Shemittah
Concise version of select topics from
Imrei Dovid on Shemittah
The Torah has a 7-year agricultural cycle, and the last year of that cycle – called shemittah – has special mitzvos associated with it. The year 5782 (September 2021-September 2022) will be shemittah, and the goal of this series will be to familiarize readers with the basic principles and issues, with particular focus on the applications that relate to those of us in chutz la’aretz.
Derech Emunah’s introduction to Hilchos Shemittah records the following seven halachos of shemittah, and we will IY”H address each of them in the coming installments:
1. עבודת קרקע....... All work on the land or trees, both for planting or growing, is forbidden during shemittah, and some is even forbidden before shemittah.
2. הפקר................ The mitzvah to consider all shemittah produce as ownerless so that others can partake from it.
3. ספיחים.............. Vegetables and seeds which grow during shemittah are forbidden mid’rabannan even if they grew by themselves.
4. הפסד................ It is forbidden to do actions which ruin or waste shemittah produce.
5. סחורה............... The prohibition to perform certain forms of business with shemittah produce.
6. ביעור................ Once a given type of shemittah produce is no longer available in the fields, there is a mitzvah to perform “ביעור” for any shemittah produce remaining in the home.
7. שמיטת כספים..... When the end of shemittah arrives, one is excused from repaying any outstanding loans, and the person who loaned the money cannot demand its return.
In addition to the 7-year shemittah cycle, the Torah mandates that after seven cycles of shemittah there should be an extra shemittah-like year which is known as yovel. The mitzvah of yovel is not in force nowadays. Rambam teaches that there are seven mitzvos which apply only during eras when yovel is practiced, and two of them are the agricultural laws of shemittah (שמיטת קרקע) and the cancellation of loans at the end of שמיטה (שמיטת כספים). This means that since there is no yovel nowadays, these two mitzvos are only applicable mid’rabannan. [The other five are not practiced at all nowadays]. This reflects the general consensus that shemittah nowadays is a d’rabannan, but it is noteworthy that there are other Rishonim who argue that even today shemittah is a d’oraisah.
In a future installment, we will discuss the “heter mechirah” and see that the disagreement about whether shemittah nowadays is d’oraisah or d’rabannan, plays a role in that discussion in the following way. The Gemara says that one can perform a “mechirah” to avoid shemittah issues in the land of Suria since the obligation of shemittah there is just a d’rabannan. This supports the notion that if shemittah is d’rabannan everywhere nowadays, then the heter mechirah is appropriate. In contrast, some question relying on the heter mechirah in light of the Rishonim who rule that shemittah continues to be a mitzvah d’oraisah.
On Rosh Hashanah of shemittah the prohibitions against working the land begin, but that does not mean that all halachos of shemittah apply during or are limited to the 12 months of shemittah. Rather, many halachos apply to “shemittah produce” and those halachos are dependent on two factors (a) which type of food it is – fruit, vegetable, grain, etc., and (b) when the food reached a specific stage of growth or harvest, as we will see below. Food which reaches the specified stage during shemittah is considered “shemittah produce” and the associated halachos apply, even though a significant amount of the food’s growth may have been in the 6th or 8th years of the shemittah cycle. For example, grapes which grew during shemittah but were harvested after shemittah are considered “shemittah produce”.
The criterion for determining which “year” a fruit belongs to is when it reaches the stage referred to as “chanatah”, and there is a difference of opinion as to how that term is defined. Rash and Tosfos say that it occurs when the buds fall off the tree and the fruit first begins to form, but Rambam says that it is at a later stage when the fruit is one third grown (a.k.a. onas hama’asros). Chazon Ish rules that one should follow Rambam.
How does one measure whether a food has reached one-third of its growth? Chazon Ish says that it is inherently a measure of the quality and development of the fruit, rather than when the fruit has reached one third of its eventual size. He continues that this criterion is not directly quantifiable as a mathematical percentage, and we therefore use certain physical measures of a fruit’s development as a reasonable estimation that it has reached the proper stage of growth.
Some exceptions to the above rule regarding fruit are:
Rambam is of the opinion that there is a Rabbinic chumrah to judge an esrog both by the year when it reaches the stage of chanatah (one-third grown) and the year it is harvested, but other Rishonim disagree. According to Rambam, esrogim from two years are treated as shemittah produce: those which are harvested right after Rosh Hashanah when shemittah starts, and those which have chanatah during shemittah and are harvested for Succos after Rosh Hashanah. Derech Emunah says that although the letter of the law is that one may be lenient to judge based on chanatah alone, the common practice is to be machmir. Accordingly, esrogim from Eretz Yisroel which will be used for Succos 5782 (2021) will be picked off the trees before Rosh Hashanah 5782 to ensure that even according to Rambam they are not shemittah produce. Esrogim from Eretz Yisroel used for Succos 5783 (i.e. just after shemittah ends) are surely shemittah produce, and the special status of those esrogim will be discussed in a future installment.
Citrus fruits have many similarities to esrogim including the method of watering, structure of the fruit, and the way juice is stored in the fruit. On the other hand, esrogim are different than other citrus fruit in that new buds appear all year round and the fruit grows larger as it stays on the tree for longer. Based on this, Chazon Ish is unsure whether the strict stand Rambam takes for esrogim also applies to other citrus fruit. In contrast, Rav Kook and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach argued that one does not need to be strict for other citrus fruit and should judge them based on chanatah alone.
Grapes, pomegranates, and dates have a special halacha where all fruit of a tree will sometimes be considered to have reached onas hama’asros even if only some of the fruit is at that stage of growth.
The “year” for grains and kitnios is determined when they reach one third of their growth. As relates to these halachos, the term “kitnios” includes foods where one eats only the seed without the flesh surrounding it, and an example of this is beans. [In contrast, a cucumber (for example) is not kitnios because one eats the seeds and the flesh that surrounds it]. Grains meet the criterion for kitnios but have their own subclass, known as tevuah, due to certain special halachos that apply to that subclass. Another exception is a group of four kitnios – rice, millet, poppy, sesame – whose “year” is determined by when they become fully grown.
The criterion for deciding which “year” a vegetable belongs to is when they are harvested. Thus, carrots harvested a few days into shemittah are considered shemittah produce even though most of their growth was before shemittah. As relates to the halacha of sefichin [the issur d’rabannan to eat vegetables which grow during shemittah even if they grew by themselves] the criteria is somewhat different, and this will be discussed in a future installment.
In summary, the defining point for most produce is when it reaches one third of its growth, while vegetables’ status is determined by when they are harvested. Accordingly, vegetables with shemittah status will arrive on the market in Eretz Yisroel just after Rosh Hashanah of shemittah (September 2021) and will be “gone” at the beginning of the 8th year, but fruits, grains, and kitnios from shemittah will first arrive on the market later in the shemittah year and will still be available well into the 8th year. Of course, preserved shemittah produce such as canned fruits and vegetables, wine, and dried herbs, will be available even many years after shemittah.