בסייד

YAA2-Introduction To Shemitah Laws 5782

English Translation From Original Hebrew By Rav Chaim Vidor

We have already started the first days (updating to read months) of this special year for Jews called Shemitah.

Jews that live in Israel must be careful to observe the Halachas regarding gardening and farming such as cutting trees picking fruit and looking after flowers.

Also you must know how to treat produce that grew this year because they become Holy. And everything Holy deserves respect & honor and you must not waste it. We will explain later on.

Israel was given to the Jews and when they came to Israel the land and the fruit became Holy and G-d gave the Jews many Halachas (Laws).

Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to enter Israel for the sake of Torah and Mitzvahs. Because in Israel there are many more opportunities to do Mitzvahs and keep the Torah which makes a person more spiritual and ‘’well rounded’’ which causes him or her to be a ‘’Complete Jew’’.

It states in a Midrash {the first Rashi of Parshat Bereshit) Rav Yitzhak asks why did the Torah start with the creation of the world and not with the Mitzvahs? Rashi Answers –  So that the other nations won’t say we stole the land when we conquered the seven nations to come to Israel We have proof it belongs to Hashem, who chose to give it to the Jews as a present for six years. But on the Seventh year he kept it for himself and that’s why we must know how to behave with Hashem’s land on the Seventh year and then Hashem explains how to handle this year of Shemitah. There are many Halachas and prohibitions and Mitzvahs that we must know during this Shemitah year.

These Are The Seven Main Shemitah Categories

1. Jews are forbidden to do work on the ground such as planting and growing all types of produce and trees. All actions such as spraying that causes growth is prohibited during the Shemitah year.
2.  The produce that grows in the seventh year in Eretz Yisrael is Holy and there is a Mitzvah to watch it so that it stays Holy. It is forbidden to cause any damage to the produce while some Sages hold eating this produce is a Mitzvah.
3.  It is prohibited to make business (buying and selling) with Shemitah produce. Making medicine or making use of Shemitah produce that is not intended for eating is prohibited.
4. All produce (except tree fruits) from the seventh year that grew on Jewish ground are prohibited by the Sages. It is called ספיחין . It means it’s easy to grow. They may say that this produce grew by itself. For the Sages said that all of this produce is prohibited. But if it grew by a non-Jew, these are not prohibited and you are allowed to eat them. (But they are Holy).
5. Concerning produce that grew by a non-Jew, there is an uncertainty if there is holiness or not in Yerushalayim. The custom is not to keep Kedusha, but in a non-Jew’s ground it is prohibited to work therein, besides Yerushalayim. The whole of Israel keep Kedusha because it was grown in Israel making them Holy.
6. It is permitted to buy Shemitah produce from a non-Jew because the prohibition is on a Jewish seller. And a Jew cannot buy from another Jew because as it says in Parshat Kedoshim – Par. 19 Vs. 14, “you shall not place a stumbling block before the blind’ – which can be translated in a more simplified form to mean that we must look after each other and not knowingly give bad advice to our fellow Jew. Especially when we know that Jew is unaware of Shemitah laws.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
7. When the time of the season arrives for each type of produce to disappear from the field, it is called Bi’ur. All the left over produce from this field is prohibited (and must be declared Hefker (ownerless)).

———————————————————————————————————————

Added commentary not appearing in the Hebrew version of Rav Vidor’s document which follows in the Blogs section after this Blog-

Rav Chaim Kanievsky highly recommends we learn two Shemitah Halachas a day to fulfill the Mitzvah of Shemitah. This especially applies to Jews living outside of Israel. These Halachas are available in the Videos section of youraliyahadvisor.com. and more are being added throughout this year. Rav Kanievsky is confident that those people who learn these Shemitah laws will be spared from all difficulties.

Rav Chaim Vidor, who is the author of the above document, is also the major source from where these very interesting Shemitah Halachas are originating. Rav Vidor is working late into the night to write Halachas that are relevant to this Shemitah year of 5782.

In the Videos section, my son Dovid Pinchas has produced many videos first in English then Hebrew that brings the work of Rav Vidor alive, in an easy to understand format.                                                                                                                  

You are encouraged to visit the Shemitah Hotline section appearing on the Main Page of youraliyahadvisor.com should you have any questions which Rav Vidor will be happy to answer.

Rav Vidor is a Hebrew speaker, therefore for those wanting answers in English, there are instructions in the Hotline Section for your convenience.