Q&A

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.

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?

Jerusalem Vineyard Winery is selling otzar beit din wine grown in Shiloh – Eish Kodesh. Since the bi'ur time for wine has already passed, what is the wine's status vis-à-vis bi'ur laws? are we supposed to do bi'ur on the wine when we buy it? It is exempt from bi'ur?

Is it possible to grow wheatgrass during the shemitah year to juice it? The way it is grown is as follows: Wheat grains are sprouted by placing them on a piece of material in a barrel, and they are watered. The grass sprouts and also takes root.

During the shemitah year, if a need arises to transfer a tree from place to place to save it (for instance, due to soil contamination in the area the tree was planted, or because of construction work that can damage the tree, etc.)? Would it be possible to uproot the tree from its place and replant it elsewhere – would this be considered permissible tree maintenance, ukmei liana? 

1. Can I take out grass and replace it with synthetic grass during the shemitah year?
2. I have a vegetable garden next to my house with raised beds. Can I fix them throughout the shemitah year?

Dear Rabbi,

I live in Naveh, a development in the Eshkol Regional Council. I am a private farmer and raise an orchard of tangerines. The Ministry of Agriculture published a policy to support shemitah-observant farmers. I wanted to know if I am supposed to observe shemitah in my area due to the doubt regarding the status of my area, or if I would be needlessly stringent. In any case, what is the proper way to observe shemitah laws where I live?

1. Is it permissible to hang up a trellis net on a wall to support climbing plants? These plants were planted in Tammuz. Initially they began to climb and take hold of the wall itself. Now, though, they started to fall.
2. Is it permissible to transfer cacti, planted before shemitah, which are currently outside (the planter is on the railing, under the open sky) into a planter indoors?

I wanted to know about sefichin laws during shemitah: is it permissible or forbidden to eat vegetables harvested during the shemitah year?

Dear Rabbi,

I want to clarify an issue relating to shemitah, which has practical and immediate ramifications for me, so I need an answer right away (among other reasons, to commit to a tender for the Eitam lands on behalf of the Eftat Local Council. I redeem lands and preserve them from the Arab invaders, especially through planting trees. Part of this planting is on State lands (some of which are on JNF-KKL land), and some are on "survey" lands. All are in my area of residence: Efrat. I want to know if I am allowed to plant trees in these areas during the shemitah year. I would have never imagined that this might be permitted, until I read in the responsa Eretz Hemda that Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli permits it (additions to Gate 2:1: "Shemitah on ownerless and public land," p. 101), based on the ruling of the Netziv and Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank. All of my actions in this respect are for the sake of Heaven only, and I do not receive any financial or personal benefit. I am not looking for a heter, rather, I want to know what the true Torah way is for this issue.