Tammuz Shemitah Updates
Why is sweet potatoes Sefichin only from Tammuz? First bi'ur this month, and more
Monthly Scoop
Bu'ir time has arrived! It is now bi'ur time for loquats. So if you have frozen fruit or loquat jam with kedushat shevi'it, it is now time to perform the mitzvah of bi'ur. Check out our clip on the topic.
Fruit
All of the fruit on trees now belong to the shemitah year. In the marketplace, too, there are almost no more sixth-year fruit available, with the exception of most apples (besides anna apples) and citruses (storage or import).
Vegetables
All vegetables in the marketplace grew and were harvested during shemitah, including strawberries and bananas. Almost all vegetables are possibly sefichin (now sweet potatoes as well; only horseradish is definately not sefichin now). For this reason, it is important to buy fresh produce only from places with reliable kashrut certification.
Behind the calendar
So why does the concern of sefichin for sweet potatoes start only now, during Tammuz?
The reason for this is that sweet potatoes are only planted during spring and summer. After the final harvest of the year, around December, they are stored until the end of the summer (approx. 8 months). This is the reason that the concern of sefichin in the marketplace only begins after the first sweet potato harvest of the crop planted during shemitah, which is around now. (It is possible that there is small-scale harvest beforehand).
Work in the garden and Flowers
For guidelines on garden care during shemitah, click here.
Only buy flowers that grew under halachic supervision during shemitah. For more information on the topic:
Important links
Shemitah calendars for fruits, vegetables, and flowers:
Join Shemitah Updates and Torah VeHa'aretz WhatsApp groups: https://www.toraland.org.il/whatsapp
Torah VeHa'aretz Institute's website: en.toraland.org.il
