Prozbul

The Prozbul (Hebrew: פרוזבול, borrowed from Koinē Greek: προσβολή) is a halachic mechanism allowing for the collection of debts against loans that have come due, and preventing their cancellation by the monetary Shmita process (The Lord's Release).

The Prozbul was established in the waning years of the Second Temple of Jerusalem by Hillel the Elder. The writ, issued historically by rabbis, changed the status of individual private loans into the public administration, which made them ineligible for cancellation on the year of Shmita. This allowed the poor to receive interest-free loans before the Sabbatical year while protecting the investments of the lenders.