Yeshiva
Beit Midrash

Beit Midrash

Family and Society
Shmitta
Debt Cancellation

קטגוריה משנית

Torah Portion and Tanach
D'varim
Re'e

What Is A "Prozbul?"

502

To dedicate this lesson

A Lesson for the Road Shorts Area Female Lesson Parashat Hashavua Series Library Piskei Din (Hebrew)Test Yourself

Our Sedra discusses the canceling of debts in the upcoming Shmita (7th) year. Mishna Shevi'it states that when Hillel the Elder (circa 100 CE) saw that wealthy people were refraining from loaning money to the needy during the Shemita year (a Torah prohibition), he enacted the "Prozbul," a device designed so that debts would not be cancelled & people would once again agree to loan money to one another. In essence, debts are transferred to a Bet Din, which is allowed to collect them even during Shmita. "Prozbul" comprises the Aramaic words: "Pruz buli ubuti," which translates as "an advantage to the rich & the poor." The prozbul benefited the rich by securing their loans & helped the poor by enabling them to borrow money even with a Shmita year approaching. Two valid witnesses sign the Prozbul, which is usually administered by the Rav of the Bet Knesset. The Prozbul can only be utilized when Shmita is rabbinic; when the majority of Jews live in Israel (very soon!) and Shmita is a Biblical law it may not be used.

Rabbi Stewart Weiss

Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.

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