West Bank – A Jewish agricultural law that crops up every seven years is prompting Israel's most fervent Zionists to turn to Palestinian farmers for food. Join our WhatsApp group
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According to biblical law, farmers must let the land of Israel "rest and lie fallow" every seventh year, which means no planting crops, no picking fruit and no working vineyards.
In past years, farmers have circumvented the law by symbolically "selling" their land to a non-Jew for the year, a practice called "heter mechira".
This year, many ultra-Orthodox rabbis want a stricter interpretation of the law, with a ban on methods aimed at getting around it.
Using two of those methods, some farmers grow crops on platforms to avoid working the land directly, or cover their fields with giant greenhouses for the year, which means they are indoors and thus exempt.
Some Orthodox Jews want that loophole to be closed and are turning to Palestinian farmers for their kosher vegetables.
Wearing traditional prayer shawls, a group of bearded Orthodox Jews strolled through Palestinian farmland in the occupied West Bank, choosing the shiniest, firmest tomatoes to take back to their communities.
They marked each box with a black "kosher" stamp in Hebrew.
The agricultural sabbatical – known as "shmita" – started last month with the Jewish New Year, and Israel's Industry and Trade Ministry said imports of Palestinian produce into Israel had risen significantly since then.
"Vegetable prices are high. . . especially tomatoes, because the Israelis buy hundreds of tonnes from the Palestinian farmers." [stuff]
of course don’t give money to our enemies – the worst enemies of Klal Yisroel are the zionists
To anonymous of 10:39
I simply cannot resist answerign you. Totally avoiding the issue of mutar/assur to have economic partnerships with Arabs, Badatz is engaged in a financial arrangement with them, Neturei Karta – in an incestuous one. Business partners and bed partners aren’t the same, period.
Why is it that the Badatz charedim are allowed to be involved in economic relationships with the Arabs but yet they oppose any involvement of Neturei Karta with the Arabs which don’t even involve economic relations?!
So now we are fighting about vegetables?
We fight over money ,
we fight over rabbis,
we fight over shaitlach,
we fight over bugs in water,
we fight over the eiruv,
we fight over hashgochos,
we fight over the talking in shuls,
we fight over who’s fault it was with everyhintg posted here.
We fight over vegetables.
What’s next?
PLEASE-CAN SOMEONE GIVE ME A PILL?
im just curious why were they “Wearing traditional prayer shawls” while strolling through the farms
If no equivalent product is available from yidden, or imported from elsewhere, then do without it, but do not give money to anyone who gives his zakat (“maaser”) to those who kill Jews. These are “blood vegetables”; the Jewish blood that is spilled because of you won’t be washed off by the fact that you “kept shmita”. And the same applies in the other 6 years – if you know that the source is from the Arabs of the “territories” then don’t buy it. This is a much worse avera than eating sfichei shmita.
Dear Kolmevaser (and others):
I suggest you be a bit more careful before calling another Yid a 100% am ha-aretz.
Not only is it wrong to do so when the person really is an am ha-aretz, it’s especially wrong to do so when you happen to be misinformed about basic halachos of Shemittah.
1)According to Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, those who rely upon the hetter mechira are not considered violators of shemittah. Rather, they are yidden whose Rav ave them a different psak than the one that your Rav gave you — no different than any other halachis dispute.
Therefore, neither the sellers or buyers are not considered as those who do business with shmitta produce.
2)Given the way that the hetter mechira was done this year, even the Chazon Ish would hold that the sale was “chal,” even though the Chazon Ish would have been against the sale in the first place.
3)Shemitta b’zman hazeh is d’Rabbonon. Lo Sichonom b’zman hazeh is d’Oraissa.
4)Giving material support to those who actively seek to drive us out of Eretz Yisroel (and preferring to buy from our enemies rather than our fellow Yidden) is considered by many Poskim (Rav Ovadiah Yosef, for one) to be an Issur D’Oraissa.
5)It’s one thing to buy from Arabs where no equivalent product is available from yidden (gasoline and strawberries, for instance) and quite another to favor the enemy over the Yid.
Badatz signed a 6million shekel contract with Gazaen farmers for produce. Who is going to protect the mashgichim who must monitor & supervise the picking, packing and delivery? Would not want a Jewish non-shmittah produce to get mixed into the load!! Are the IDF expected to be on security alert while the mashgichim do their job in the ‘murderer’s next”?
10:21
Your lack of Tanach is overwhelming, one of the reasons for Jews to live in the area of Plishtim, (Gaza strip) was so that vegetables would always be available during shmittah years. Is anyone wondering why there is such a PROBLEM this shmittah that did not exist 7 years ago??? HUH! During the last shmittah, Gush Katif produced an EXCESS of produce for all those who were shomrei shmittah.
Don’t you love demanding mesirus nefesh from farmers, but the consumer how can he pay high prices or do without? Double standard to the thousandths degree.
Now let’s see how many frum people are going to scream bloody murder that “me geyt mit die araber!” “Me iz mechazek zayn die Araber!” Notice the double standard. Neturei Karta’s interpersonal relationships compared to these haredim’s ECONOMIC relationships! Where are the letters from Hertz Frankel, the OU and everyone else against this?!! Anyone listening??
The whole purpose of why God put the arabs into the west bank to plant vegetables all these years, is only for one reason, that true torah jews should have what to eat in a Shmittah year, open your brain and THINK
Why limit yourself to vegetables? Please stop buying oil and natural gas from our enemies too, since no Rabbanut heter is forthcoming. It is quite funny to hear such rants about not buying from the Arabs, when the posters fill up their German cars with Arab gasoline. Am I the only one who sees the irony?
Many varieties of produce, such as strawberries, are imported from the Arabs even in non-Shmittah years
Jews follow the Torah which prescribes shmitta.
If the the Torah is not politically correct according to some replacement theory dispensationalist Xtian Zionists, well that is just tough.
milhouse you are 100% am ha-aretz. if you want to be sold as an eved ivri you can do business with shmita produce. I prefer not to do so, and rely on the B’datz Eida Chareidis. If you want to stay in Chu”l and eat your veggies there, do so. Just make sure that they aren’t imported from E”Y. Unless you want to go broke, and have to sell yourself as a eved ivri.
And the Arab gives “maaser” to Hamas or Fatah, and your “chumra” and “hiddur” ends up as a bullet in another yid. If you don’t want to rely on heter mechira, and you can’t afford produce imported from Europe or somewhere else, then do without vegetables – take a few vitamin pills and you won’t die from it – but don’t give money to our enemies! That’s a worse avera than eating sfichei shmitta.
Even non-religious Israelis are affected by the shmita, since stores selling produce that has not been approved by the religious authorities run the risk of losing business.