Being in the Business of Tikkun Olam: Anita Zucker

(1) The Sabbatical year cancels a loan [that was made] with a contract and [a loan that was made] without a contract. Store credit is not cancelled, but if it was made into a loan, it is canceled. Rabbi Yehudah says, the previous [of each subsequent purchase on credit] is cancelled. Wages owed to a worker are not canceled, but if it was made into a loan, it is canceled. Rabbi Yossi says, any type of work which must pause during the Sabbatical year, [wages owed for that work] are cancelled. But any work which need not pause during the Sabbatical year, [wages owed for that work] are not canceled.

(2) If one slaughters a cow and distributes it [to others] on [the post-Sabbatical] Rosh Hashanah [New Year's festival], if the [previous] month was full then [the debt owed the slaughterer is] canceled. [The fines for] rape, seduction, Motzi Shem Ra [husband who falsely accuses his bride of not having been a virgin], and any judicial court matter are not canceled. One who lends on collateral, and one who entrusts his contracts to the judicial court, [those loans] are not canceled.

(3) [Any loan made with a] Pruzbul [court exemption from the Sabbatical year cancellation of a loan] is not canceled. This is one of the matters that Hillel the elder instituted. When he observed that the nation withheld from lending to each other and were transgressing what is written in the Torah (Deuteronomy 15:9): "Beware lest there be in your mind a base thought," he instituted the Pruzbul.

(4) This is the body of the Pruzbul: "I entrust to you, so-and-so and so-and-so, who judge in such-and-such place, that any loan that I have, I may collect it any time that I wish." And the judges affix their signatures below, or the witnesses.

(5) A predated Pruzbul is effective, but a postdated one is ineffective. Loan-documents which are predated are ineffective, but postdated ones are effective. If one borrows from five different people, a Pruzbul must be written for each [of the lenders] individually. If five borrow from one person, only one Pruzbul may be written for all of them.

(6) A Pruzbul must be written with land [as collateral]. If he [the borrower] does not own [land], he [the lender] should give him [the borrower] any amount from his field. If he has a field under lien in a city; a Pruzbul may be written with it. Rabbi Chutzpit says, we may write one for a man with the property of his wife [as collateral]; or for orphans with the property of their guardian.

(7) A beehive, says Rabbi Eliezer, is like land, and one may write a Pruzbul upon it, and it does not contract impurity in its place, and one who detaches [honey] from it on Shabbat is liable. The Rabbis say it is not like land and one may not write a Pruzbul upon it, and it does contract impurity in its place, and one who detaches [honey] from it on Shabbat is exempt.

(8) If [a borrower] returns the loan during the Sabbatical year, [the lender] should say to him, "I cancel the debt." If [the borrower] says, "nevertheless," the lender may accept it from him, as it says (Deuteronomy 15:2), "This is the word of the Sabbatical." Similarly, a murderer who is exiled to an Ir Miklat [city of refuge for accidental murderers], and the inhabitants of the city wish to accord him honor; he should say to them, "I am a murderer." If they say, "nevertheless," he may accept it from them, as it says, "This is the word of the murderer."

(9) One who returns the loan during the Sabbatical year, the spirit of the Sages is pleased by him. One who borrows from a convert whose family converted with him, need not repay his children. But if he did repay, the spirit of the Sages is pleased by him. All movable property is acquired through taking physical possession, but anyone who fulfills his word, the spirit of the Sages is pleased by him.