Rav Avrohom Yeshaya Cohen, Rosh Kollel of Kollel Ohel Yitzchok and Posek at The Bais HaVaad
Answer 1: You are correct that loans are erased at the end of the shemittah year. The Rosh, however, says a chiddush, which is the basis for why some people are machmir to also write a pruzbul at the beginning of the year. He says that even though the loan is wiped out at the end of shmeittah, it is already forbidden for the lender to collect it during shemittah. Consequently, it would be impossible to write a pruzbul and give over the ability to collect the debt to beis din after the lender cannot collect it himself, so according to this opinion one would need to write a pruzbul before shemittah starts.
While some people are machmir like the Rosh, the basic halacha does not follow his opinion and one need not worry if he did not write a pruzbul at the beginning of the year.
There is a second reason why some people are stringent to write a pruzbul before the shemittah year. There actually is a machlokes Rishonim in Maseches Avodah Zara regarding how to calculate the year of shemittah. According to Rashi's opinion, the year 5781 was actually a shemittah year. According to him, last year was shemittah and loans were erased before Rosh Hashanah 5782. Although we do not follow this opinion, and we will be keeping shemittah in 5782, some people were stringent to write a pruzbul at the end of 5781 to satisfy the opinion of Rashi.
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Answer 2: First of all, shemitas kesafim does not apply to all kinds of loans. Shemitas kesafim applies to what is known as halav'os, but not to what is known as she'ailos. The difference between these two categories of loans is that when one makes a halva'ah, he does not return the exact same item he borrowed.
If someone borrows money, he does not return the same dollars he was given. Rather, the lender gives him a hundred dollar bill, and he uses that money and returns him a different hundred dollar bill. Similarly, if one borrows a dozen eggs, he uses those eggs and returns other eggs. This form of borrowing is known as a halva'ah, and such loans are erased by shemittah.
If someone borrows a car or hammer, on the other hand, he returns the exact same car or hammer. Such borrowing is known as she'ailoh, and shemittah does not erase such loans.
As far as other types of debts, there are a number of cases where shemitas kesafim will not apply.
- Regarding one who owes a store credit, the halachos are a bit complex and subject to numerous factors. If it is relevant, one should ask a shailah.
- If someone obligated himself to give a gift, for example, he promised to support his children, that is not a loan and shemittah does not nullify this.
- If someone lends money to a tzedakah organization to give out to poor people or use for some other mitzvah, shemittah will not erase this debt.
- Regarding payments for a job: If an employee is usually paid at a set time and, for whatever reason, he was not fully paid and is owed money by his employer, most Poskim say that this is considered a loan and shemittah would erase the debt if there is no pruzbul. A minority view disagrees and says that shemittah will not erase this debt.
In any case, it is always preferable to write a pruzbul in order to avoid such shailos.
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