A Reminder to do a Pruzbul before Rosh Hashana - this year

[edu]

http://star-k.org/kashrus/kk-Pruzbul.htm

Pruzbul
Rabbi Mordechai Frankel, Director of the Institute of Halachah

Jewish law obligates every Jewish person to cancel, after the culmination of the shmittah year, various types of debt due to him or her.  This does not apply to a debt owed to beis din.

If a creditor executes a pruzbul, he or she is not obligated to cancel debts.  A pruzbul may be executed at any time before the end of the shmittah year.  However, since a pruzbul covers only debts already existing at the time of its execution, it is usually implemented at the very end of the year.  This Rosh Hashana marks the end of the shmittah year.

When a creditor arranges for the execution of the pruzbul form below before three men acting as a beis din, debts owed to him or her are transferred by the creditor to the beis din, so that the debts will continue to be in force after the end of the shmittah year, and the beis din then authorizes the creditor to collect on their behalf.

A pruzbul is only effective if the debtor owns real property.  The property does not need to be worth the amount of the debt.  If the debtor does not own property, the creditor must first give the debtor some land before the pruzbul is executed.

The form below was prepared by Horav Moshe Heinemann shlit”a.  The reader is encouraged to consult his or her Rav for further explanation and guidance.

Watch a webinar discussion with Rabbi Zvi Goldberg and Rabbi Sholom Tendler about Pruzbul (Elul 5775) and other timely issues. Click Here. ______________________________________________________________________

In the Pruzbul below, the name should be filled in as
פלונית בת פלוני למשפחת פלוני  for a man, or פלוני בן פלוני למשפחת פלוני for a woman.
If the Pruzbul is written in Baltimore, the city name should be filled in as מתא באלטימאר .
If the Pruzbul is written on Erev Rosh Hashana, it should be dated ביום ראשון בשבת תשעה ועשרים יום.

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The creditor should say in front of Bais Din:
הן שנה זו היא שנת השמיטה ויש לי חובות בשטר ובעל פה על אחרים והריני מוסר לכם בית דין שכל חוב שיש לי שאגבנו כל זמן שארצה כתקנת חז"ל שתיקן הלל פרוזבול

Alternatively, the creditor should say:
“This Year is the Shemittah year, and I have documented and non-documented debts that I am owed, and I submit to you, the Bais Din, every debt due to me, so that I shall be allowed to collect them whenever I wish, as ordained by Hillel”.
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פרוזבול

ביום _________ בשבת, ______________________ יום לחודש ____, שנת תשע״ה לבריאת העולם למנין שאנו מונין כאן מתא ____________, במותב תלתא בי דינא כחדא הוינא ואתא לקדמנא ___________________________ למשפחת ________________________
המלוה ואמר לפנינו הן שנה זו היא שנת השמיטה ויש לי חובות בשטר ובעל פה על אחרים והריני מוסר לכם בית דין שכל חוב שיש לי שאגבנו כל זמן שארצה כתקנת חז"ל שתיקן הלל פרוזבול.

נאום ______________________ דיין
נאום ______________________ דיין
נאום ______________________ דיין

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Below is an English version of the Pruzbul document
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Pruzbul

On __________ , the _______________________ day of ___________________, 5775 / 2015

In the city of ___________________________,

We three individuals signed below have come together to form a Beis Din, and the lender __________________________________ has come and told us that, due to the fact that this year is the Shemitah year, and that he has documented and/or undocumented loans that are due to be repaid to him by others, he is transferring all of his loans to the Beis Din such that he will be able to collect all of these loans at any time that he wishes, as per the regulations established by our Sages, in accordance with Hillel’s institution of the Pruzbul document.

Judge ___________________________   
Judge ___________________________   
Judge ___________________________

There are other versions of the Pruzbul, which according to the Rabbi I asked are a little bit easier to fill out. I just quoted the format of the Pruzbul just because it was easy to locate on the internet. Not as a specific endorsement of that format.

[edu]

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/562077/jewish/What-Is-Shemittah.htm

The Shemittah year waives all outstanding debtsobservance of Shemittah has several dimensions. In the following paragraphs we will outline the basics of Shemittah observance. For more detailed information, please see our Loan Amnesty and Deserting the Farms sections.
Give Your Friend a Break

At the end of seven years you will make a release. And this is the manner of the release: to release the hand of every creditor from what he lent his friend; he shall not exact from his friend or his brother, because the time of the release for the L‑rd has arrived. (Deuteronomy 15:1–2)

The Shemittah year waives all outstanding debts between Jewish debtors and creditors.

[Nowadays, a halachic mechanism called pruzbul circumvents this loan amnesty. See Loan Amnesty for more information on the pruzbul.]

This aspect of Shemittah observance is known as shemittat kesafim, “release of money [debts].”