This week’s Sedra Parashas Behar starts with the Mitzvah of Schmitta: to
allow one’s field fallow, resist from tending to the trees and let others enjoy
the fruits of your labour. This is one of the Mitzvos that in recent
years has become ever more relevant, since many fruit growers in the holy land
of Israel cultivate a variety of fruits, mainly for export.
When you pick up an avocado in you rlocal supermarket, the product
description might include “Israel” as the country of origin, inevitably a bell
starts ringing in your head: is it right to buy this fruit? Add
Schmitta to the equation and panic starts setting in: how will I be able to
adhere to the Halochos pertaining Schmitta produce?
The following story happened to us during the last Schmitta, during the
summer holiday of 5775 (2015), which we spent in Saas-Fee,
Switzerland.
Having accepted summer work as a Mashgiach in one of the Kosher hotels in
the region, I had to inspect all incoming goods to ensure they conform to the
laws of Kashrus.
On the morning of 27 Av (August 12th) I did my rounds in the store
rooms, fridge and freezers. When I opened the walk-in fridge and gave the many
boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables a glance over, a surprise was awaiting
me. Nestled between the many crates, bags and containers stacked on the
shelves and littering the floor, I spotted a box of mango fruit, imported
straight from Eretz Yisroel. The company name Miriam Shoham was
clearly printed on the side and this was enough evidence to establish the
origins of the fruit. Notwithstanding the fact that it was in the middle
of a Schmitta year, this owner of Israel-based mango plantations managed to
secure exports of their produce all the way to the Wallis region of southern
Switzerland.
When I took the box to the office and couldn’t find the owner, I started
looking for him and finally located him in (where else) the hotel’s Beis
HaMedrash.
A heated discussion ensued about the issue surrounding the mangos, as these
fruits were certainly Schmitta produce, meaning that they shouldn’t have been
sold and certainly not to Chutz Lo-Oretz. The bizarre thing about
this episode was that – as the hotel owner explained - the wholesaler duly
promised not to supply any fruits that arrived from Israel (even though he
couldn’t quite understand the paradox: here is a Jewish person who refused to
buy from his own country...) and here we were being erroneously supplied
with exactly these forbidden fruit.
At the time of our deliberation, there were other people in the Beis HaMedrash
and some even joined the discussion. Being that they came from Benei
Beraq in Israel, they knew much more about these Halochos than the
average ‘Chutznik’ like the hotel staff – I included.
We left it for the hotel owner to ask his Rav HaMachshir in Zurich how to
deal with this, with the proviso that until a clear answer was forthcoming, the
mangoes will not be used. As the appointed Mashgiach for the Kitchen it was agreed that I will check up on the progress.
In the afternoon I went out to do some errands in the main road of Saas-Fee
and as I was approaching one of the tourist offices opposite the Walliser Kantonalbank, I bumped into one of these Israeli Tourists who overheard our discussion in the Beis HaMedrash. We went over the Halachic implications in more detail, when he apologised that he needs to leave me as he is in a hurry to leave for the airport soon. We
shook hands and I wished him a safe trip and he started making his way back to
the hotel.
As we parted - it was exactly 14:57Hrs - I noticed an electric-powered commercial ‘service truck’ trolley stopping just in front of me - opposite the Walliser
Kantonalbank.
Here was a clue to solve our dilemma, which came in the most unexpected way - I just could not believe my eyes when I read
the name of the company that was emblazoned on the side of the trolley...
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| Picture of the Schmitta Van |
