who knew that ketchup would be the big victim of the Russia Ukraine War and of Shmitta?

Rav Meir Mazuz had some interesting comments during a recent shiur about shmitta produce.

According to Radio Kol Hai, Rav Mazuz  railed against the sharp increase in prices for shmitta produce. He said:

there is the "hetter mechira" in shmitta. I am not in favor of using the hetter mechira, but people who have no other choice but to eat from this have great rabbonim to rely upon that allowed it, including Rav Yitzchal Elchonon, the Yisa Bracha, Simcha L'Ish, Rav Kook, and even Rav Ahron Kotler and Rav Moshe Feinstein.
There are those who sell the same vegetable sin shmitta that were in the stores before shmitta, but suddenly right after Rosh Hashana the price jumps fourfold. Why? Because it is shmitta! Idiots - why do you increase it fourfold? It is the same produce from the 6th year. What happened to you? It is shmitta, they have to sell everything for more... it is prohibited to do this. Why are avreichim treated as less than the farmers?
So, even though one shouldnt use hetter mechira produce, it depends on the merchants. If they charge normal produces, ok, don't rely on hetter mechira. But if, say, the store in Netivot sells cucumbers for 1 shekel and the shmitta store in Bnei Braq sells for 4 shekels! Why? Why are you stealing? Every shmitta year they set up a fund to support the farmers so they have with what to sustain themselves for the year? So why not also think of the avreichim? They don't have what to eat and live with the minimum - can you really sell to them at prices four times the regular amount?
We in yeshiva are stringent and buy from the shmitta store, but we look for the store selling at reasonable prices. Think of them [ the avreichim] no less than the farmers.one wise guy from jerusalem said to me "so what - because it is expensive we should eat treif? and I am printing my book soon so answer me quickly!" I said to him - if you are talking about treif, there is no argument, as you have to deal with the actual situation. But if you take the position that all the gedolim that allowed it and ate from it were eating treif , then that is it, this is where the "tchum shabbos" ends. print what you want and I won't answer you, and even if you print it a thousand times it does not matter as "wasted words don't last. You cannot say Rav Ovadia Hadaya ate treif, Rav Ovadia Yosef ate treif,.. what happened to you? there is a limit to the craziness!
So, it depends on the prices. They need to take into account the public. When Hillel the Elder saw people stop giving loans int he 6th year because soon the loans would be wiped out by shmitta, he established the pruzbol. The truth is it already existed,, but it was only in use privately as the Mishna says...but Hillel established pruzbol to make it widely used. Same thing with this.

words of gold.

The comparison between Netivot and Bnei Braq isn't that good because the store in Bnei Braq might be paying for greater overhead than the store in Netivot, so naturally his prices will be higher, but when the same store increase sits prices by 4 from before shmitta to during shmitta that really shows the problem.

I do not know why he is talking about this now, during the first year after shmitta is over and 6 years away from the next shmitta. Let's see him instruct people to eat hetter mechira, even if just to pressure the storekeepers to lower the prices, during the shmitta year and not 6 years before the shmitta year.

hmmmm



hmmmm.. you can clearly see the hechsher of the Badatz Eida Hachareidis on this package of french fries (or freedom fries, if you prefer), near the bottom right corner.. yet the package is also stamped twice with the hetter mechira stamp certified by Rav Ariel of Ramat Gan..

I am not sure how those two go together...

Rav Shteinman is being quoted as having said something that is supposedly unique (otherwise why is it of interest) regarding hetter mechira.

Bechadrei says that Rav Shteinman was recently asked if hetter mechira produce can be used to feed the poor. Supposedly Rav Shteinman's answer was that the hetter mechira produce must be thrown out into the garbage and not be used even to feed the poor.

I get that plenty of people hold hetter mechira produce cannot be eaten. It makes sense to me that if you hold that so strongly, even to the point where it is not just a chumra to avoid hetter mechira produce but you say the sale has no actual effectiveness, then you hold that hetter mechira produce cannot be eaten under any circumstances. Even to feed the poor.

That part of it is all fine by me, according to the opinion of Rav Shteinman. His position is consistent.

My question is that if you hold the hetter mechira does nothing, the sale is totally irrelevant and ineffective, then you must hold that the produce has kedusha - holiness of shmitta produce. It cannot be eaten, but it has kedusha. How could Rav Shteinman say the food cannot be eaten because the mechira was invalid while at the same time instructing the questioner to throw the produce in the garbage? Maybe he meant to wrap it in bags and dispose of it properly for kedusha produce?

After the surprise letter in the Yated in which the Sefardi rabbonim seemed to be parting ways with Rav Ovadia's psak and their own personal halachic decisions in the past, it is important to clarify the retraction (not really a retraction, but for lack of better word).

The rabbonim signed on the new letter denouncing hetter mechira have denied that they ever signed such a letter. In their opinions, as they have stated, nothing has changed. The hetter mechira is a full-fledged hetter based on proper halachic process and has gedolei olam to rely upon. That being said, the rabbonim qualify their allowance of using hetter mechira by saying that that is proper for the general public, but "bnei torah" should buy mehadrin products, i.e. not rely on the hetter mechira, as they do every year, even spending a bit more money.

They issued a new letter printed in both Yated and Yom lYom. The letter was worked over so it would not mention anything about allowing the use of hetter mechria, but it talks about bnei torah consuming mehadrin produce as they always do.

I am happy to say that what I wrote the other day is no longer relevant, and they have remained consistent with their psak halacha of previous announcements, and consistent with Rav Ovadia's psak on the matter.

That being said, it is disturbing to me that those people who are working to denigrate the hetter mechira and influence people to not rely on it are resorting to using lies, forgeries and falsehoods instead of using halachic arguments.

Rav Ovadia Yosef was, famously, a supporter of the use of hetter mechira produce. Not as a "bdieved", but even as a lchatchila. Some say he meant it only for the general public but not for bnei yeshiva, and that is fine (for the purposes of what I am about to write). It might be debatable what his position was on that, but either way is fine by me - in general Rav Ovadia supported the use of hetter mechira. Rav Ovadia has written in support of the hetter mechira, he is on video supporting hetter mechira, and he spoke about it many times. Even for bnei yeshiva, whom he might have said should not rely on hetter mechira, would tell them to not waste their money on more expensive produce and buy the cheaper hetter mechira produce when someone experiencing financial difficulties would come to him. He would say the person should not be a "friar" and buy the more expensive produce.

So I was surprised (only sort of) to see Shas rabbonim moving away from that position. For a group that constantly quotes Rav Ovadia and uses his imagery in everything and acts as if Rav Ovadia's word is the final say, they have moved away from that awfully quickly.

The Shas rabbonim have announced that the hetter mechira cannot be relied upon at all. They are saying that any hetter was only in the past and can no longer be relied upon and its produce cannot be purchased and eaten.
source: Kikar

Every rav can, and should, make his own halachic decisions and pronouncements according to his conclusions of any given subject. It is just surprising that for a group that has culturally gone a certain way, to suddenly do a 360 degree turn and abandon that.. one might wonder if it is pressure to fit in with the Litvishe community or is it is an independent decision..

When in the future they go back to quoting Rav Ovadia on this or that, feel free to say that Rav Ovadia only said that for then and not for the future.

Update: it turns out that at least 2 of the rabbonim signed n the letter are now claiming they never signed and it is a forgery. Rav Shimon Baadani and Rav MosheTzadka. So, out of 5 signatories, 2 are already denying their signatures. That's 40%.



As well, Rav Ovadia's grandson is speaking out against this letter opposing hetter mechira. He is saying that some people are making a lot of money off this and are taking advantage of avreichim. Some rabbonim, he says, work for one year now and earn 7 years worth of wealth.

I think this is the first policy statement announced since the appointment of Rabbi Stern as the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Stern announced that the Jerusalem Mehadrin hechsher would use only non-Jewish and/or imported produce in restaurants and places of business certified by it, while the regular Rabbanut hechsher will use hetter mechira produce.

Rabbi Stern said the consumer using the Rabbanut Mehadrin services is largely the Haredi consumer, and this will allow the Haredi consumer to continue eating food under the Rabbanut Mehadrin supervision.

Basically, Rabbi Stern said he is not changing anything about the way the kashrut is working, in this regard.

source: Bechadrei and Kooker

nothing is changing, so this is not really all that interesting, but it is an important kashrut-related update...

This is sort of a PSA.

I am in favor of people being aware and knowledgeable about their kashrut issues, and that includes proper labeling of kashrut on food items.

In this situation, nothing was done wrong, but there is still room for someone to not notice the issue, and therefore I feel it important to point out.

Tzabar salads make many different types of salads. Many of their salads have had a Badatz hechsher in the past (and still do). This is one of those situations in which you normally buy a specific product and dont check the hechsher each time - because you know it is acceptable to you. The problem with this is that when something changes, you don't notice it.

It has been noticed that many of the Tzabar salads no longer have the Badatz hechsher, but are sold with the Rabbanut hechsher and use hetter mechira produce.

Again, the products are labeled correctly, but because of our behavior patterns, many people might not notice it.

It has also been noticed that these salads are sometimes sold in stores where the shelves are labeled, and not all labels have been changed. I was told of a store that right under the containers of salad the shelf still said "Badatz Eida" but the salads were all hetter mechira Rabbanut.



If you eat Rabbanut hechsher, and hetter mechira, you are fine in this situation. If you don't, than this message is for you.

The Rabbanut seems to not necessarily work on any given set of standards.

In the case of shmitta, the Chief Rabbinate has decided to allow the use of hetter mechira produce and deem it a shmitta solution. Some local city Rabbanuts have decided that despite the official Rabbanut position, they don't want hetter mechira to be used in their cities.

In Netanyah and Herzliya, the Rabbanut administrations have instructed local hotels to not purchase vegetables from hetter mechira produce, but to buy produce from abroad (often this means a bit from Europe, some from neighboring countries like Jordan and Egypt, and more from Palestinian Arabs in areas like Gaza and elsewhere).

This upset many people, specifically the farmers association. If the Rabbanut, and the army already announced it will be doing so, will be directing purchasers to imported produce, that would be a major blow to Israeli agriculture and local parnassa.

It almost seems like what's the point of the hetter mechira, which was meant specifically to avoid causing tremendous economic damage to Israeli farmers, if the Rabbanuts wont allow its use anyway and will make the major purchasers buy from the competition?

Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau responded saying he has instructed all the local rabbanut offices to approve the use of hetter mechira produce, for normal basic kashrut levels (meaning, a hotel or restaurant that is mehadrin kashrut, will buy imported produce or some other type but not hetter mechira, but hotels and restaurants under regular rabbanut should be using hetter mechira).

Even more interestingly, Rav Lau announced that any place that has a complaint that the local rabbanut is not authorizing the use of hetter mechira, the situation will be looked into. While the situation is being analyze,d which can sometimes take time, in order to avoid the hotelier to be hurt by the process, as what will he do in the meantime, Rav Avraham Yosef will be appointed to be able to circumvent the Rabbanut and give a temporary hechsher on his own to such places until the issue of the rabbanuts approval will be worked out.
source: TheMarker

That's pretty cool. Instructing the Rabbanut what to do, and then setting up a channel to circumvent them when they won't listen (i.e. he knows in advance there will be some who won't listen to the rules).

Perhaps, seeing this, this is why some people are so worried about the possibility of local rabbinates, made up of rabbis certified by the chief rabbinate and following the basic guidelines of the rabbinate, being given authority over conversions. If there is no set of standards that must be followed within the organization, then any city rabbi can do whatever he wants and demand or allow whatever he prefers. If the Rabbanut officially allows hetter mechira but any city rabbi can decide he doesnt allow it, then perhaps the same can happen in conversions..

Last week the Rabbanut announced it had performed the hetter mechira of State lands in advance of the onset of the shemita year. The lands were sold to a non-Jew from the Ukraine, living in Israel, named George Streichman.

Interestingly, there is more to the story...

Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau presided over a beis din in which, for the first time in supposedly 2500 years, granted official status upon Streichman as "Ger Toshav".

Streichman is the grandson of a Jew, but he himself is not a Jew. Streichman moved to Israel unde the Law of Return, due to his grandfather being Jewish. Streichman is a "ben noach" - he is a non-Jew that believes in the God of Israel, and was therefore chosen to be the buyer of Israel's land for the hetter mechira.

This move was meant to further mitigate any problems of "lo techaneim" in the process of the hetter mechira. Not only was the buyer not a non-Jew of the "idol worshiping religion", i.e. a Christian, but he is a ben noach, and a ger toshav to boot.

The process of the sale went down as such:
the farmers participating in having their lands sold transferred ownership rights to the Chief Rabbinate. The Chief Rabbinate transferred ownership rights to the Israel Lands Authority. The director of the Lands Authority, Bentzi Lieberman, then sold all the lands, the State lands and the relevant farms, to Streichman.
source: NRG

Those who oppose the hetter mechira by ideology won't change their opinion because of this, but it is clear that even more improvements have been introduced to the process to make it more and more reliable.

reports have Rav Rafi Peretz, Chief Rabbi of the IDF, having made a decision to order the army to change its fruit and vegetable policy for the coming year.

Next year, 5775, is going to be shmitta, The IDF, along with most of the country, relies on the hetter mechira for its fruits and vegetables. Normally. Not next year.

Out of consideration for the increasing number of Haredi soldiers, Rav Peretz has instructed the IDF to only purchase fruits and vegetables next year from imported produce, and not hetter mechira produce.

That is a great gesture to make for the Haredi soldiers, who will generally not eat hetter mechira produce, but it has upset some people.

Minister of Agriculture Yair Shamir  is upset and has said that for 95% of the nation, and the army being the nation's army, the kashrut of hetter mechira is satisfactory, and the IDF should not give preference to purchasing from either Jordan or non-Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria over hetter mechira produce. As well, the change will cost the country, supposedly, 100 million shekels.

The organization of farmers is also upset about what they call this populist decision and will cause damage to the Israeli agriculture market.

The Defense Ministry rejects the criticism calling it inaccurate. The Defense Ministry says the contract is only for half a year and only for up to 10 (or 30 according to Kipa) million shekels. No final decision has yet been made, but either way produce will only be purchased from Israeli agriculture.
sources: Kipa and Ladaat

I am not sure about that last line - if a decision hasnt been made, how will they buy from Israeli agriculture no matter what, and conversely, if a decision hasnt yet been made how was a contract signed for half a year, and if a decision hasnt yet been made, how are they buying foreign produce only from Israeli farmers?

I like the idea of being accommodating to the soldiers who wont eat hetter mechira, but I dont know why it requires them to change the supply of the entire army, which upsets some people and costs more. Just like in the Haredi army units they supply the soldiers with mehadrin food with hechshers that are acceptable to those soldiers, and not Rabbanut like the rest of the army, so they can also provide those same units with fruits and vegetables that are not hetter mechira. I don't know why this has to affect the entire army.

------------------------------------------------------

does the Haredi community support the hetter mechira?

according to Baruch Marzel, perhaps.

Marzel is accusing the Haredi community of selling out Jerusalem to the Arabs. The Haredi parties in Jerusalem are in the municipal coalition with Mayor Nir Barkat, and they have allowed the Arab community to grow to the point where they are close to becoming the majority in Jerusalem, and they have approved construction plans of 10 sites for the Arab community but only 3 for Jews.

Marzel asks how the Haredi community could be a part of selling such a large part of Jerusalem to the Arabs - would the Chazon Ish (the biggest opponent to the hetter mechira) have allowed this?
source: Kikar

Shmita seems to play by different rules..

Rav Chaim Kanievsky is being quoted as having said that the hetter mechira is worthless according to all opinions. It cannot be relied upon.
sources: Bechadrei and Kikar

I am familiar with the Ashkenazi Haredi opinion on the hetter mechira, and I know they consider it unacceptable. Rav Elyashiv used to say one must kasher pots before using them if they were previously used for cooking hetter mechira produce. They reject it completely.

That is fine. They have the right to a halachic opinion.

I just wish that when rabbis make such a definitive statement they would also explain their words a bit. Explain what is so bad about hetter mechira. Explain why it cannot even be relied up bdieved.

Explain what you mean when you say "according to all opinions" - especially considering that it is not true. There were, and are, great rabbis that support the use of hetter mechira. Even if you or I choose not to use such produce and not rely on those who allow it, I do not deny that great rabbis are in the list who allow it. does "according to all opinions" really just mean "according to all opinions that I agree with and accept"?

I wish they would explain, so that we could understand what is wrong with it to the extreme, for learning's sake.

As we head closer towards the shmitta year, we get closer to the fights over hetter mechira that we saw in previous shmitta years.

The smartest approach to it is that expressed by Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau in the recent rabbinic conference on shmitta issues.

Rabbi Lau said "we prefer that farmers will completely cease all work, as commended in the Torah, and we should propose to them the option of 'Otzar Beis Din".. and even those who choose to rely 'bdieved' on the hetter mechria they should do so according to halacha and precisely follow the instructions relevant to the four types of work that are prohibited.... I recommend that instead of every seven years that rabbis speak against each other and present their arguments in their opinions regarding shmitta, that each person should follow his rabbonim and respect others."

Rabbi Lau also said that today arguments between rabbonim are unfortunately painted as chilul hashem and divisiveness. Every word from a rav that is said put of place can cause a great chilul hashem and lead to disregard for rabbonim and other people.

I would qualify Rav Lau's words and point out that nobody expects all rabbis to agree with each other. it is not for the opposing opinions that leads to an impression of divisiveness and chilul hashem. it is the bitter way in which some rabbis try to impose their opinion on everyone else and expect other rabbis to not have any other opinion (regarding shmitta as equally as regarding many other topics of halacha).

Rabbi Lau's conclusion is perfect, but we already know what the chances are of this happening..

There will be a conference later this week in which various rabbonim will deal with issues of the upcoming shmitta year, including the issue of the use of the hetter mechira.

I received an invitation to the conference (not because I am special in any way - just because I receive the Rabbanut newsletter), but I am not planning on attending - I figure I probably won't understand most of what they talk about anyway.

The listed speakers are; Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau, Rav Yaakov Ariel, Rav Avraham Yosef, Elchonon Glatt, and Efraim Entman.

I am not sure why, but the fact that Rabbi Lau will be participating has somehow become a newsworthy topic in the Haredi media.

Even if Rabbi Lau was opposed to the use of hetter mechira, which he is not (though he prefers other options over hetter mechira), I would see nothing controversial or even noteworthy in his participating in a conference discussing the issue. There is nothing wrong with him taking part in a discussion on the topic. He can get up and speak and say why he opposes it (theoretically, if he opposed it), or why he prefers other options to it.. his participation on its own is not problematic.

I would accept them making a big deal of the issue if he got up and said that he accepts it as a lechatchila solution, or some other controversial statement. But just his participation? I see nothing controversial about that.

Anyways, even though he was supported by Haredi politicians for the post of Chief Rabbi, at the end of the day he works for the Rabbanut and the State of Israel. His participation in such events is crucial and is part of the responsibilities of somebody in such a position. If he wanted to lock himself away and not be a part of national debates and discussions on such topics, he should not have become Chief Rabbi. I am not sure what the haredi community even expects of him, having supported him - did they think they were appointing a rav of a shtieble or of the local shtetl?

Sources: Bechadrei and Radio Kol Berama

Shmitta and Hetter Mechira is always a big issue for the Chief Rabbis, and for those who are the "powers that be" behind them...

During the campaign for the election of the Chief Rabbis there were reports that Rabbi Dovid Lau had committed to the Haredi position of not allowing hetter mechria in order to get their support for him as Chief Rabbi.

What happened, happened, and Rabbi Dovid Lau is now Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau. And it looks like those reports were wrong. Maybe.

The other day Chief Rabbi Lau announced that he has decided to approve use of the hetter mechira again for this coming shmitta year. Allowing full use of hetter mechira would keep the prices of vegetables down.

Hetter mechira would be one of three option presented to farmers and agriculturists  for the coming year.
The three options are:
1. not working at all, leaving the fields completely untouched
2. Otzar Beis Din
3. Hetter Mechria

It is still unclear what Rabbi Lau's position is. Some say that he has decided to allow it for the coming year only because he knows that if he does not the Supreme Court will force it as an option, as happened last time when Rabbi Metzger did not want to approve it.

It does seem clear though that even of Rabbi lau does approve of the use of hetter mechira, it will not be as a preferred choice. Rabbi Lau said that there is plenty of time until the beginning of shmitta and he will be setting up a shmitta committee to ensure that everything will function during shmitta 5775 in the best possible way.

Rabbi Abba Turetsky, a kashrut expert who has been involved with the shmitta committees in the past, explained that Rabbi Lau's words are being misunderstood and he is not in favor of the hetter mechira. He explained that Rabbi Lau knows that many farmers will not abandon their fields or use the Otzar Beis Din system and for many years have been using the hetter mechira system. He says that Rabbi Lau believes the hetter mechira does not work as a valid option - even bdieved. Even the rabbonim who allow it, bdieved, still do not allow certain types of work to be done. Yet, throughout the years the farmers have violated these rules, performing even the prohibited types of work in the fields. Rabbi Lau, Turetsky explained, is working to ensure that at least those farmers who insist on using the hetter mechira will do so only in a way that will not include performing the prohibited types of work and will follow the strict rules of what can be done.

Rabbi Turetsky also says that he expects many more farmers this time to choose the system of Otzar Beis Din because Rabbi Lau has succeeded in getting unprecedented cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Otzar Beis Din system.

Turetsky says that the publication that Rabbi Lau supports hetter mechira was publicized in a way to try to torpedo the efforts Rabbi Lau is putting forth to minimize the use of the hetter mechria.
(source: Kikar and Bechadrei)

It seems pretty clear that the hetter mechira will, once again, be employed as an option for farmers, but it does seem to me that Rabbi Lau is working to minimize as much as possible the number of farmers that rely on it, and to improve the hetter mechira system as well.

It is always good when systems are improved and standards are raised. Even if the hetter mechira system must be used, at least it should be done in a way that is the best possible method. I hope Rabbi Lau will be successful in his efforts to improve the hetter mecira system for those who want to employ it.

There was an article a couple of weeks ago on the Haredim website about the "fact" that Rav Elyashiv had permitted the UTJ faction to support the Land Reforms in the Knesset due to the land not having the level of holiness that prevents us from selling it.

It turns out that that hetter is no longer being mentioned. It makes you wonder whether the original quote was correct or not.

UTJ does not know what to do about the vote, considering the halachic issues involved, yet Netanyahu insists on all coalition partners voting in favor. The best situation in the vote that UTJ can hope for is tremendous overall support rendering UTJ irrelevant. if that happens, Netanyahu will allow them to disappear and not vote for or against. The real problem will arise fi the vote is close and UTJ's votes will actually count for something. Considering all Netanyahu gave them in the coalition agreement, he will demand from them their vote in return as part of coalition discipline.

It turns out the halachic issue is not as simple as the previous article had insinuated, and Rav Elyashiv has yet to decide on it. Rav Shteinman and Rav Kanievsky have both said it is prohibited to vote in favor, but they defer the decision to Rav Elyashiv's final word.

Both Kikar Shabbos and Haredim websites have articles on the dilemma UTJ finds itself in. Kikar Shabbos even suggests serious hypocrisy (they must have read my previous post on the issue) if UTJ is told to vote in favor, considering Rav Elyashiv's (and those of the other gedolim of UTJ) position on the hetter mechira.

Kikar Shabbos even lists a number of the hetterim that can be used to allow UTJ to vote in favor of the Land Reforms, but asks that if they can be used for this it is bas ehypocrisy to not allow them to be used for shmitta.

So this question that needs to be decided is much more involved than the Land Reforms. Come next shmitta, and you can be sure this decision will be pointed to, one way or the other. UTJ must really be hoping their vote becomes insignificant.

The Israel Lands Authority is preparing to reform its systems in an effort to free up lands for construction, and to make land development much cheaper for buyers. A major component of the land reform is privatizing a lot of land - instead of the continued use of the 99 year lease that has been in effect until now, land will be released and sold to private hands.

The plan has led to opposition by some people for various reasons. Some are concerned that just like prime real estate in the US has been bought up by foreign concerns, in Israel the same might happen. We might be witness to Arabs buying up large tracts of Israeli land, changing the dynamics of the State of Israel. Another concern, is that the Land of Israel is nobody's to sell to private hands, but belongs to all the Jewish people. Another concern, held by a number of prominent rabbonim, is that this is in direct opposition to the Torah statement that says the Land cannot be sold forever, as well as the prohibition of selling land - Lo T'chaneim.

According to this article on the Haredim news site, Arial Attias, the Minister for Housing and Construction who is leading the implementation of the reforms went to rav Ovadiah Yosef to get direction on the halachic issues, and Moshe Gafni went to Rav Elyashiv to get his direction. Both, after researching the issue, paskened, supposedly, that nowadays there is no problem with selling the land. They each said that today the land has no holiness today because we do not observe the Jubilee any longer. That gives the status of the holiness of Eretz Yisrael the same as the status of Chutz La'Aretz.

Far be it from me to argue on these great poskim, but I have hard time believing this was really what they said. Today the land has no kedusha? They argue on the accepted psak that the holiness was never voided? How can Rav Elyashiv possibly be so vehemently against keeping the heter mechira during the shmitta year, even as a b'dieved (for example, he paskened one must kasher pots that were used to cook heter mechira produce), if he also holds the land has no holiness and can be sold to whomever wants to buy it? One of the major reasons for opposing the land sale during shmitta is because of the prohibition of Lo T'chaneim, but now he is saying that there is no prohibition against selling land.

There were other reasons as well to oppose the heter mechira, such as the idea that the sellers really had no intention to treat the sale as a real sale. Perhaps the land reforms will render those oppositions meaningless as well, as now, if this goes through, land in Israel can and will be sold like anything else.

Rav Ovadiah is at least more consistent, if this is really what he holds. Rav Ovadiah paskened during shmitta that heter mechira is acceptable. So this is not in complete opposition to his other decisions as it is with Rav Elyashiv.

So either the article got it wrong, or the psak does not make much sense on the surface of it. At worst, next shmitta year I would expect Rav Elyashiv to be a major supporter of the use of the heter mechira.

(thanks to Jameel for pointing me to the article)

The haredi press this week, both Yated and Mishpacha as you can see above, have written articles about a recent court decision.

The Israel Lands Authority sued 3 farmers from Moshav Batzra for improper use of the land without prior approval. They were using the land for carpentry, juice production, and magazine distribution, instead of for farming.

The defendants claimed that they could not be sued because they had sold the land under the hetter mechira arrangement. Thus, the land was not theirs at the time and the claim against them is invalid.

The courts did not accept the argument and said that "the sale of the land [via hetter mechira] does not remove any other rights [and obligations] from the owner. The sale is purely for the purpose of the mitzva of shmitta, but does not allow them to treat the land as if they have nobody to answer to, and have no obligations... The seller knows that the sale is being done purely for the purpose of the mitzva, and he is trusted to not apply the sale for anything else aside from the mitzva."

The court is basically saying, and they are basing it on the wording of the Rabbinic Council's wording of the hetter mechira, that the hetter mechira is a legal fiction and cannot be really applied in any way other than to "claim" the land is sold so vegetables can be grown. regarding anything else, the sale is irrelevant.

Is there anybody who knows more about hetter mechira than me that can comment on this? Does the court have a right to say such a thing? If I sold my land, what right do they have to say the sale is irrelevant? Is it true? In the meantime, such a statement by the court validates the opposition to the use of the hetter mechira arrangement.

I think the farmers should appeal this to the Supreme Court claiming that they sold the land, and who are the courts to decide that it was for only one purpose but not all encompassing....