Gittin 37: Prosbol, Redeeming Slaves

A prosbol may be written to allow payment of a debt over the course of the shemita, the sabbatical year, which is ordinarily forbidden.  We learn that the bulei are the wealthy and the butei are the poor.  Each of these parties is named in the prosbol.  The rabbis discuss what amount of debt can be negotiated via a prosbol.  What about a perforated pot on the ground?  A pot sitting on stakes?  Or a stump of a palm tree?  And if a person lends 100 dinars to a friend who in turn lends that money to another friend, is it permitted to return the the 100 dinars directly to the first lender?  

The rabbis explain that shemita cancels both written an unwritten loans.  Promissory notes are loans written with property guarantees.  The rabbis question whether or not the shemita year would excuse all of these agreements.  They seem to lean toward allowing specific, time-based loans to be repaid although such repayment seems to go against the intention of the shemita.  Further, they also discuss loans  that are based on collateral, loans that are made within the same courtyard.

We are provided with the example of a promissory note with a property guarantee.  Rabbi Asi says that the shemita year's rules hold; Rabbi Yochanan says that shemita rules can be broken in this case.   Rabbi Yochanan's argument is that a loan that stands to be collected is considered to be a loan that has already been collected.  Thus it cannot be abrogated - it is as if the loan was already repaid.    

Reading this material as a beginner is extremely challenging.  What does this last suggestion say about all items over the shemita year?  What does it say about cancelling repayments?  

When one person says to another that he wishes to pay his debt to his friend that was due before the shemita year after that year has passed, his friend must say, "I abrogate the debt".  And if the debtor then says, I want to pay you anyway, the creditor is allowed to accept the money.   Deuteronomy 15:2 teaches about this abrogation.  The rabbis continue on, telling us about how the drama must play out - including lowering one's eyes and voice, etc.  Like a choreographed dance, the players are supposed to walk through their steps to ensure that they have prepared poorly.  The Gemara clarifies at the end of this conversation that one who brings a promissory note after the shemita year should also bring a prosbol.  However, saying that the prosbol was lost will also suffice.

A new Mishna teaches us that when a Canaanite slave is  captures and then redeemed by Jews who do not know him, if he was redeemed to be a slave he will be a slave.  But if he was redeemed to be a freeman, that will be his fate.  But Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says that in both cases the man will be a slave.

The Gemara wonders if the slave's owners are despairing  over their slave.  They wonder about ownership at all if this person was captured.  They note that it is a mitzvah to redeem both slaves and freemen.  Different rabbis share different opinions about whether or not this man should be a slave; whether or not he should belong to the first or second owner.   The rabbis also ask whether or not the first owner was despairing of his slave in the first place - did he even want this slave? Finally, the rabbis ask questions about differences between Gentiles and Jews regarding the permission to acquire and the acquisition of slaves in the first place.  Over and over again, the rabbis remember that it is a mitzvah to redeem a slave. However, they do not fully critique the ownership of people.