E BMW' JEWISH NEWS

How Shmitta Year Affects Israelis

By JODY BRANSE
World Zionist Press Service

In the markets and corner
stands of Israel, many shop-
pers these days are alert to
more than plump tomatoes,
shining apples and sweet-
smelling melons. EN en be-
fore entering, they look for a
notice, in heavy black print,
assuring them that the es-
tablishment is under the
'supervision of the local
"shmitta" committee.
The year 5740, which just
ended, marks the comple-
tion of another seven-year
and the Torah-
scribed cessation of ag-
ricultural labor in the land
of Israel. It is a sabbatical
year, not for university lec-
turers but for the land itself.
"Six years thou shalt sow
thy land and gather in its
fruits; but the seventh year
thou shalt let it rest and lie
fallow," God instructed
Moses. "Thou shalt neither
sow thy field, nor prune thy
vineyard."
The commandment of
the shmitta, or sabbatical
year, and the intricate
body of Halakha derived
from it, is no less binding
on the observant Jew
than that of the weekly
Shabat: The seventh
year, like the seventh
day, is to be sanctified;
land, like man, must
enjoy the rest decreed by
the Lord. But the shmitta
applies only to the crops
of the land of Israel.
Thus, during the cen-
turies of the Diaspora, when
the few Jews remaining in
Israel dwelt mostly in cities,
this land-bound mitzva was
in abeyance.
Through the first decades
of the 20th Century, com-
pliance with the shmitta
depended on a variety of fac-
tors: The commitment of a
given group of settlers to
religious law, economic and
climatic conditions, the
presence or absence of
strong rabbis, and the
countless hardships con-
nected with building a new
nation. Since the birth of
the state of Israel, two con-
flicting approaches to the
shmitta have developed in
the religious community.
The "official" view of the
Chief Rabbinate acknowl-
edges on the one hand the
need to preserve the tradi-
tional law in full; but on the
other that at present it is
impossible to persuade the
nonobservant majority to
comply.
The rabbinate is moti-
vated by the desire to
prevent the public con-
sumption of nonkosher
produce, and to minimize
the commission of trans-
ssions by farmers who
► b not respect the
shmitta.
The solution is the token
sale of the land of Israel to
an Arab. Farmers who con-
tinue working the land
while it is technically in the
possession of a non-Jew are
still violating the Halakha,
but to a lesser degree than if
it were legally their prop-
erty. As a shmitta year ap-
proaches, the rabbinate sol-
icits from landowners
throughout the country the

right to act as their agent in
arranging this temporary,
symbolic transfer.
The "independent Or-
thodox" oppose both the
technique and the rationale
of the "religious establish-
ment" policy. They main-
tain that the risks of hard-
ship cited by the rabbinate,
and actually occuring in the
early years of the state,
could be avoided were all
Jews to observe the shmitta.
These traditionalists make
their own arrangements on
the local level.
In Jerusalem, Bnei Brak
and several other com-
munities, special commit-
tees assume responsibility
for ensuring supplies of
fresh, kosher produce to the
consumer.
They rely on several
sources. Among them,
Arab-grown fruits and
vegetables have been
especially important
since the Six-Day War
made West Bank crops
available to the Israeli
market.
Another source exploits
the fact that under certain
circumstances vegetables
from Jewish fields may be
eaten, provided they have
been "hefkered," made
available to all Jews to take
what they need. Farmers
are employed by the bet din
(rabbinical court) to guard
their fields against plun-
derers, and even to reap on
behalf of those who can't
come to take for themselves.
In town, shopowners who
are' otherwise forbidden to
sell the seventh-year pro-
duce are employed by the
bet din to distribute the
hefkered food to the public.
Thus, when one buys in a
supervised shop, the price is
not for the goods but for the
bet din's expenses in em-
ploying the farmers and
storekeepers. For this rea-
son, shmitta produce is
sometimes more expensive
than its nonkosher competi-
tion.
The Torah restrictions do
not apply to food from out-
side the land of Israel.
This applies not only to
foreign countries but to por-
tions of modern Israel fal-
ling outside the biblical
borders upon which the
Halakha is based. A
number of Negev settle-
ments are among the areas
exempt from the shmitta
laws, and their cops may be
freely eaten.
In addition to these
sources, experiments
under way at research
institutions and kibutzim
are exploring methods,
such as hydroponic ar-
dening, that may enable
crops to grow without
soil. Should these techni-
cal innovations prove
successful, a large supply
of fresh produce would
be available in the
shmitta year.
Meanwhile, this year has

seen no shortages in the
stores displaying the
guarantee of the local
supervisory • committee.
Full observance depends on
the cooperation of mer-
chants willing to comply
with the religious
authorities. In areas with a
large Orthodox population,
such as Jerusalem and Bnei
Brak, proprietors won't risk
losing the business of their
regular religious custom-
ers.

Incidentally, to use an
"unscientific" method for
finding whether a year is
shmitta or not, divide the
Hebrew year by 7 and if
there's no remainder, its a
shmitta year.

Friday, October 3, 1980 13

Begin Criticized

PARIS (ZINS) — Prime
Minister Menahem Begin
and Foreign Minister Yit-
zhak Shamir were char-
acterized as "dogmatic and
militant politicians" by
Jean de Lipkowski, a
spokesman for the French
DeGaullist party.
De Lipkowski, a former
vice foreign minister in the
Pompidou regime, had re-
turned from an official visit
to Israel and said in a radio
interview that there are
very dim hopes that Begin's
government will come up
with a realistic plan to solve
the long standing Arab-
Israeli dispute. According to
de Lipkowski, Shimon
Peres is the most likely per-
son to achieve that objec-
tive.

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