As many of our brethren in chutz la’aretz (outside Eretz Yisrael) are aware, we in Israel are currently in the middle of a shmitah year, the once-in-seven-years time when we are commanded to allow the Land to rest. Hearing the word “shmitah,” many immediately think about the farmers. They are the true heroes of this incredible mitzvah, of course. They are the ones who put their livelihood on hold for close to two years! That is because, even after shmitah is over, it takes a very long time to get the farm back in working condition. The land was neglected for a year, and needs to be put back in order. Idled machinery requires service. Many employees have taken jobs elsewhere during shmitah, so a new team must be hired. Some customers have gotten new suppliers, so the farmers may need to find new sales outlets, and negotiate new contracts. And of course, there is the wait for the new crops to be planted and harvested. For the farmers, there are so many details to put together before, during, and after shmitah.
Yet farmers are not the only ones who are
affected by shmitah. Seven years ago, in these same pages, I wrote
an article interviewing housewives about their shmitah experiences.
This time I would like to share with you my interviews with a few local
caterers about how shmitah is affecting their businesses.
Who Grew It, and Where Was It Grown?
First, a bit of background: We all know that there is
a prohibition for a Jew to work the land of Eretz Yisrael during the shmitah year. The produce that
grows in Eretz Yisrael during this year has kedushas
shvi’is – a special holiness – and must be treated in special ways. It
is forbidden to do business with that produce, to take any action that will
hasten its spoiling (such as placing it in a garbage can with other waste), and
even to prepare the food in certain ways. To handle kedushas shvi’is appropriately, therefore, it is imperative to
understand if our produce is considered shmitah
produce or not. And to answer this question, we must know who grew the
produce and where was it grown.
There are three categories of produce that make their
way into our kitchens. (This article will not deal with the problems of produce
grown in Eretz Yisrael by non-shmitah-observant
Jews, or produce grown according to the heter
mechira.*)
1)
Otzar beis din: This is produce that
comes from farms overseen by the beis din, which guides the farmers
on handling their fields in a permissible manner. These batei din are
also in charge of distributing the harvest. The produce itself is not sold;
rather, the beis din pays the workers to collect the harvest
and distribute it. The consumers then pay the beis din for
their efforts: they are not buying the
produce. Because otzar beis din produce cannot be sold in the usual
business-like manner – that is, it may not be weighed or counted for
distribution purposes – it is delivered (at least here in
Kiryat Sefer) at special distribution points, usually a parking lot between two
buildings, set in piles of each type of produce or some similar,
non-exact arrangement.
2) Yevul nochri is produce
grown in Eretz Yisrael in a field belonging to a non-Jew, such as an Arab.
Since the non-Jewish owner has no obligation to keep the laws of shmitah,
there is a question of whether we must treat his harvest as shmitah produce.
Minhag
Yerushalayim (the
custom in Jerusalem) is that yevul nochri produce has no kedushas
shvi’is and may be treated as non-shmitah produce. Much of
the country follows this ruling.
The Chazon Ish, however, paskened
that yevul nochri products do have kedushas shvi’is,
the same as produce from a Jewish farmer. Minhag Bnei Brak is to follow
the Chazon Ish and treat yevul nochri as shmitah produce.
What happened when Kiryat Sefer, where I
live, was built a few decades ago? We are located equidistant from
Yerushalayim and Bnei Brak. When the first shmitah cycle
came, the rabbanim in town had to decide which path our city would
follow. They paskened that everyone would continue to follow the minhag that they had until then, but the
official policy of the city kashrus
agency is to follow minhag Bnei Brak.
All products or events under the supervision of the local kashrus organization must follow the ruling of the Chazon Ish and
treat yevul nochri with kedushas shvi’is.
3) Chu”l:
This is produce that was grown in chutz
la’aretz, outside Eretz Yisrael – in Europe or the U.S., for example – and
is obviously not kedushat shvi’is. However,
what about certain areas that are officially within the State of Israel, but about
which there is a machlokes (difference of opinion) whether those lands
are within the halachic boundaries of Eretz Yisrael?
Produce grown in the Arava Tzfonit (the
area south of the Dead Sea), for instance, is labeled by the Badatz Yerushalayim
kashrus organization as produce
of chu”l (chutz
la’aretz), meaning that it is from outside Eretz Yisrael. The Badatz
will use this produce even if a Jewish farmer farmed the land during shmitah as they don’t consider it Eretz
Yisrael. However, those who follow minhag Bnei Brak consider that produce to be from Eretz
Yisrael. This is a huge problem! If it’s from Eretz Yisrael and a
farmer worked the land, that produce is completely forbidden! Therefore,
produce that is marked as chu”l may still need further investigation.
Catering
With that short introduction, we can now see
that the same produce could have the status of kedushas shvi’is, or it
could be without kedushas shvi’is and
be acceptable, or it could be totally forbidden – depending
on which shita (approach) you follow.
Let’s take a look at how this all plays out in the catering business.
I spoke with a friend and neighbor of
mine, Yehudit. Her business is under the hashgacha of the beis
din of Kiryat Sefer which follows the rulings of the Chazon Ish. This
means that they consider yevul nochri to have kedushas
shvi’is, and they are forbidden to use any produce from the Arava Tzfonit.
Yehudit gets her vegetables from the three primary vegetable distributors in
the country. Those distributors carry produce from numerous sources and
with various hechsherim on them.
Every time Yehudit receives a produce
order, the mashgiach has to come and
check the source of all the crops and make sure they meet the standards of
their hechsher. He must be extra
vigilant with produce marked as chu”l, and to verify the exact location
where it was grown, and who grew it. Every crate is carefully labeled with the
correct status regarding shmitah.
Yehudit
explains: “Usually, the produce from chu”l comes in different
boxes than the produce from Eretz Yisrael. Even so, we have to be super careful
to constantly check before using any of the produce.” Actually,
Yehudit never removes the produce from the boxes. She keeps everything in its
original box, even after the mashgiach
has come, so that the shmitah and
non-shmitah produce don’t get mixed up.
Gitty, an American friend and neighbor,
is also in the food business but on a much smaller scale. She cooks from her
own kitchen and does not have a hechsher
on her business. She commits to using only ingredients from two specific
stringent hechsherim, and people who know and trust her will order
her food for small affairs. Gitty said that in her business she tries her
hardest to source her produce from outside of Eretz Yisrael, but when she
cannot get a necessary vegetable from chu”l, she will use yevul
nochri.
Shmitah is no big deal for Gitty. She does not have
hired staff that can mix things up. She knows where the produce was
produced and the status of each vegetable and handles it
accordingly.
Reut, who also runs a catering business,
has her certification from a kashrus
agency in Yerushalayim. She
therefore freely uses produce that is yevul nochri and does
not handle it with kedushas shvi’is as per the minhag of Yerushalayim. This
is the way her family acts at home as well. As far as Reut is concerned,
nothing has changed in her business due to shmitah. All her
stock comes from chu”l or is yevul nochri. She
does not bring into her business produce that is from the otzar beis din. Her entire business is run with non-shmitah produce,
according to the minhag of Yerushalayim.
Kitchen Clean-Up
Regardless of which hechsher you
use, any produce with kedushas shvi’is must be treated in a special
way. That means that you cannot throw any unused produce, peels, scraps,
etc., from that vegetable into a regular garbage can. This includes any
leftover food cooked with any shvi’is produce. The leftovers in the
pot or plates must be treated accordingly. Yehudit has huge garbage cans
in her catering kitchen – separate ones for the shmitah remains and the
non-shmitah remains. Every evening, she double-bags the cans
of shmitah remains and disposes of them in the “shmitah dumpsters”
outside.
This is the first year that we have shmitah dumpsters in Kiryat Sefer.
Besides the regular dumpsters, the city set up special cans which are for shmitah waste
only. There are clear instructions on the cans of the proper protocol when
placing things in them. A separate garbage truck empties those cans and
handles the massive quantities produced by a city of our size. Yehudit
states that if the city did not offer this service, she does not know if or how
she would be able to manage the large quantities of shmitah waste
she accumulates.
I asked Yehudit why she does not deal
only with chu”l, produce from outside
Eretz Yisrael, and avoid potential mix-ups and extra work. She says: “Yevul
nochri is so much easier to get than chu”l. It’s so much cheaper, and lots of people don’t care,” so she
uses that unless a customer specifically orders otherwise. She charges
extra for anyone ordering a menu without kedushas shvi’is. “It costs me
much more and is a huge headache,” she says. “I don’t even make money to
compensate for all the extra work.”
It can get complicated if two customers
order the same dish, but one will pay the higher cost for it to be sourced
from chu”l, and the other is fine having kedushas shvi’is food
served at their event. Yehudit often has more than one event to prepare for and
at times ends up having to make the same dish for the two orders separately:
one for a customer who is paying for only chu”l produce, and
one for a customer who wants the cheaper nochri produce. This
is much more work for her staff, and she really does not get paid accordingly.
Gitty never takes more than one event per
day so there is no issue of a “nochri” order and a ”non-nochri”
order being prepared at once and getting mixed-up.
At the Hall
The caterers here in Israel generally are
responsible for the food until it reaches the hall. The customers hire
waitresses and staff to set up, serve, and clear. Therefore, even if the
produce was handled with kedushas shvi’is in the caterers’
kitchens, once the caterer transfers it to the hall, it is treated according to
the minhag of the customer. This
is a huge burden off the caterers! They do not have to watch and worry how
the food will be handled once it is out of their kitchen. All three caterers I
spoke with stressed this point. They added that they always give the customer a
detailed list of each food’s source to enable them to handle it properly, each
according to his minhag.
Another interesting issue that comes up
with catering during the shmitah year is the prohibition of
doing business with shmitah produce. Yehudit’s rav has guided her
to solve this issue in two ways. First, she has each client sign a “shtar
shlichus” with her. This essentially means that they are not paying
her for the produce itself; rather, they are paying her for her service in obtaining
the produce, which is essentially ownerless this year. The other thing she does
is write the contract in such a way that the client is paying for the dishes
that don’t include produce, and the salads are thrown in as a gift. Gitty
also handles the issue this way, charging for the non-shmitah items
only.
When I asked the caterers how shmitah affects
their bottom line, none of them were able to give a clear answer. They all
noted the recent drastic increase in the prices of drinks, oil, and many
basics, along with the doubling of the price of paper goods, which has made it
difficult to calculate how shmitah has affected their
business. But the same Hashem who provided them parnassa till now will surely stand by their sides as they carefully
fulfill the mitzvah of shmitah in all its details.
May we be zocheh quickly
to “Motzei shvi’is ben Dovid ba – At
the end of a shmitah year, Mashiach ben Dovid will arrive.”
* An emergency (and controversial) heter (endorsed by Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan
Spector of Lithuania) first used in 1888 to 1889 to help the suffering farmers
in the early days of the settlement of Eretz Yisrael “lest the whole enterprise of colonization be endangered.” It
“sold” the land to a non-Jew, thereby permitting its cultivation and use of its
produce.
