Fill out a Pruzbul
Release of Debts Before the End of Sabbatical Year
The current Jewish year, 5782, is a "Seventh" or Sabbatical year, known as Shemitah. At the end of the Shemitah year, debts are released and may not be collected. According to many Halachic authorities, it is prohibited to collect one's debts even during the Shemitah year.
During the times of the Second Temple, many Jews ceased to lend money as the Shemitah year approached, fearing that they would not be repaid until the beginning of the seventh year and the unpaid debt would be cancelled. To encourage continued lending, the great Sage Hillel instituted a mechanism, called "Pruzbul" which allows collection of debt during and even after the Shemitah year. The Pruzbul consists of the creditor transferring outstanding debt to a Bais Din or rabbinic court, whereupon it ceases to be private debt and can therefore be collected.
According to many authorities, the proper time to make a Pruzbul is before the onset of the Shemitah year. If one did not make a Pruzbul before Shemitah, or if one lent money during the Shemitah year, another Pruzbul should be made before the end of Shemitah. It is advisable that all Jews make a Pruzbul. even those who do not have outstanding loans, thus showing how precious we hold an enactment of our Sages.
The Pruzbul can be effected by means of a simple written document or verbal declaration. A sample Pruzbul form and the text of the verbal declaration are provided below.
You can sign the form or a copy of it and send it to the address below. If, after mailing the form you give another loan, you must make another Pruzbul.
Or, you can verbally make the declaration on Erev Rosh Hashanah to a Bais Din. The ideal time to do this is after Hatoras Nedarim (Nullification of Vows) which is done before a Bais Din on the morning of every Erev Rosh Hashana.
Fill out the form below, or if you prefer, you can print the PDF version here.

 

 

I, the undersigned, hereby transfer to you, Rabbis Baruch Epstein, Boruch Hertz, and Yosef Posner, all debts that are owed to me, both written and verbal, so that I may collect them at any time I desire.

 
 
  First Name* Last Name*
 
 
 
  Email*
 
 

 
  Is Pruzbul Circumventing Torah Law?

The Talmud gives two explanations of why it is permissible to make a Pruzbul which seems to circumvent Torah Law.

One explanation is that Pruzbul is effective during the present time, because nowadays Shemitah itself is observed only because of Rabbinic injunction. (This is because the Torah commandment to observe Shemitah applies only when all Jews are "upon the land" of Israel.) Certainly the Rabbis have the authority to institute procedures which limit the scope of their injunctions.

The second explanation is that Bais Din is granted authority by the Torah to remove monetary ownership as it sees fit. The Pruzbul is an application of this principle, creating a new monetary obligation upon the borrower in place of the old debt which has been cancelled by Shemitah.