The Deeper Reason for Heter Mehira

As we have seen in the last post, Rav Kook held that Shmita was essential in order to build a moral nation on the land of Israel. It is used as a type of regulotary system which refreshes a nation which is required to be involved in actions of nation building which often force it to ignore the pure values it stands for such as caring for the less fortunate. Shmitta is therefore an extreme picture of those values in order to give back a spark of that morality which will last the next 6 years.

How then could Rav Kook institute a “heter mechira” which basically destroys the whole concept of shmitta by providing a loophole by which we will not need to follow it?

First of all, Rav Kook clearly said heter mechira should ONLY be used when no other option is available for the nation at the time. It is only in time of extreme need.

That being said, Rav Kook saw the resurrection of am Israel starting in the land of Israel. In my opinion, he was looking at all of the new yishuvim building up and told himself: We have two choice. We can either follow shmitta which is supposed to help build a moral nation, and loose our national resurrection. Or, we can use this heter, which is halachically correct (at least according to him), and preserve the nation building. We will worry about re-inserting the ideals of shmitta once the nation will have been better built.

In a type of tragic writing, Rav Kook wrote a whole halachic book on shmitta and his heter called Shabbat Haaretz. In the introduction, he wrote about the ideals which shmitta stands for. Maybe he meant to tell us that only a nation which will end up returning to the values expressed in the introduction can afford to temporarily go around shmitta. more...

The Meaning of Shmita

We have often dicussed the concepts of “segulah”, “Jewish Nationalism”, Prat and klal. In order to discuss the meaning of Shmitta, let us review these concepts quickly.

Judaism is first and foremost a national identity. Yet, it is an special national identity. What is so special about the Jewish Nation? Well, the same way each nation has a special message, the Jewish Message is that of Godliness. How does that translate in obligations for the individual? Well, the prat (individual) is always essential to the representation of the klal (the general idea which needs to be represented). We often took the example of a painting where every brushstroke needs to be well place for the painting to come out clearly. This is true of every klal. Another example is a symphony, a beautiful musical piece. Each note in the symphony needs to be played nicely for the symphony to come out as the masterpiece it is. Interestingly, once the symphony is complete, you can feel the energy of the whole symphony in each note. So to in Klal Israel. The essential part is the klal. But each individual has a part of the “Klal” in his and when you hug your fellow jew, you hug this whole klal of the Jewish Nation which has, as special property, its Godliness.

So, what is the meaning of Shmitta?

Well, when as a nation, we are busy and involved in nation building, in making our economy stronger, etc… then an ideal situation cannot be brought out. The necessities of nation building create poverty for some, it creates materialism, etc… Unlike Communism, the Jewish religion recognizes the necessity of the material wealth for nation building. However, unlike blind capitalism, we also recognize that it would be ideal for everyone to have some decent wealth. Therefore, every 7 years, wealth becomes public domain. Every 7 years, we live one year of “communism”. We of course don’t believe all 7 years should be that way. Just like Shabbat is limited to a day and we do not make it every day, the Shmitta is only one day. Just like the energy of Shabbat brings us through that whole week, the energy of Shmitta brings us through every regular year.
The year of shmitta is the one where we recharge ourselves with a year of moral life where we live as a Godly nation before moving forward in the less then ideal, but essential, realities of nation building.

May this shmitta end with the coming of the messiah! more...

Shmitta Pragmatism

From: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411432370&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

This year is a shmita year - a sabbatical during which, according to the Bible, all Jewish-owned fields in the Land of Israel are to lie fallow.

In its day, this was one of Judaism's progressive practices, a measure that allowed the land to recuperate from over-cultivation, not dissimilar to the scientific concepts that underlie modern crop-rotation.

Now, every shmita year there is controversy. Last time, then-chief rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron was ostracized by the haredi leadership for personally providing Jerusalem and other cities with the option of heter mechira - a legal solution involving the sale of Jewish-owned land to non-Jews. He paid a hefty price for his move and lost the respect of the haredi establishment.

This year, the clashes are shaping up to be even worse. The Supreme Court has already questioned the Chief Rabbinate's granting of a free hand to local rabbinates to foil circumventions of the ancient shmita limitations, even though these circumventions are formally sponsored by none other than the Chief Rabbinate itself. Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon has announced that he will forbid a flood of imports designed to compete with Israeli farmers and thus enable the ultra-Orthodox to shun all Jewish-grown produce for the next year.

This is no niggling matter. Many Jewish farmers in Israel face ruin if their produce is eschewed.

Read More

more...

Heter Mechira

From http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/BEHAR_65.htm

"When you come to the land that I am giving you, the land must be given a rest period, a sabbath to God. For six years you may plant your fields, prune your vineyards, and harvest your crops. But the seventh year is a sabbath of sabbaths for the land." [Lev. 25:1-4]

A Brief History of the "Hetter Mechirah"

As the Jewish people began to return to the Land of Israel in the late 1800's, establishing farms and moshavot (agricultural settlements), the question of letting fields lie fallow during the sabbatical year became - for the first time in many centuries - a burning issue. With the approach of the sabbatical year in 1889, the Jewish settlers turned to the rabbinate to issue a hetter (permit) to allow them to continue working their lands during the seventh year, so that the young and fragile agricultural settlements would not collapse.

In response, three respected scholars met in Vilna and designed a "hetter mechirah", based on temporarily selling the land to a non-Jew over the sabbatical year. The hetter was approved by Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spector, chief rabbi of Kovno and the pre-eminent Halachic authority of that era.

During the sabbatical years of 1889, 1896, and 1903, many of the new settlements utilized the hetter. However, a number of highly respected scholars vociferously opposed the leniency. Among the opponents were the Beit HaLevy (Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik), the Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin), and Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.

Read More more...

First Shmitta in the State of Israel - Time Magazine 1952

Here is the start of an amazing article from 1952 on the first shmita in Modern Israel! We don't realize what a miracle it is for us to have Shmita again!

Shmita: 5712

Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard and gather in the fruit thereof;

But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy "vineyard.

—Leviticus 25:3-4

When the kingdom of Israel was governed by the Law, farmers scrupulously deserted their fields at the end of each six-year period. Throughout the sabbatical year, called shmita, the whole land lay fallow. The ancient Jews ate only meat and the grain they had stored, trusting in the Lord's bounty to see them through their man-made drought.

The year 1951 (by Hebrew count 5712) was the first shmita to come round after Israel gained its independence. But with a partly Socialist government and a farming population that is generally far from Orthodox in its religious views, Israel's modern Orthodox rabbinate was hard put to observe the Law. To avoid flouting it openly, the rabbis technically "sold" the entire territory of Israel to an obliging Arab named Mahmoud. Mahmoud gave the rabbis power of attorney, which enabled them to "sell"the state back to themselves, at the close of the sabbatical year.

Read more

more...

Good Shmitta Post on Jpost

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411432370&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%

Good perspective on the machloket and the situation today. more...

Welcome to the Year of the Shmitta!

We are priviledged to be living a year of shmitta with a large presence of people in the land of Israel.

Throughout the year, I will be posting tid-bits of thoughts on what Shmitta represents, why it is important to us and how to relate to it.

The first idea is one from Rav Mordechai Elon Shli"ta.

There are some loves in this world that to contantly actualize them into physical bounding would just simply reduce their value.
For example, when a man truly loves his wife, this love is not only expressed when they are bounding physically but the true love is expressed by how the husband acts during the period of niddah where physical bounding is forbidden. Then, without touching, the feeling is fostered and enhanced and intensified.
The same is true between the Jewish People and the land of Israel. For 6 years, we work the land. Our love of the land is expressed by working the land to the point of becoming one with it. We get on our knees, dirty, and plant things, move stuff around, etc... Then comes the Shmita. On that year, we do not touch the land. On that year, we enhance, foster and intensify this feeling of love for the land without touching it. This is the time to look deep inside our souls and work on our love for the land of Israel.

Have a happy and meaninful Shmitta Year! more...