(Cleveland Kosher)(Ed: There are ways to rectify Israel produce requiring tithes (trumos/ma’asros) but Shemittah year produce that grows from the ground cannot be rectified.)
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(Cleveland Kosher)(Ed: There are ways to rectify Israel produce requiring tithes (trumos/ma’asros) but Shemittah year produce that grows from the ground cannot be rectified.)
Sarah Nehrer says
Dear Editor:
While I understand the concern regarding the additional requirements and procedures involved with produce that has k’dushat shvi’it (grown and harvested during the Sh’mittah year), I am unsettled by the fact that the rabbis at Cleveland Kosher have recommended avoiding the purchase and consumption of fruits and vegetables grown in the State of Israel. Because of its role as a kashrut organization, Cleveland Kosher is sending the message that this produce should be regarded as “not kosher” for the Jewish community of Cleveland, a message which is highly unfortunate. A more appropriate approach, in my opinion, would be to provide the members of the Cleveland Jewish community concerned with these issues with an overview or guide about how to halachically consume and dispose of produce with this status. If individuals in the community prefer to avoid dealing with these halachic issues, they can make individual choices based on various heterim or chumrot, just as Israeli Jews do every seven years. Shmittah produce is not forbidden to eat. It simply needs to be treated as kodesh and we are, thank Gd, once again able to observe this mitzvah after centuries of inability. Counseling people to avoid this produce removes their ability to participate in this mitzvah, while at the same time harming the economy of the State of Israel.
Rabbi Gross says
Sarah,
I’m sorry that you’re making a mistake, but vegetables grown during shemitta are included in a rabbinic decree called “sefichim” (literally aftergrowths) and not only have kedushas sheviis but are forbidden to eat.
Aaron says
A little google’iong revealed: “Chazal felt it necessary to prohibit grains and most vegetables that happened to grow on their own during shmittah year or were planted in violation of the laws of shmittah. The reason for this was that, even in the days of Chazal, it was unfortunately common to find Jews who deceitfully ignored shmittah laws. One practice of enterprising, unscrupulous farmers was to plant grain or vegetables and market them as produce that grew on its own! To discourage this illegal business, Chazal forbade even grains and vegetables that did grow on their own, a prohibition called sefichim, literally, “plants that sprouted”. Several exceptions were made, including that the produce of a non-Jew’s field is not prohibited as sefichim. Since a gentile is not obligated to observe shmittah, Chazal saw no reason to ban produce grown during shmittah in his field (Rambam, Hil. Shmittah 4:29).”
Therefore it is not Cleveland Kosher but the rabbis from the Talmud who forbid it. So in the end, peppers in the market are truly forbidden and there is nothing you can do about it. It is not anti-Israel to not eat them, just halacha. Perhaps some (few do) hold by hetere mechirah that the land of Israel can be sold to a non-Jew and does not have the holiness of Shemitta. But this is not accepted by any major US kosher agencies.
moshe says
This is purely a halachic issue with no other motives.
Sarah Nehrer says
Dear Rabbi Gross and others: S’fichin refers to vegetables sprouted during Shmitta year, not those sprouted prior to Rosh Hashana. According to the charts published here in Israel, peppers are s’fichin from February 2015 and not now.
Aharon says
Indeed, you are right – peppers are not yet sefichim according to the charts. Only if they are picked in Feb ’15 and after. So for someone in Israel they may be able to eat them. However, someone in Chutz La’Aretz cannot benefit from produce which have kedushas sheviis and these peppers do. I think Cleve Kosher did not want to get into the fine points because for people outside of Israel it does not really make a difference if sefichin or not as they are still asur unless you hold my heter mechirah which we generally do not unless in a time of great distress like in the old days of the state of Israel. Support Israel and buy canned goods and wines, etc that are not fresh and not from the current Shemittah year – lets make that the message.
Aharon says
Good charts and reference info can be found:
http://kosherpoint.com/shmita/consumers-guide-to-shmita-5775-eng/
Sarah Nehrer says
Aharon:
Thank you for your response. I learned something new as a result of your answer. Produce with kedushat shvi’it should not be exported. Therefore, the produce reaching the shelves in Cleveland must fit some other category. Either it is heter mechira (which is the vast majority of fields in Israel this cycle, by the way), otzar beit din (not likely sent for export), or grown in hothouses or in parts of the Negev/Arava that are not considered halachically part of Eretz Yisrael for Shmitta purposes (and therefore not considered to have kedushat shvi’it). I do not know which of these apply to the peppers found in Cleveland, but it seems it would be worth knowing before making a blanket statement that they should simply be avoided.
Also, in researching this issue, I found the following from Machon HaTorah v’Ha’Aretz which is a proponent of the Otzar Beit Din approach: Even a person who doesn’t hold to the custom of abiding by the HETER MECHIRA can purchase fruits grown and marketed according to the HETER (and he shouldn’t fear as to the prohibition of trading in Shemita crops etc.)
Aharon says
Dear Sarah-
We are on the same page as far as looking to find ways for people to use produce from Israel.
However, I do not agree with some of your assumptions. You cannot assume that produce coming to the US to be sold on the general market must somehow be kosher. There is no reason why the peppers in the grocery store from Israel are 100% not okay – forbidden. Yes, they may be heter mechirah grown but again most rabbis do not hold but heter mechirah even the dati leumi ones. Heter mechirah may be better than nothing but it does not mean that the kosher consumer should rely on it. There is no way to know if they are hot house grow or from the Negev. It is quite possible they were grown on the land of a Jewish farmer who did not care about shemittah – you just never know. So, a simple kosher rule – if you do not know if it is kosher, do not eat it. It is not prudent to say that it must be kosher somehow.
Sarah Nehrer says
Produce exported from Israel is under some form of rabbinical hashgacha. That is why I am assuming that it must fall under one of the three situations I noted. Whether or not you rely on that particular hashgacha for your own kitchen is a personal choice, but it doesn’t mean that the produce is somehow “not kosher.” From what I have learned, it is not really possible to purchase produce from a supermarket from “a Jewish farmer who did not care about sh’mittah.” The amounts needed to grow to sell to big markets would be beyond such a small farmer, and nearly all the big markets have their produce at least minimally under rabbinate hashgacha. Therefore, I believe I am safe in saying that any produce sold in a major market here in Israel and any sent for export must be “kosher” by someone’s standards. If you are worried about that kind of rogue farmer for sh’mittah purposes, I would suggest you would also need to worry about orla and kilayim, which, as far as I understand, also cannot “be rectified.” The assumption in the US that “even the dati leumi” rabbis don’t hold by heter mechira is not correct. As I stated earlier, nearly all the agricultural fields this year have been sold using that approach. The big markets are all selling such produce and even the otzar beit din rabbis note (as I quoted above) that such produce may be used. It is, therefore, not correct to state that heter mechira produce is “100% forbidden.” That is not to say that everyone buys this produce and I respect those who choose to find a different way to get in their fruits and veggies for the next year and a half, but it is much more widely accepted than you seem to think. There are indeed ways to find out how and where the produce reaching the US market is grown as this is likely necessary information that the FDA requires upon import. I recall seeing “hothouse grown” stickers on American produce. I’m not saying it would be simple or straightforward, but it is possible. Rabbis involved with hashgacha have to do this kind of probing all the time.
Aharon says
Presumably all the produce grown in Israel and destined for Israeli consumption has some sort of rabbinic consideration, whether that is otzer beis din or heter mechirah. But this does not apply to produce that is exported overseas. There is no reason why a farmer who exports overseas has to do anything as far as shemittah is concerned. 99.% of his customers will not know the difference. Whereas in Israel, for business reasons, he will want to make his produce at least acceptable to the minimal standards, ie those accepting heter mechirah. Again, this is all in the realm of possibility and kosher is based on knowing. You just do not know where exported fruit comes from. Yes, orlah and kilayim are issues, but they are not on the level of the d’oraita prohibition of shemittah and at worst they are sofek situations, but as far as shemittah there may be no sofek here since we cannot say a majority of exported produce is heter mechirah. I am going to leave this to our local Orthodox Rabbi – I am exceeding my minimal knowledge here in this situation. To those living in the holy land, enjoy the mitzvah and do all you can for it in place of those of us in the diaspora.