Making a Prozbul for a Gemach Fund

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Question

Dear Rabbi, Shalom and blessings. We have a Gemach fund in our community, and I manage it. Community members with available funds deposit them with me, and I lend them to community members in need. Is a Prozbul necessary?

Answer

Debts to a Gemach fund where private individuals make deposits are not canceled if the responsibility for the deposits lies with the Gemach fund. However, if the responsibility is on the depositors or the managers of the Gemach and not on the Gemach fund itself, the debt is canceled.

Source

In the Gemara (Bava Kama 37a), it is explained that orphans do not need a Prozbul because the court is considered the father of orphans, and it is as if their debts are handed over to the court and are not canceled. The Rashba and the Meiri write there that similarly, with charity debts, the court is their father, and it is considered that the debts are handed over to the court and are not canceled. The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 67:28) also rules that charity debts are not canceled. However, the Levush (there on the words of the Shulchan Aruch) writes that the reason charity is not canceled is because it is written "do not press your neighbor and your brother," and charity is not considered "your neighbor" and "your brother." The difference between the two reasons is in a case where the charity fund owes others, [for example, if someone deposited money in the Gemach fund, and the responsibility is on the Gemach fund], according to the reason written by the early authorities that the court is the father of charity, in this case, where the charity fund owes others, the debt is canceled, as this reason only applies to debts owed to the charity fund - for the benefit of the charity fund, but the debts of the charity fund to others are not handed over to the court. However, according to the reason written by the Levush that the charity fund is not considered "your neighbor" and "your brother," it is not canceled, and just as a debt to charity is not canceled, so there is no prohibition to claim from charity. (Azmara Leshimcha, Laws of Shemitah).

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