When should the Peruzbal be performed?[1]
Initially the Peruzbal is to be performed at the end of the sixth year, prior to Rosh Hashanah of the seventh year.[2] [It is a Mitzvah to publicize this matter as it is not well known to the public.[3] It is proper to arrange the performance of the Peruzbal on Erev Rosh Hashanah[4] immediately after Hataras Nedarim.[5]] If one did not do the Peruzbal at the end of the sixth year then he is to perform it anytime throughout the seventh year, up until Rosh Hashanah which is the beginning of the eighth year. [Practically the Chabad custom is to perform the Peruzbal both on Erev Rosh Hashanah of the sixth year and the seventh year.[6] This certainly applies if one made loans within the 7th year of which their due date arrived and they have not yet been paid.[7]]
Q&A
What does one do if he forgot to make a Peruzbal at the end of the 6th year, may he still collect the loans?
Yes. See Halacha 4 in Q&A!
If one is asked to make a loan after he wrote the Peruzbal on Erev Rosh Hashanah what is he to do?
He is required to make the loan and may not avoid doing so on the pretext that he already made a Peruzbal.[8] Nevertheless he is to try to convene a Beis Din of three Kosher Jews in order to make another Peruzbal before sunset. Alternatively one can explicitly condition with the borrower at the time of the loan that he agrees to pay him back the money even though Shemitah will nullify it.[9] Alternatively one can write a loan document with a specified date for the loan to be paid after the end of the 7th year and in such a method there is no need for a Peruzbal to be made.[10] See Halacha 8B!
Years that the Peruzbal is to be performed on Erev Rosh Hashanah according to Chabad custom to do so at the end of the sixth and also at the end of the seventh
2007 |
תשסז |
2008 |
תשסח |
2014 |
תשעד |
2015 |
תשעה |
2021 |
תשפא |
2022 |
תשפב |
2028 |
תשפח |
2029 |
תשפט |
2035 |
תשצה |
2036 |
תשצו |
2042 |
תתב |
2043 |
תתג |
2049 |
תתט |
2050 |
תתי |
2056 |
תתטז |
2057 |
תתיז |
[1] Admur 36
[2] Admur ibid; So rules also: Rosh Gittin 4/18; Rabbeinu Yerucham Nesiv 7; Haitur Peruzbal; Tur 67; Kaftor Vaferach 50; Tumim 67/54; Misgeres Hashulchan 180/9; Mahraiy Asad 2/79; Peas Hashulchan 97 that so ruled Gr”a; See Nitei Gavriel Peruzbal 15/2
The reason: As there are opinions [Rosh ibid] which hold that although the seventh year only annuls the loan at the end of the year, as the verse states “At the end of seven years perform an annulment”, nevertheless once the Shemitah year has begun one is no longer allowed to demand payment of the debts. This is based on the verse “Do not demand payment from your friend as it is a Shemitah for Hashem”. From here it is learned that as soon as the year is called Shemitah it is forbidden to demand payment. Nevertheless, even according to this opinion, there is a difference between the start of the seventh and the end of the seventh as if the borrower gives back the money within the Shemitah year then the lender may accept it and is not required to say “I forgive the loan”. However after the Shemitah year has passed if the borrower comes to repay the loan the lender is required to tell him “I forgive the loan”. This is learned from the verse “Vizeh Dvar Hashemita….” which implies that one must verbalize with his mouth the nullification of the loan, however this itself must only be done at the end of the seventh year. [Admur ibid]
[3] Likkutei Sichos 7/355; 24/316; Gloss of the Rebbe printed in Sefer Haminhagim p. 197 [English]; Shulchan Menachem 7/44; See Nitei Gavriel Peruzbal p. 15 that he was told by Rav S”Z Aurbach that after receiving the directive of the Rebbe, Rav A”C Naah publicized in 1952 to write the Peruzbal on Erev R”H of the end of the 6th year as rules Admur ibid; The Minchas Yitzchak told him that this was the custom of Chabad of Manchester in 1959 and 1966 based on the directive of the Rebbe. The Pnei Menachem of Gur told him that the Rebbe did a great thing by publicizing this matter as when we annul the debts below in this world so too Hashem annuls the debts of the Jewish people in Heaven. See also Sichas Kodesh 1979 3/750.
[4] Although it may be performed on any day prior to the start of the 7th year, nevertheless since the Peruzbal only works for previous loans therefore it is to be done on the last day of the sixth year in order to cover all the loans of that year. If one performed the Peruzbal prior to Erev Rosh Hashanah, then all loans that take place after the Peruzbal was done are not included within the allowance of collecting the debt accomplished by the Peruzbal. [Likkutei Sichos 7/355]
[5] Likkutei Sichos 7/356; 24/316; The Rebbe’s custom was to perform the Peruzbal after Hataras Nedarim.
The reason: Although it is more logical to perform the Peruzbal as close to sunset on Erev R”H as is possible in order to cover any loans that were made that day, nevertheless since people may forget to do so and by Hataras Nedarim there is already a tribunal of three Kosher Jews convened, therefore one should do it at this time. [ibid]
[6] Luach Kolel Chabad; Custom of the Rebbe in 1970 and 1988 which were Erev R”H of the end of the seventh year; Hayom Yom [printing of 1989] “In the end of 1988 the Rebbe requested that people recite the Peruzbal at the end of the seventh year”; See Otzer Minhagei Chabad p. 41; Shevach Hamoadim footnote 11
The reason: The Rebbe stated the reason he made a Peruzbal also by Erev Rosh Hashanah of the end of the seventh year is in order to go according to all opinions. [Hayom Yom ibid] There are opinions that rule that those loans which are given in the seventh year itself also require a Peruzbal in the end of the seventh year even if one already made a Peruzbal in the end of the sixth. [Bach 67; See Nitei Gavriel Peruzbal chapter 15/4] However from the wording in Admur ibid that “if he did not do so by the end of the sixth year then he should do so in the 7th” implies that if one did do the Peruzbal in the 6th year there is no need to do so in the 7th. [See Nitei Gavriel ibid] Perhaps however no inference can be made from here as Admur is referring to even one that did not make any loans in the 7th year that nevertheless Bedieved he can still make a Peruzbal in the seventh year for the loans of the previous years. If however in truth one made a loan in the seventh year then he would be required to make another Peruzbal by the end of the 7th year even if he already made one in the end of the 6th year. So also concludes the Rebbe in Likkutei Sichos 12/256, although he leaves the stringent opinion of the Rosh and Tur with a Tzaruch Iyun as how they would rule regarding loans of the 7th year.
[7] Likkutei Sichos 12/256 in answer to the question of what one is to do if he made loans in the 7th year. See previous footnote!
[8] Likkutei Sichos 7/355; Admur “Laws of Halvaah” Halacha 1 “There is a positive command to lend a pauper”; Halacha 34 “they stopped lending each other and transgressed the command of the Torah…”
[9] Michaber 67/9; Admur 35; See Likkutei Sichos 12/256; This may be done even initially. [Nitei Gavriel 38/2 in name of Rashal Gittin 4/43]
[10] Admur 39 “One who lends his friend and sets a payment date for after the 7th year the Shemitah does not abolish it”; In Likkutei Sichos 12/256 the Rebbe adds “If one sets a date of payment for during the Shemitah year then it is not annulled by Shemitah as it is similar to one who lent the money on condition that the loan not be annulled, as writes Admur 35” Vetzaruch Iyun as why doesn’t the end of the seventh year nullify this loan according to those that hold that the end of the 7th nullifies? It is thus similar to any loan that is required to be paid before Shemitah and hence is nullified unless a Peruzbal is made. See Nitei Gavriel 16/3. Perhaps however the Rebbe here is referring to that one may collect the money within the Shemitah year itself and we don’t say that the Shemitah year nullifies the loan until the end of the year. Vetzaruch Iyun!
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