So for those of you who live outside of Israel and/or may have missed out on this information, this year - Hebrew year 5775 - is a Shemittah year. I'm neither a posek nor the daughter of a posek, so i am not going to answer anyone's halachic questions, but i shall give you enough background so that you'll understand the Shemittah experiences I'll be sharing with you. Please note that there are different opinions and rulings for almost every aspect of Shemittah, so if your rabbi tells you something different, or your neighbour does, that's totally normal for Judaism.
In Israel, every seventh year is called a Shemittah year. It is for the land what Shabbat is for people - a year off, to rest, recharge, and connect to G-d. For one year out of every seven, we are commanded to let the land rest, and to refrain from actively working it. During the year of Shemittah, one may not work the land at all, beyond what is needed just to keep the plants and trees from dying. This means that you can't water your garden any more than needed to keep it alive, or prune your trees, or spray your roses to keep off the aphids (if, indeed, that's what those insects are).
Note: If you are a farmer, Shemittah has much bigger ramifications, but I'm not a farmer and I also don't understand what all those implications are. So I'm sticking to domestic Shemittah-observance in this blog.
Also during the Shemittah year, any produce that is grown is holy and must be treated with holiness. This means that you can't throw any leftovers in the bin - you have to dispose of them respectfully by wrapping them, or put them into a special receptacle until they rot, and then throw them out. However, to keep us all on our toes, vegetables (and fruits such as bananas and pineapples) are 'holy' from when they are picked; or in other words, they begin their holiness period straight away from Rosh Hashanah, while fruit is holy from when it begins to grow. Since the fruits that are being picked this year began to grow last year (before Rosh Hashanah), they do not have holiness yet. Instead, the fruits that will begin to grow this year, will be holy when they are picked, next year (after the end of the Shemittah year).
Confused? So are many people that I run into in the supermarket. Despite the fact that the Shemittah year began two weeks ago, and it was not exactly unexpected, i still see lots of people asking basic Shemittah questions on Facebook, and I have conversations with puzzled-looking women in the produce aisles, who wonder aloud whether this cabbage is kedushat shvi'it (holy), and if so, what that means they have to do with their leftover cabbage salad.
It is actually, really hard to keep track of when each produce item begins and ends its holiness period. I was so excited to get my copy of a gorgeous glossy calendar (produced by Rabbi Rimon of JobKatif) that shows the date when each fruit and vegetable begins to be holy. I've hung it up prominently in my kitchen, and all of us have now read it carefully, including my children. I still check it every week, though.
Living in Israel during the Shemittah year brings a lot of challenges, a lot of new and previously unthought-of dilemmas (unthought-of by me, anyway), but also a whole new level of holiness, and a whole new awareness of how we treat food, its significance and its specialness. We only made aliyah two years ago, so this is my first Shemittah year, and I'm excited to experience and share some of the ups and downs.
*Any halachic rulings or opinions mentioned in this blog are only my own understanding of the halachos of Shemittah, or else are specific rulings given by our Rabbi for our particular case and should not be extrapolated for use as general rulings. Please refer to your own competent halachic authority or a reliable and reputable Shemittah book.
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