Q & A - WITH RABBI RISKIN

Question: I plan to keep “Otzar Haaretz” and try as best as I can to maintain shemitah in the way the Torah commanded me to do so. May I eat in the home of a friend who keeps heter mechira?

Answer: Kashrut was meant to unify the Jewish people, to keep us together as a holy nation and to prevent us from assimilating into the Gentile world. Tragically, in today’s society, there is no greater divisive form among Jews than Kashrut, with everyone taking ‘pride’ in whose homes he would not eat (and that sometimes means his parent’s or his children’s homes). I too, plan to keep “Otzar Haaretz” in my home, but as long as there is a legitimate heter harking back to Rav Avrahaham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook regarding heter mechira, I would certainly eat such produce in another Jew’s home. The Halakha in the Shulchan Arukh permits one Jew to eat in another Jew’s home as long as he/she is Sabbath-observant; that must be the guide in terms of where we are allowed to eat. It is at least as important to be strict for the sake of the unity of Israel and the love of our fellow Jew as it is to be strict for the sake of the fruits of the land of Israel. Moreover, if the farmers of Israel are not supported during the shemitah year, there will be terrible ramifications for the economy of the entire state.