With still three months left to shmittah in Eretz Yisroel, produce grown in Israel continues to pop up in various supermarkets, posing a serious halachic stumbling block to many unwitting consumers.
One place that is currently selling shmittah items is the Shoprite in Sullivan County, a popular shopping option among kosher consumers. Some of the produce’s packaging even says that terumos and maasros have been taken.
The produce with this problem at the Shoprite include both fruits and vegetables. Always check packaging information before buying.
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11 Responses
Just wondering- according to minhag yerushalayim that produce grown by non- Jews doesn’t have kedusha, is it a problem to export it to chu”I?
If not (and I don’t think it’s a problem, though I need to double-check) then perhaps this is nochri produce which was acquired by a jew before it was finished being packaged (and thus chayav in terumos and maasros) and then sent to chu’l?
If this is all true, then it wouldn’t be a problem to export.
Of course, all of these factors would need to be ascertained.
Why would terumos and maasros be taken if it was shmitta produce?
Excuse my ignorance. How is it that these farms are “frum” enough to take off trumos and masiros but don’t keep shemita.
“With still three months left to shmittah in Eretz Yisroel”
This is a misleading sentence because most fruit will continue to have kedushas shviyous for the majority of next year as well. (Fruit are just beginning to have Kedushah now).
Ah Yid and Coffee Addict- if it was planted by a goy some opinions hold it does aquire kedushas shviyous but still need trumos and massros taken.
Obviously Kedushas Shviyous is not allowed to be mass exported (except Esrogim) so they shouldn’t have been. But the issue is they are likely from Heter Mechira. For those that don’t hold of this heter eating the produce is problematic.
Even produce that is labeled as nochri, that some are noheig not to attribute kedushas sheviis to, requires extensive supervision to confirm and is in shorter supply. The result is that almost all of the confirmed nochri produce is being sold in the country. If the produce has been exported it is most likely not nochri. In addition, the Rabbanut does not certify any produce that is exported, this year or any other, so there is zero supervision on these products which would indicate that they are likely shamur v’ne’evad. They are definitely being sold as well which is an additional issur.
As far as the usual comment of, “what if I rely on heter mechira”:
This will not help because that also requires supervision as even in that case only certain actions are permitted in the fields and as I said above, exported produce is not supervised. In addition, it forbidden to export shemittah produce (with certain exceptions like esrog) and it is also forbidden for those who live outside Eretz Yisroel to consume shemittah produce.
Bottom line – stay away from these products!
P.S. Why do some items say that teruma and maaser have been taken? The companies using these packages for export are most likely using a “hechsher” that has little to no proper supervision and are getting away with certifying this produce. Now you know to stay away from these companies and hechsherim every year.
Also note that there are still 6th year fruit and these would not be Kedushas Shviyous and would instead need Trumos and Massros taken.
Coffee addict and ah yid: the fruits are most likely from the sixth year and are no problem. It seems most likely to me that this “alert” missed the mark. I suppose it’s better to be safe than sorry.
If a farmer violates the laws of Shmittah, should one avoid consuming products from that farm all years? It doesn’t seem right to support farmers who don’t respect the laws of Shmittah.
Even more confused here. How do most commercial farms in EY organize and manage their export plans to comply with set asides for terumos and maasros and preclude sales during the full time of shmitah. Do the various hashgachos provide some certification that would be visible on the packaging??
IMPORTANT NOTE: Vegetables are very different than fruit.
They are Assur even if they grew by themselves during Shmittah.
This is called the Issur of “Sefichin” (ספיחין), which is an Issur De’Rabanan.
If the land was owned by a non Jew, there is no Issur of Sefichin.
Whether or not these vegetables have Kedushas Shviis is a whole different question and is a big Machlokes.
Fruits (and Bananas) do not have the Issur of Sefichin at all.
The issue with fruits that do not have a proper Hechsher, is the Issur of “Shamur” and “Ne’evad” – which is also Assur according to many Rishonim.
Bottom line, vegetables from EY can not be eaten unless one knows that they are from the farm of a Goy.
If one use inadvertently cooked with vegetables from EY, they need to ask a Rov if they need to Kasher their pots.
Fruits from EY should be only eaten with a proper Hechsher.
Another note, starting from about 3 weeks ago, almost all fruits (besides for Avocado) are from Shmittah and not from last year.