Mesechtas Shevi'it

Mesechtas Shevi'it of the Order Zeraim contains ten chapters. This Mesechtas deals with the laws of Shemitah (Sabbatical year), which includes both land Shemitah and the remission of debts.

Afka'ata D'Malka (The King's Expropiation)

It is brought in the Mishnah in Mesechtas Shevi'it:

"One who repays a debt during the Shemitah year, the creditor should say to him, 'I release you from this debt.' If the borrower says, 'Nevertheless (I wish to pay),' the creditor may accept it from him, as it is said, 'And this is the word of the Shemitah.'"

The Rebbe raises a question: If Shemitah is afka'ata d'malka (automatic cancellation by decree of the King) and the debt is nullified, then the Mishnah's language of "one who repays a debt" and "I release you" is not so clear. The question is even stronger according to the commentators' explanation of the borrower's statement "Nevertheless," which indicates he wants to "repay" the debt.

Moreover, the Rebbe questions: Since the Torah said that Shemitah cancels the debt and nullifies it, there should seemingly be a prohibition for the borrower to do an opposite action - to return the money as a debt - yet the Mishnah states not only that it is permitted for the borrower to do so, but that: a) "The Sages are pleased with him."

Chovat Gavra (Personal Obligation)

From here the Rebbe proves that the remission of debts is not in the category of afka'ata d'malka where the debt is completely canceled automatically, but rather it is a personal obligation upon the creditor to release the debt. And the nature of this obligation is not to nullify the debt completely, but rather to abandon (release) the debt: not to demand it (lo yigos).

According to this, the Rambam's words are explained: "The creditor must say to one who repays, 'I release you and you are already free from me.' If he says 'Nevertheless, I want you to accept it,' he may accept it from him, as it says 'he shall not exact it,' and behold he has not exacted it." This means that the obligation and mitzvah upon the creditor in saying "I release you" is defined by fulfilling what is written "he shall not exact it" - which is not a separate prohibition in the release of debts, but is also the fulfillment of the obligation of release as a positive commandment. This is also the language of the Sefer HaChinuch: "To abandon debts - meaning not to demand them," and as implied by the scriptural language: "Every creditor shall release what he has lent... he shall not exact it from his fellow or his brother... and what is yours with your brother, your hand shall release."

Since "he shall not exact" obligates and compels the creditor to abandon the debt and not demand it, it is understood that automatically the subjugation and personal obligation upon the borrower to repay the debt is nullified (for one depends on the other) - as the Rambam states: "I release you and you are already free from me," meaning the borrower is freed from his subjugation to the creditor. But this is only the cancellation of the subjugation in relation (of the personal category) between the creditor and borrower, but the lien on the borrower's property remains, because the essence of the debt itself has not been annulled.

This explains why according to most legal authorities, there is no mitzvah obligation on the borrower to return the debt to the creditor (even before the creditor says "I release you"); nevertheless it is called "returning his debt" - because even though the borrower is exempt from returning the loan, the debt still remains and is not annulled. In other words: when one borrows, a form of ownership by the creditor takes effect on part of the borrower's property in the amount of the loan.

It is difficult to interpret this as a matter of "repaying a debt is a mitzvah," as some explain in our Mishnah, and the proof is that as mentioned above, this is only an individual opinion that holds there is an obligation on the borrower to return the debt to the creditor (if he did not say "I release you"); furthermore, if this were the mitzvah of debt repayment - even according to the opinion that it is only rabbinic - it would be an actual obligation, and not just "the Sages are pleased with him."

Connection to the Continuation of the Mishnah

Based on the above, the Rebbe also explains the continuation of the Mishnah: "One who borrowed from a convert whose children converted with him should not return it to his children, but if he does return it, the Sages are pleased with him. All movable property is acquired by pulling, and whoever fulfills his word, the Sages are pleased with him."

The connection of the last two clauses to the first clause is equal, because in those cases too, the obligation of payment is only a material obligation on the property and not on the person himself, and therefore the praise is only in the category of "the Sages are pleased with him."

Additional Explanations

• Study of Mesechtas Shevi'it. Igrot Kodesh Vol. 4, p. 447
• Chapter 10, Mishnah 8. If he says "Nevertheless," he may accept it from him. Sha'arei Halachah U'Minhag p. 282 (p. 274)
• Conclusion to Mesechtas Shevi'it. Likkutei Sichot Vol. 17, p. 286 (p. 299)
• End of the Mesechtas: One who repays a debt during Shevi'it, etc. - Analyses of the order of the Mishnah and the definition of debt remission, Likkutei Sichot Vol. 17, Talk 2 for Parshat Behar.

Explanations of Chabad Rebbes

• The Tzemach Tzedek, "Mesechtas Shevi'it," Tzemach Tzedek on the Shas, Brooklyn, 5755, pages 44-24, on the HebrewBooks website