Q&A

Should we actively designate shemitah produce in order to perform the mitzvah of bi'ur like what we do with the 10 pieces of chametz so we can do bi'ur chametz on erev Pesach?

if the taste of the grape juice is different than the regular grape juices. Can I give it back and get back my money?

I bought 4 boxes of Batra wine from the Golan Heights otzar beit din (I traveled to Katzrin to buy it, because the wine at the distribution spot was gone!)

I loved the wine and I brought our children mishloach manot that included Batra wine, which they also enjoyed.

On erev Pesach, may I declare the bottles ownerless in front of three of my children? They are married, live in their own homes but in my neighborhood. We all really like the wine.

I have citruses on my tree that began to develop last year (5782), so I know they have kedushat shevi'it.

But are they still hefker, even though it's the 8th year now? In other words: does hefker follow the status of the fruit or the year?

I see bananas in Otzar Ha'aretz stores labeled sheminit, eighth-year, at the end of Tishrei. How can that be?

We are now in the asseret yemei teshuvah 5783. I walked down the street and saw many pruned branches with tangerines, most of them ripe and some partially ripe.
Do these tangerines have kedushat shevi'it?
Is it permissible for gardeners to prune them?   Am I allowed to take them and juice them? If so, what do I do with the peels? I don't have enough room in my shemitah bin.

I have strawberries in my garden that I planted during the sixth year. What is their status now that shemitah is over? If I pick them after Rosh Hashanah, do they have kedushat shevi'it? Do I have to separate terumot and ma'aserot?

On the calendars you wrote that the bi'ur time for apricots is early September (mid-Elul), but the apricot season was over several months ago. It began around Pesach time (April) and was over around Sivan-Tammuz (July). Why is bi'ur only in early September?

I heard that if grains are harvested before being edible or before the grain reaches a third of its development, they do not have kedushat shevi'it and shemitah laws don't apply to it. Since wheatgrass juice is consumed, does that change things? Is there an issue of sefichin?
Any other considerations or special laws?

Hi, I was given a gift of wild sumac. I don't know if it's primarily used in food or medicine in Israel.  Is it sefichin, and does it have kedushah? I have no idea what to do with it but I'll offer to anyone who wants if I know its status.