Document
I, the undersigned, transfer to you, Rabbi Groner, Rabbi Johnson and Rabbi Lesches, all debts that are owed to me, so that I may collect them at any time I desire.
Dated: _____ of the month of Elul, 5781
Name: ___________________________
Signature: ________________________
