Shemittah & Sham

At the Tel Aviv office of Israel's Chief Rabbi Isser Unterman, twelve black-coated rabbis solemnly recited their afternoon prayers and then sold several thousand acres of Israeli farm land to a smiling Arab sheik in return for his promissory note for 500,000 Israeli pounds. In exchange for a deposit of $17 down, the rabbis handed over legal ownership of the property to Abdullah Abu Kishek, then toasted the transaction with soda pop.

Madness? Millennium?

Neither. The deed of sale is a ritual that the rabbis carry out every seventh year on behalf of Orthodox Jewish farmers who intend to observe Shemittah, the sabbatical "year of release" that began last week on Rosh Hashanah. During the year, according to the Law, all land owned by Jews in Palestine must lie fallow.* That way lies bankruptcy; so Jews have resorted to the legal maneuver of giving full title to their property to a non-Jew, who is not bound by the Halakah. This enables the Jews to work the land with a free conscience.

After Shemittah is over, three assessors representing the rabbinate will meet the sheik and hand him a revised bill of sale purportedly representing the true value of the land--which would be several million pounds more than he bargained for. Sheik Abdullah will do his part gracefully. He will protest his inability to pay, demand his release from the bargain, and return the deeds of ownership. The rabbinate will then give him back his $17, and the Israelis once again will own their land.

Under a Canopy. Shemittah, so Orthodox Jews believe, is a commandment from the Lord, although Biblical critics believe that the custom originated as a primitive means of crop rotation. "For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield," God ordered Moses in Exodus. "But the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow." Normally, Israel's substantial minority of Orthodox Jews transfer their property through the chief rabbinate to an accommodating Arab. Because of pressure from religious parties, the Israeli government ordered the rabbinate to sell all public lands as well for the duration of Shemittah. During the sabbatical year, Abdullah thus will be legal owner of more than 1,000,000 acres of Israel soil.

Some Jews have found more ingenious solutions. One Orthodox kibbutz near Tel Aviv turns to hydroponic farming during Shemittah: seeds are planted in 90-ft.-long gravel-filled concrete plots, where they are chemically treated until the year is out. Although the method is expensive, the plants grow bigger than they do in ordinary soil. Another farm grows its crops in chemically-treated straw. Less scrupulous kibbutzim get around the prohibition against planting during Shemittah by covering their tractors with canopies; according to one tortuous rabbinical interpretation, planting is legal if it is done inside an enclosure. Horrified by all such agonized evasions of Shemittah--and by the growing number of Jews who do not observe the sabbatical year at all--some of the devout prefer to buy their fruits and vegetables from Arab farmers or do without altogether.

Five-Hour Day. At a recent conference on the subject, a surprising number of young rabbis spoke up to argue that Shemittah is so fraught with sham that the rules should be drastically modernized. One Orthodox farmer suggested that a corner of a field be left fallow as a symbolic reminder. Since the purpose of Shemittah is to allow more time for study and prayer, said another rabbi, the law could be fulfilled by limiting farm work to a five-hour day.

Many Israelis hope that such pressure from modern-minded young Orthodox Jews will eventually bring some modifications of these Shemittah observances. "We really have no solution," admits one officer of the rabbinate."Maybe it's best to be quiet about it and wait for the Messiah to come and put things right."

* Another Shemittah rule, which applies to Jews everywhere, requires the cancellation of debts at the end of the sabbatical year. For centuries Jews have got around this by turning the debts owed them over to a religious court by means of a declaration called a prosbul (Greek for "before the council"). According to the rabbis, it is lawful for courts to collect debts even though individuals cannot.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.