Let's look at what Shemittah REALLY means. It is an acknowledgment that the Land belongs not to us, but to G-d. Like the Shabbat, it is not only restrictions, but sanctification. All fruit trees are to be made ownerless. Every person could come to the orchards, and pick enough fruit for several meals. The fruit, once picked, is still sacred. Eating it constitutes the performance of a mitzvah. It must be treated with respect. It may not be bought or sold. Food normally only eaten raw may not be cooked, and vice versa. No edible part of the fruit may be discarded. It is forbidden to export this fruit to other lands; it must remain within the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael. I have seen many fruit trees in front of Jerusalem homes with signs "Shemittah Fruit. Just take". However, not a single commercial farm actually "observes" Shemittah.
It is easy to see, however, how this system would not, in practice, be practical for large, industrial farms, as we have today. Besides the economic hardship for the farmers, today's farms are not just outside the towns. They are in distant areas. People are unlikely to take a long drive just to pick a small amount of fruit. The fruit would, for the most part, go to waste. Throughout the ages since Talmudic times, this presented little problem. The Jews in Eretz Yisrael were generally not farmers. They were artisans, merchants, shop keepers and some who dedicated their lives to study and prayer, who were supported by others. Fruit was purchased from their non-Jewish neighbors. Produce from the field of a non-Jew was permitted to be bought and sold. According to most, Shemittah does not apply to it at all. Others opined that some of the laws of Shemittah apply, but not all. This continues to be a source of dispute between the rabbis of Bnai Brak and Jerusalem. Many Jews continue to buy all their produce from non-Jews during Shemitttah year. Jewish agriculture in Eretz Yisrael only began in the 1880s. The first farmers were observant, and faced with a dilemma by the approaching Shemittah year. They were struggling financially. Shemittah threatened to ruin them. Would Jewish agriculture be feasible in the Holy Land? Some gave up and left the farms as Shemittah approached. The rest sent an urgent plea to the great European rabbis of the age. A possible solution was offered by Rabbi Yitzcak Elachanan Spektor, considered by many the leading sage of that time. He found in the literature that in the Holy City of Hebron (Judaism's second holiest city), there had been Jewish farmers for centuries who had simply "sold" their fields to a non-Jew for the duration of the Shemittah year, buying it back at its conclusion. Although he was unable to find the appropriate responsa that had permitted this practice, he felt it reasonable, and, under the circumstances, permissible. This became known as the "Heter Mechirah" (Permission to Sell). The Land would not have any of the requirements of Shemittah, and could be farmed freely. Several European rabbis concurred, while others protested vehemently. They saw this as an absolute violation of several Torah laws, as well as a legal fiction (ha'aramah) that took legal fictions to a new low. The farmers accepted it. Some fifty years later, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in Eretz Yisrael endorsed this view, with some modifications. Since then, it has been seen as Rabbi Kook's innovation, which is not really the case. It was adopted as the official stand of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate to this day. Even Rav Ovadia Yosef considered it the most acceptable way to observe Shemittah. Many Hareidi (ultra-Orthodox) rabbis, however, saw, and continue to see this as a travesty. What were the arguments for and against? Was there, in fact, an alternative? That will be my next post.
It is easy to see, however, how this system would not, in practice, be practical for large, industrial farms, as we have today. Besides the economic hardship for the farmers, today's farms are not just outside the towns. They are in distant areas. People are unlikely to take a long drive just to pick a small amount of fruit. The fruit would, for the most part, go to waste. Throughout the ages since Talmudic times, this presented little problem. The Jews in Eretz Yisrael were generally not farmers. They were artisans, merchants, shop keepers and some who dedicated their lives to study and prayer, who were supported by others. Fruit was purchased from their non-Jewish neighbors. Produce from the field of a non-Jew was permitted to be bought and sold. According to most, Shemittah does not apply to it at all. Others opined that some of the laws of Shemittah apply, but not all. This continues to be a source of dispute between the rabbis of Bnai Brak and Jerusalem. Many Jews continue to buy all their produce from non-Jews during Shemitttah year. Jewish agriculture in Eretz Yisrael only began in the 1880s. The first farmers were observant, and faced with a dilemma by the approaching Shemittah year. They were struggling financially. Shemittah threatened to ruin them. Would Jewish agriculture be feasible in the Holy Land? Some gave up and left the farms as Shemittah approached. The rest sent an urgent plea to the great European rabbis of the age. A possible solution was offered by Rabbi Yitzcak Elachanan Spektor, considered by many the leading sage of that time. He found in the literature that in the Holy City of Hebron (Judaism's second holiest city), there had been Jewish farmers for centuries who had simply "sold" their fields to a non-Jew for the duration of the Shemittah year, buying it back at its conclusion. Although he was unable to find the appropriate responsa that had permitted this practice, he felt it reasonable, and, under the circumstances, permissible. This became known as the "Heter Mechirah" (Permission to Sell). The Land would not have any of the requirements of Shemittah, and could be farmed freely. Several European rabbis concurred, while others protested vehemently. They saw this as an absolute violation of several Torah laws, as well as a legal fiction (ha'aramah) that took legal fictions to a new low. The farmers accepted it. Some fifty years later, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in Eretz Yisrael endorsed this view, with some modifications. Since then, it has been seen as Rabbi Kook's innovation, which is not really the case. It was adopted as the official stand of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate to this day. Even Rav Ovadia Yosef considered it the most acceptable way to observe Shemittah. Many Hareidi (ultra-Orthodox) rabbis, however, saw, and continue to see this as a travesty. What were the arguments for and against? Was there, in fact, an alternative? That will be my next post.
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