Parshat Mishpatim briefly discusses the laws of Shmitta (the Sabbatical year) in Shmot 23:10-11: “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce. And in the seventh, you shall leave it untended and unharvested, and the destitute of your people shall eat, and the wildlife of the field shall you eat what is left; so shall you do to your vineyard and your olive grove”.

Living in Israel during a Shmitta year is unlike any experience that you can imagine. Shmitta is not just a concept that we study from the Torah, Shmitta becomes part of our daily lives.

Every time I need to buy fruits and vegetables the question is where do I shop?

1. Do I shop at the closest and most convenient supermarket which will only sell vegetables which are grown by non-Jews either in Israel or abroad?

2. Do I shop in the regular supermarkets which sell “heter mechira”, a compromise where land is temporarily sold for the Shmitta year to a non-Jew (Druze) and then the vegetables are technically considered not grown on Jewish land, but the Jewish farmers are still being supported (kind of like selling your chametz for the week of Pesach)?

3. Do I buy at a fruit store which is a little bit out of my way which sells:

A.Otzar Beit Din, “holy vegetables” which were planted during the sixth year and picked during the seventh year- The court takes ownership of these fruits and vegetables and they have the holiness of the seventh year, 

B. Vegetables raised in hot-houses detached from the soil?

Whenever possible, I prefer choice #3. In this way I am supporting Jewish farmers as well as observing the mitzvah of eating the fruits of the seventh year.

Once I get my produce home, my Shmitta worries are still not over! Every time I eat one of those “holy vegetables”, I have to make sure that whatever peels, seeds etc. that I am not eating don’t go into a regular garbage, but rather go into a Shmitta garbage (double-wrapped plastic bag).

Although Shmitta may make my life a little bit more complicated, it is an honor and a privilege to be able to live in Israel and observe these mitzvoth. Anyway, my worries of where to shop are nothing compared to the worries of someone who owns a farm or even a garden and has to figure out how to/not to tend to their fruits and vegetables during the Shmitta year!