Hetter Mechira, Otzar Bet Din, & Palestinian Produce: How can we in the Diaspora participate in Shemitta?
We have just begun the year 5775, which is observed as a Sabbatical year ( Shemitta ) in the Land of Israel. As, unfortunately, we have chosen to live outside Eretz Yisrael (EY) for now, the impact of the Shemitta year is not as strongly felt here as it is there. Nevertheless, given that many of us plan to visit EY, and Baruch Hashem have the privilege to purchase products from EY, I decided to write this short essay, with the following objectives: To underscore that, in general, we should have a positive attitude towards purchasing products from Israel, and not fear that we are taking on unnecessary Halachic problems when encountering them. To understand what the three basic Halachic approaches to observing Shemitta are. To raise awareness of how Shemitta affects us outside EY. “Problems” with Israeli produce When I lived on the West Coast I often supervised Kashrut in food plants. I represented the Orthodox Un...