Shemittah: Treating the Holy Food of the Land of Israel with Reverence

“A certain student came [before Rabbi Abbahu] and said to him: What is the reason for the mitzvah of Shemittah?

“He replied: The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the Jewish People: Sow for six [years] and withhold [from sowing] during the seventh, so that you will know that the land is Mine.”

Talmud Sanhedrin 39a

Sanctity for Everyone

Every seventh year, the Land of Israel takes a Sabbatical. Just as we observe Shabbat each week in order to give testimony via our behavior that Hashem created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh, so too the Torah tells us that every seventh year, we refrain from working the land in order to testify via our behavior that everything belongs to Hashem, as the Talmudic quote above notes.

The produce of this seventh year — Shemittah year — is holy. Not only that, it is for everyone, not just the people upon whose land it grows. Farmers, and indeed owners of even a small plot of land that produces anything for human consumption, are obligated to declare their produce ownerless and grant free access to it.

Shemittah applies to all Jewish-owned land within the Torah boundaries of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). These boundaries are not identical to the borders of the present-day state.

The produce of land owned by non-Jews does not acquire kedushat shevi’it (the sanctity of the Sabbatical year).

Kedushat Shevi’it

Vegetables acquire kedushat shevi’it if they are harvested during the seventh year.

Fruit acquire kedushat shevi’it according to the year during which the tree budded (when the flower-buds dropped from the tree, before the fruit began to grow). However, there are some variations here according to the type of fruit, which is why one must be careful to only purchase fruit from the Land of Israel from a store under reliable rabbinical supervision.

Other agricultural produce of Eretz Yisrael also acquires kedushat shevi’it if it is designated for human or animal consumption. This includes plants that are used to produce dyes, seeds that are processed to make oil for lighting, and medicinal plants that are commonly used.

The underlying principle is that Shemittah sanctity only applies to items that have a near-universal benefit. Thus, a plant whose leaves or roots are only used by people with a rare disease will not acquire kedushat shevi’it.

Shemittah produce must be treated with reverence as it is holy. This is reflected in how we acquire it, how we eat it, and how we dispose of its remains.

Using Shemittah Produce

Shemittah produce must be used in a usual manner and not used for unusual purposes.

Thus, for a vegetable that is usually eaten cooked, during Shemittah it may only be eaten cooked. If the vegetable is usually eaten raw, it may only be eaten raw during Shemittah.

Shemittah Leftovers

If one prepares a meal from Shemittah produce and there are leftovers, they may not be simply disposed of in the garbage.

The Torah tells us that Shemittah produces is “for you to eat,” which the Talmudic Sages interpret as: “For eating, and not for wasting.”

Therefore, leftovers that are fit for human consumption, even a small amount, must be treated with reverence. They can only be thrown away if they are first wrapped in a reasonably non-permeable substance (such as a plastic bag), so that they rot of their own accord and are not spoiled by coming into contact with other refuse.

It is common practice for families to have a special Shemittah refuse can where they place all Shemittah food remains. Here too, one must take care not to place fresh leftovers directly upon older, already decayed leftovers, as this would be directly spoiling them. Instead, each new batch of leftovers should be wrapped as described above.

Peeling Shemittah produce

Shemittah produce may be peeled in the usual manner. One may even peel foods that are sometimes eaten with the peel, such as apples, pears, or cucumbers. One may also cut away spoiled parts of Shemittah produce, even if they are only overripe and one does not wish to eat them.

Almost all peels are suitable for either human or animal consumption, and therefore they should be disposed of as described above so that they rot of their own accord and are not directly spoiled.

Even banana peels (which are used for animal feed) and orange peel (which is often used in the commercial food industry) are considered fit for consumption.

Seeds of Shemittah produce

The seeds of Shemittah produce do not, in general, have kedushat shevi’it, as they are not considered fit for human or animal consumption. This applies to grape seeds, date pits, apple cores, apricot pits, etc.. They may therefore be thrown into the garbage without first being wrapped.

Seeds that are commonly eaten (such as watermelon seeds) should be treated as holy and wrapped properly before being discarded.

Regarding fruit pits or cores that have a little of the fruit still attached to them (as commonly occurs with plums or apples etc.), it is preferable to treat these, too, with reverence and wrap them before discarding.

There is however room for leniency here and therefore, if one is not at home, for instance, and it is hard to wrap an apple core, one may toss it into the garbage in a plastic wrapping of some kind.

Shemittah produce for Animals

Shemittah produce that is designated for human consumption should not be fed to animals.

If an animal of its own accord took Shemittah produce to eat (for example, by taking fruit from a tree), one is not required to drive it away, as the Torah states: “And for your cattle and for the beasts that are in your land shall all its produce be to eat.”

Shemittah Produce for Non-Jews

One many not give non-Jews to eat from Shemittah produce.

One may, however, feed animal food that has kedushat shevi’it to animals belonging to non-Jews.