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Shemitah

Sefichin in the home vegetable garden

Rabbi David Eigner

My question is about sefichin in my vegetable garden. B"H, I have a thriving vegetable patch in my yard. This upcoming shemitah I'm not planning on growing anything; I will let it lie fallow. My question is about the crops that are now flowering and growing. I have crops that I planted at three different times:

  1. An eggplant bush planted a year and a half ago, which has been producing beautiful eggplants for several months already.
  2. A kale bush, planted more than 10 months ago, now big and beautiful.
  3. Various vegetables planted six months ago: tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkin, butternut squash, and eggplant. Some of the vegetables are already past the point of the pinnacle of their growth, but the pumpkin patch, for instance, is now at the height of its growth.

From what I understood, it is possible that these crops would be considered sefichin and will be forbidden to eat during the shemitah year (unless I uproot them before shemitah begins). I thought, though, that maybe because the plants are veteran—planted between six to eighteen months ago—they might not be included in the prohibition.

I would like to receive your answer on the matter. Do I need to uproot all of my vegetables before shemitah due to the sefichin prohibition?

Grating a lemon with kedushat shevi'it

Rabbi Yehuda HaLevy Amichay

Is it a problem to grate the rind of a lemon with kedushat shevi'it in order to add it to a cake (instead of discarding it in the pach shevi'it)?

Playing gogoi'm with kedushat shevi'it apricot pits

Rabbi Moshe Bloom

My son wants us to save our apricot pits for him to play gogo'im at recess. We buy otzar beit din apricots. Now I know that barely any fruit gets stuck to the pit, but technically if you open up the pit, the inside is edible.

Is it permissible to play with the pits or is this considered degrading or hefsed? And, in general, are we supposed to keep these pits in the shemitah bin or can we throw them away regularly?

Aloe vera for burns during shemitah

Rabbi Moshe Bloom, Tammuz 5782

 Is it permissible to use an aloe vera plant to treat burns during shemitah? Do we have to ask permission from a neighbor to take a leaf? Once we use the leaf, do we put it in the pach shevi'it?

Strawberry harvest in the eighth year

Rabbi Moshe Bloom

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

Rabbi Moshe Bloom

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

Rabbi Yehuda HaLevy Amichay

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

Rabbi David Eigner

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?

Rabbi Moshe Bloom Nissan 5783

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?