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Question
I have a store, and due to the war, it will be difficult for me to reach a rabbi. I was told that because customers record in my computer, it is more severe, and I must make a Prozbul. Is this true?
Answer
In every purchase on credit in a store, there is a dispute whether the debt is annulled. However, when the credit purchase is recorded on a computer where each purchase summarizes the total debt of purchases made to date, it should be considered as "zakifa". In any case, since there is a dispute, it is advisable to make a Prozbul. You can deliver it by phone or appoint a representative by phone.
Source
We learned in the Tractate Shevi'it (Chapter 10, Mishnah 1) that the seventh year annuls a loan documented and undocumented. "Store credit" is not annulled, but if it is made into a loan, it is annulled. "Wages" are not annulled, but if they are made into a loan, they are annulled. In explaining the reason why "store credit" and "wages" are not annulled, two approaches are proposed. The first approach - [which is the opinion of most Rishonim, see Tosafot Gittin 18a, Tosafot Ketubot 55a, and in the Rishonim Ketubot there, see Ramban and Ritva there, and in Meiri Gittin 37] that only a loan is annulled, but a debt incurred from a sale or wages, or any other way - is not annulled. The second approach - the opinion of Rambam according to the explanation of Beit Yosef (Choshen Mishpat, Siman 67) and Kesef Mishneh (Chapter 9, Laws of Shemitah and Yovel, Halacha 11), and this is the law in Sema (Siman 67, Sifkat 26) and in Shulchan Aruch HaRav (Laws of Loans, Paragraph 39), that it does not mean that only a debt created by a loan is annulled, but any debt is annulled, even if it was created by sale or work or any other way, but the reason why "store credit" and "wages" are not annulled is because in their time it was customary to buy in a store on credit for a long time, and only when a very large sum accumulated, then they paid, and if so, at the end of the seventh year, it is still not a debt standing for collection, therefore it is not annulled, and also regarding "wages", it was customary not to pay immediately but only after a large sum accumulated, and at the end of the seventh year, it is still not a debt standing for collection. And there is a practical difference between these two approaches, that in our time, when it is usually paid after a short time, such as a monthly salary paid to a worker, according to most Rishonim, it is not annulled, because it is not a debt due to "loan", and according to Rambam, it is annulled. And also "store credit" in our time, when it is customary to pay once a month, according to most Rishonim, it is not annulled (if there was no zakifa in the loan) because it is included in the category of "store credit", but according to Rambam, it is annulled because "store credit" mentioned in the Mishnah is only in a case where at the end of the seventh year the debt is not standing for collection. However, even in the case of "store credit", if there was "zakifa in the loan", the debt is annulled [and this is the intention of the above-mentioned Mishnah "and if it was made into a loan, it is annulled"]. What is "zakifa in the loan", we find many opinions, and we will list some of them: the opinion of Rosh (Tractate Gittin, Chapter 7, Siman 17), that it is setting a time for repayment of the debt before Rosh Hashanah, and the opinion of Mordechai (Tractate Shevuot, page 8 by Mordechai), if he wrote the summary of all the debt together. (Azmera Leshimcha, Laws of Shemitah).
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