Prozbul Reminder for Erev Rosh Hashanah

The Torah provides that outstanding loans between two Jews are automatically nullified atthe very end of the Shemittah [Sabbatical] year (Deuteronomy 15:2). Hillel the Elder observed that the wealthy, fearing their money would not be repaid, refused to lend to the poor prior to Shemittah. This not only caused a hardship for the poor, but was also a direct transgression of the Torah’s exhortation not to refrain from lending (ibid. 15:9-10).
To remedy this situation, Hillel enacted the prozbul, a legal document by means of which a creditor transfers his loans to a court. [Three knowledgeable laymen may constitute a court for this purpose.] Once the debts have been transferred to the court for collection, they are not nullified by Shemittah (Sheviis 10:2), as implied by Scripture.
Since Shemittah nullifies loans at the end of the year, it is advisable to delay writing the prozbul until Erev Rosh Hashanah, so that it will cover all loans made up to Rosh Hashanah. A prozbul should be made before Rosh Hashanah this year.

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