Shemitah
Strawberry harvest in the eighth year
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?
Joining Agudas Shemita
I read an advertisement on observing the mitzvah of shemitah through Agudas Shmita. You sign up on the website, and appoint the organization as your agent to purchase land on your behalf. That is, you buy land in Israel (starting from 1X1 amah to 4X4 amot) for the duration of the shemitah year. The land is officially registered under your name and you relinquish ownership of the crops during the shemitah year. In this way, you observe two mitzvot: "During the seventh year you will remit it and abandon it" and "The land will rest a sabbatical unto G-d." Each person receives a precise map noting the piece of land they purchased. This parcel is privately-owned land (it does not belong to the Israel Land Administration) between Yavniel and Tiberius. It says that Agudas Shmita has the support of many rabbis from the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Chareidi community, and also has legal guidance.
This land is worked during the sixth year; in this way, donors will merit the blessing "and I command my blessing to you during the sixth year." At the beginning of the shemitah year, a sign will be put up that the produce is ownerless. They also write that women are obligated in the mitzvah of shemitah. The rabbi heading the organization is Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Stern, rabbi of western Benei Berak and the av beit din of Sha'arei Hora'ah.
How does Torah VeHa'aretz Institute view this project?
Kedushat shevi'it wine after the bi'ur time
Two-and-a-half years ago I received a gift of a bottle of wine from someone who is not scrupulously observant. The wine is Hermon wine from the Golan Heights and is marked otzar beit din 5775. I received the bottle several months after the bi'ur time. I know that this person is not a wine lover, and often passes on to others the wine he receives as a gift. I am concerned that he received the bottle as mishlo'ach manot on Purim and passed it onto me without performing the actions necessary at bi'ur time. I kept the wine until today since I was not sure what to do with it. I'm asking: is it permissible for me to drink the wine even though it might have passed bi'ur? If not, what should I do with the bottle? Thank you.
Shemitah guides for the private garden
I searched the website and I couldn't find a comprehensive guide on the laws of shemitah for the private garden. Does such a guide exist? I'd appreciate the link.
Can shemitah wine still belong to the otzar beit din even after purchase?
Is it possible that the wine I bought, which was in my house on erev Pesach, is still halachically considered under the auspices of the otzar beit din thereby deeming it exempt from bi'ur?
Do we need to check if supermarkets performed bi'ur on shemitah wine?
I see that supermarkets still sell Golan Heights shemitah wine and that otzarot beit din continue selling and distributing holy wines and grape juice now, after bi'ur time (Pesach 5783). Do I have to find out if the stores/distributors properly performed bi'ur before buying the wine?
Amount exempt from bi'ur for people who won't actually use the wine on seder night
You posted on the website the amount of wine exempt from bi'ur includes what a family would use for seder night and yom tov morning, one bottle per adult (/child 9+) and half a bottle per smaller children.
What about:
- If your family will be going away for seder (and not bringing wine along)
- If you decide not to drink the wine, or
- Some participants will be drinking other wine or grape juice (some of my kids only like Kedem)?
- You will use holy wine for some but not all of the cups?
Identity of the witnesses of the hefker declaration (bi'ur)
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)?
Hafrashat challah from holy dough
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?
Cosmetics, kashrut, and shemitah
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?