THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA JOURNAL: Volume 5775 Issue XXXV Parshas Ki Savo The 'Magical Power' of the Rabbis How Does The Pruzbul Really Work? By Rabbi Tzvi Price
In Parshas Re’eh the Torah states, “At the end of seven years you shall institute a Shemittah (release)… Every creditor shall release his authority over what he has lent his fellow Jew; he shall not press his fellow Jew…” (Devarim 15:1-2) Chazal (our Sages) explain that these words present us with two commandments. Firstly, there is a positive commandment to declare that we waive our right to collect any loans that were payable during the year of Shemittah. Secondly, the Torah commands us to refrain from demanding payment of those loans. Later on in the same passage (Devarim 15:9) the Torah obligates us in a third Shemittah commandment. There the Torah states that when making a decision whether to lend money, one is not allowed to take into account the possibility that Shemittah may release the loan. The concept that is formed by these three mitzvos is called Shemittas Kesafim, ‘the release of monies.’ Surprisingly, though the agricultural Shemittah only applies in the land of Israel, the mitzvos of Shemittas Kesafim are incumbent upon every Jew wherever he may find himself.
On the surface, our present observance of Shemittas Kesafim bears very little resemblance to that which the Torah describes. Unlike in olden times, today’s Jewish courts rarely, if ever, enforce the release of a loan due to Shemittah. The rabbinic enactment of the pruzbul, which is a main cause for this change, is often misunderstood. Unfortunately, the procedure of making a pruzbul leaves the onlooker with the feeling that he had just witnessed some kind of magic which somehow makes the mitzvah of Shemittas Kesafim disappear. The purpose of this article is to demystify this often poorly understood subject.
In Parshas Re’eh the Torah states, “At the end of seven years you shall institute a Shemittah (release)… Every creditor shall release his authority over what he has lent his fellow Jew; he shall not press his fellow Jew…” (Devarim 15:1-2) Chazal (our Sages) explain that these words present us with two commandments. Firstly, there is a positive commandment to declare that we waive our right to collect any loans that were payable during the year of Shemittah. Secondly, the Torah commands us to refrain from demanding payment of those loans. Later on in the same passage (Devarim 15:9) the Torah obligates us in a third Shemittah commandment. There the Torah states that when making a decision whether to lend money, one is not allowed to take into account the possibility that Shemittah may release the loan. The concept that is formed by these three mitzvos is called Shemittas Kesafim, ‘the release of monies.’ Surprisingly, though the agricultural Shemittah only applies in the land of Israel, the mitzvos of Shemittas Kesafim are incumbent upon every Jew wherever he may find himself.
On the surface, our present observance of Shemittas Kesafim bears very little resemblance to that which the Torah describes. Unlike in olden times, today’s Jewish courts rarely, if ever, enforce the release of a loan due to Shemittah. The rabbinic enactment of the pruzbul, which is a main cause for this change, is often misunderstood. Unfortunately, the procedure of making a pruzbul leaves the onlooker with the feeling that he had just witnessed some kind of magic which somehow makes the mitzvah of Shemittas Kesafim disappear. The purpose of this article is to demystify this often poorly understood subject.
No comments:
Post a Comment