Q&A

You wrote that you need three people, who can be related to one another, to declare shemitah wine hefker on erev Pesach.

You also mentioned that they can't be dependent members who are part of your household.

We are having a family over for seder night: a couple and their teen daughter. Can they be my hefker witnesses? Or do they have to be men? Is it a problem that they will be our guests (dependents at our table for the night)?

Friday afternoon, I was making challah and ran out of canola oil, so I supplemented with my shemitah olive oil. I finished making the batch, which was large enough to be obligated in separating challah, when I suddenly realized that there might be a problem: If the entire batch of dough is now holy, would it be a problem to burn the challah that I set aside, like I usually do?

We like buying local Israeli produce wherever we can. Does one need to be careful when buying cosmetics and soaps that contain herbs, fruit extracts or olive oil, that they don't contain shemitah produce or other problematic produce? 

Now that shemitah is over, may I extract seeds from produce with kedushat shevi'it and plant them?

You mentioned that at this point in the year (Tevet 5783), the vast majority of Israeli vegetables no longer have possible sefichin status (again, for those who do not rely on heter mechirah), and you referred to the shemitah calendars on your website.

How long is the shipping time? Is it possible that produce in Israel is already eighth-year but produce abroad was shipped before such produce was available? Are your shemitah calendars relevant to those who live abroad

Regarding olive oil, I have antique card catalog from a library.  I was told to only use extra Virgin olive oil to polish.  It's worth about $1,500.  Is that still considered a degraded use? I haven't polished it since I made Aliyah last year.

I have a pomelo tree in my yard. At this point of the year, I pick the fruit, put it in a crate outside and write that it's free for the taking. I was wondering if I could set aside fruit for my neighbors, adult children, and grandchildren, or is that acting like I'm the owner of the fruit?

 Is it permissible to make a wine marinade for a nice steak? On the one hand, it enhances the steak's quality and flavor, but on the other hand, the marinade is discarded after use.

I recently bought some shemitah Moscato and it's delicious. It's not fine wine, though. If I have two wines, one with kedushat shevi'it and one regular wine, does shemitah wine trump non-shemitah wine by the virtue of its holy status? Or does it have to be a better quality than the other wine to qualify for hatov vehameitiv?

I'm slotted to take the glucose challenge test (ha'amasat sukar). The test measures the body's response to sugar, performed during pregnancy to screen for gestational diabetes. The test involves dissolving 50g of glucose (for the first test) in a cup of water, drinking it, and waiting for an hour, after which a blood test is taken.

In the past, I've always squeezed a lemon into the cup of water so I wouldn't get lightheaded, dizzy, or nauseous after drinking the extremely sweet cup of water. We have a lemon tree with holy lemons in our yard. Would I be allowed to use one of those, or is that considered using shemitah produce for medical purposes?