SunDo: Be a farmer for a day
Volunteering in agricultural activity and helping farmers - SunDo
We wanted to tell you about a program called SunDo, which facilitates agricultural volunteer work.
SunDo is a subsidiary of HaShomer Hahadash, whose goal is to connect individuals, families, and groups who want to volunteer and farmers in search of volunteers.
To be a farmer in Israel today is extremely difficult. SunDo provides an opportunity to combine contributing to the pioneers who settle our land and make the wilderness bloom and an enjoyable activity that connects us to nature, the soil, and our beautiful country.
How does it work?
Download the SunDo app and fill out three main categories:
Group size (individual, couple, family, group), Date, Area in Israel (North, Center, South).
The app locates farmers looking for volunteers according to these categories.It is also possible to filter according to other criteria, such as if farmers are shemitah-observant and more (if there are sleeping arrangements, for a week or more, near the Israel National Trail).
Sign up here: https://bit.ly/3BXWnkP
Check out their website: https://sundoapp.com/
You can also contact them here: 054-8691026.
Shemitah
Each farmer marks if he is shemitah observant. I believe this means that the farmer signed on heter mechirah, not that he declared his field ownerless, is an agent of otzar beit din or works with halachic detached platforms. Find out exactly what it means when contacting the farmer.
Practically speaking, when it comes to volunteer work of people not engaging in the harvest for profit, I believe it is possible to be lenient and have Jews involved in harvest during shemitah (even though after heter mechirah, harvest is forbidden for Jews and must be performed by non-Jews).
Bottom line: If you rely on heter mechirah, you can search for shemitah-observant farmers and volunteer on these farms. If you don't rely on heter mechirah, wait until next year to volunteer.
I tried it now and found 14 shemitah-observant farmers all around the country in search of volunteers, from Hula Valley in the North through Be'er Milka in the South.
