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IN-DEPTH FEATURES
This is the second of a three-part series on the
background of shmittah observance in modern times. An
understanding of the historical background to the issues of
modern times is very helpful in following the controversies
that are still with us, and gives important
perspective.
Now there is a widespread sensitivity to the laws of
shmittah and broad efforts to keep them fully. Just
63 years (or nine shmittos) ago in 5698 (1937-8),
things were very different. Then, only a handful of
individuals kept shmittah fully, and the prevailing
opinion was that any attempt to keep shmittah without
resort to the "heter" mechirah was completely
unrealistic and doomed to failure.
The transformation that has taken place over the last
nine shmittos is the result of a process that was
largely set in motion by the Chazon Ish zt'l. During
the twenty years he lived in Eretz Yisroel--which included
the three shmittah years of 5698, 5705 and 5712--he
laid the foundations for the observance of all the
mitzvos hateluyos ba'aretz under modern agricultural
conditions, including shmittah. Here we discuss his
efforts in greater detail.
IV. The Question Of Machane Yisrael
We now begin our description of the events of the Chazon
Ish's first shmittah in Eretz Yisroel. There were
three Agudah settlements in Eretz Yisroel at the time. These
were the kibbutzim, HaNoar Ha'Agudati in Kfar Saba,
Chofetz Chaim in Gedera in the south and Machane Yisrael in
the Yizrael Valley in the north. Those who sought advice
from Reb Chaim Ozer were referred to the Chazon Ish, who
until then resided in relative anonymity in Bnei Brak, as
the address for practical guidance for the approaching
shmittah of 5698 (1938).
The financial situation in Machane Yisrael was precarious
enough even without having to worry about shmittah.
In the summer of 5697, the settlement's secretary, Yehuda
Ya'acobi, published a statement in the chareidi newspaper
Kol Yisrael denying the circulating rumors and a
report that had appeared in the secular paper Davar,
that their land had been sold to a non-Jew so that they
could continue to work it the following year. The rumors
were baseless, he wrote and must have originated with one of
the settlement's creditors who they had tried to pacify by
assuring him that they would be continuing working.
A messenger was despatched to seek counsel on the question
of what to do about shmittah. Rav Chaim Schnur,
(author of Ma'ayan Chaim -- Otzar Agados Chazal) was
a member of Machane Yisrael at the time. He was the
representative sent to the Agudah leader Dr. Yitzchok
Breuer, and he met also with one of the gedolim of
Yerushalayim and with the Rebbe of Husiatin. Rav Schnur
published an account of these first meetings in an article
in Tiferes Yisroel, Kislev-Teves 5745 and described
his subsequent trip to see the Chazon Ish, on Dr. Breuer's
recommendation, in an article for the journal Halichos
Sadeh, #37, the bulletin of the Institute For
Agricultural Research According To Torah, from where we
quote Rav Schnur's own account, with kind permission of
HaRav Yosef Efrati, head of the institute.
I parted from the Admor of Husiatin, Rav Yisroel Friedman,
with a blessing for success in my quest on behalf of the
kibbutz Machane Yisrael. On my journey to Tel Aviv's
Central Bus Station, the question occurred to me, "Was I fit
to come to the prince of Torah in our generation, the Chazon
Ish (to whom I had been sent by Dr. Breuer), and ask for a
heter to work the land during shmittah when
the Torah clearly spells out the issur in doing so?"
On the other hand, I was aware of the responsibility I
carried as messenger of the kibbutz to bring back a
heter to cultivate the two thousand three hundred
dunams of arable land that were under our control, to enable
us to survive there and strengthen the new yishuv of
Agudas Yisroel into which so much toil and such incredible
strength had already been invested -- "domim" in both
its meanings (i.e. both money and blood). It was a difficult
and complicated problem.
With hours of daylight still remaining, I arrived in Bnei
Brak and enquired as to where the Chazon Ish lived. I slowly
walked over to Givat Rokach, in one of whose houses he
resided. A boy pointed the direction to his house -- a house
that stood alone, partly built of stone and part shack. The
door to the shack was wide open. I went inside and found
myself in a proper shul. It was spacious, with bare
tables, around which stood long, plain benches. All was
silent, nobody was there. I snatched a brief glance at the
hundreds of seforim, standing on the shelves as if
they were awaiting the people who learned from them.
Returning to the entrance, I saw that next to the
amud that was near the aron hakodesh, sat a
thin Jew, of short stature, his eyes burning, completely
engrossed in thought, without any sefer next to him.
Although I had never seen the Chazon Ish before, I had a
feeling that this was the man through whom, be'ezras
Hashem, I would receive help.
I went over to him and greeted him. He gave me a signal and
I understood that he meant that I was allowed to be seated.
I sat down, as I was very tired. I introduced myself as the
treasurer of Kibbutz Machane Yisrael and told him that that
morning I had visited Dr. Yitzchok Breuer in Yerushalayim
about the approaching shmittah year, may it be
favorable, and that it was he who had sent me to him. I
described to him our strained and unstable financial
position. I explained further that our budget was based on
the grain crop: produce that was harvested at the beginning
of the summer was sold to two flour mills in the city of
Afula. With the money we received, we repaid the debts we
had run up during the previous year at the grocery and
butcher's stores. I said to the Chazon Ish, "If it becomes
known to the store owners and the butchers that we are not
working the land, the obvious conclusion is that Machane
Yisrael will have no crop in the following year, and they
will stop our credit. We will then be left with no choice
but to leave Machane Yisrael, with heavy hearts and deep
regrets after we put into it so much of our labor and our
hopes for the future."
The Chazon Ish thought for a moment and said to me, "The
problem is really not straightforward, and for this reason
we have a duty to make a supreme effort to guard the
kedusha of the shmittah as we are commanded by
the Torah." He lifted his eyes and, looking straight into
mine, he continued, "And you should know, that we must make
the call of shmittah ring throughout the land, and
beyond too. Furthermore, the call which emanates from a
whole settlement, where all the inhabitants are meticulous
in their observance of shmittah, bears no comparison
to that which comes from a single person, or from the few
odd shmittah observers scattered about the country,
who are hardly heard of here, let alone in the rest of the
world. If then, people in Machane Yisroel, chas
vesholom, work the land during shmittah, who will
there be to sound the call of this mitzva which we have not
kept now for two thousand years? You have a duty to observe
the shmittah year according to halacha and by
doing so you will spread awareness of the mitzva throughout
the country and through your efforts it will echo around the
world."
His holy words, which could have penetrated even a flaming
fire, were spoken out of such pure and convincing
emunah as to leave no possibility whatsoever of any
doubt. A shudder passed through my body -- what would I say
to my friends on Machane Yisroel? They had not heard the
Chazon Ish's words whereas I had. In my situation, I had no
choice but to raise the point I had thought about before
entering the Chazon Ish's presence.
"But in the last resort," I said to the Chazon Ish,
"shmittah nowadays applies miderabonon so the
hetter of selling the top layer of the soil to a non-
Jew can be used, as some Rabbonim do. [I did not specify any
names.] There would then be no need for us to desert the
place and we will also prevent the chilul Hashem of
people saying that religious Jews are incapable of being
farmers and of founding settlements on the soil of our
land."
"To start with," said the Chazon Ish, "in my opinion,
selling the land to a non-Jew (which is an issur of
lo sechoneim) is more serious than working it without
selling it. Second, as to what you said about it ultimately
only applying miderabonon -- eating a piece of
chicken smeared with butter is also only forbidden
miderabonon, but would anybody dream of eating such a
thing?"
I said to him, "Eating chicken with butter is a question of
a desire that a Jew is able to refrain from and if he can't
overcome it entirely, he can eat them separately. In our
situation, it's a matter of life itself as our very
existence in Machane Yisroel is dependent on our farming the
land. We have no cattle stalls or chicken coops, nor do we
have the possibility of seeking outside work. Our holdings
are right in the middle of Arab territory, between the Arab
villages of Iskal and Daburiya and we have to guard our
people and property, night and day. If we can obtain no
arrangement at all for farming the land, we will be forced
to abandon the place entirely, which would bring us great
anguish after all our work and all the hopes we had for
it."
Just then, I saw Reb Yaakov Halperin sitting not far from
us. (I was acquainted with him and also with his brother Rav
Shmuel Halperin, who I knew from the time I was in
Holland.)
[Reb Yaakov Halperin zt'l, who arrived in Eretz
Yisroel from Vienna in 5693 (1933), was one of the Chazon
Ish's most devoted followers. A man of considerable means,
he built the Zichron Meir area in the center of Bnei Brak,
donating the entire hill where Ponovezh Yeshiva stands to
the Ponovezher Rav for the purpose of erecting the Yeshiva.
From the moment he reached Eretz Yisroel until the end of
his life, he channeled tremendous sums into a wide range of
projects aimed at strengthening Torah life in the new
yishuv.]
I had not noticed when he came in even though we were
sitting by the shul's main entrance. He had
apparently heard some of what I said and turned to me
straight away with the following words, "You have forgotten
what you learned and it's very important to refresh the
memory, so use the shmittah year for learning deeply
and thoroughly, in all parts of Torah - - Agudas Yisroel
will organize a worldwide fundraising appeal for the Keren
Hashmittah and you will receive a monthly stipend. Let the
sounds of Torah be heard in Machane Yisroel and the sounds
of shmittah, throughout the land."
I looked at the Chazon Ish and saw that his face was shining
with joy. He turned to me and said, "It seems that Reb
Yaakov Halperin came in at just the right moment. Through an
appeal on behalf of Keren Hashmittah it will be possible to
solve your problems in the very best way, as well as those
of other places. Let us hope that, be'ezras Hashem,
that is how things will work out. I recommend you travel to
Gedera where nearby, Kibbutz Chofetz Chaim is situated. The
members there are grappling with the same problem. Turn to
Reb Moshe Sheinfeld; talk things over and you will hear from
him various ideas and solutions for dealing with the problem
of shmittah."
I decided to take the Chazon Ish's advice. I left him and
received his blessing to the people at Machane Yisroel to
strengthen ourselves in emunah and in our conduct in
accordance with the holy Torah. Our discussion had gone on
for about two and a half hours and the sun was in the west.
As I left the shul I said to myself, "Ribono Shel
Olom! You have a Jew who is physically so feeble, yet
who is the embodiment of emes and da'as Torah.
He entertains no doubts, everything is crystal clear and
definite, and he is totally devoted to You!"
Arriving at Kibbutz Chofetz Chaim in the evening, I
approached Reb Moshe Sheinfeld and told him that I had been
sent to him by the maran the Chazon Ish concerning
shmittah. Reb Moshe calmly explained to me that they
farmed a grand total of (if I remember correctly) twenty-
three dunams (an area only one- percent of the size of the
area under our control). Similarly, he noted that most of
their budget came from members' outside work in Gedera and
that they would certainly be observing the holiness of
shmittah. We parted amicably and I hurried, as I
wanted to reach Machane Yisrael that same night. I estimated
that Chofetz Chaim's situation was easier than ours. Their
proximity to Gedera enabled them to earn money from outside
work while we lived in an area of Arab villages. It was late
at night when I reached Machane Yisrael.
V. The Yeshiva Of The Seventh Year
What were the origins of the idea mentioned by Reb Yaakov
Halperin, that the kibbutzniks sit down to learn
during shmittah, and how was the suggestion received
by chareidi Jewry?
Actually, there was little new in the proposition itself.
Some fifty years previously, the Netziv had written to the
heads of the Chovevei Tzion movement, urging them to help,
not hinder, those settlers in Baron Rothschild's new
settlements, who wished to keep shmittah. "In order
to prevent the corruption which develops from idleness (the
fear of which had perhaps been invoked as an argument for
discouraging shmittah observance) Torah disseminators
and lectures should be organized. Let the Baron support
spiritual pursuits as well" (ShuT Meishiv Dovor,
Warsaw 5654, end of Yore De'ah section).
In the early spring of 5697, the announcement that, in the
coming shmittah, chareidi farmers would be laying
down their tools and entering the beis hamedrash,
came in the form of a brilliant and inspiring article by Reb
Moshe Sheinfeld in the Kol Yisrael weekly. The
article movingly portrays the strangeness and unfamiliarity
felt by religious Jews who had settled in Eretz Yisroel
towards mitzvos hateluyos ba'aretz as one of the
tragic consequences of our two thousand year separation from
the land.
After dwelling briefly on the great inspiration that was to
be drawn from the ideals embodied in the mitzva of
shmittah, he stated that the founding policy of the
Agudah kibbutzim was to construct communities where
Torah reigned supreme and to show that even a society
composed of working people, whose principal involvement was
with the practical, mundane affairs of this world, set the
Torah's laws as its guiding light. Would it not be a
chilul Hashem, he asked rhetorically, if those who
had assumed the role of the pioneers of Torah Jewry were to
subscribe to a fictitious sale so as to enable their farming
to carry on as normal?
The coming shmittah would be observed in the full
spirit of the mitzva, he concluded. It would be a year of
rest for the kibbutz fields and a source of spiritual
renewal for the members: "During shmittah, our land
will be seen sprouting thistles and aftergrowth, while the
sounds of Torah will be breaking forth and ascending from
the windows of our houses, even on weekdays, during normal
working hours -- the name of Heaven will be sanctified and
elevated, and the glory of Torah will grow greater and
mightier."
In reality, the article sounded as though it carried more
authority than it actually did. The sentiments it expressed
were Reb Moshe Sheinfeld's own and the information that the
kibbutzim would be keeping shmittah came as
something of a surprise even to some of the members. Heated
internal debates now began about the feasibility of the idea
with very few members convinced that keeping shmittah
was a practical proposition. The article also appeared in
Yiddish translation in the Agudah newspaper Dos Yiddishe
Togblatt published in Warsaw, and in the journal Der
Israelit, published in Frankfurt, translated into German
by the editor Reb Yaakov Rosenheim.
Reactions ranged from the enthusiastic -- "The idea is
grandiose and definitely doable" -- to the more sober -- "A
beautiful idea, a successful fantasy which could take form
only in the mind and soul of a youth as enthusiastic as
Moshe Sheinfeld..." (Dos Yiddishe Togblatt #146, 29
Adar 5697). In spite of all the doubts though, the internal
bulletin of the Poalei Agudas Yisroel Movement (#37, 16 Adar
5697) reported that consultations with the Chazon Ish and
other gedolei Torah had been held and that plans were
going ahead for the three Agudas Yisroel kibbutzim to
be transformed into yeshivos for their members during the
approaching shmittah.
VI. In Yerushalayim . . . And Antwerp
During the month of Nisan, 5697, events gathered momentum.
The Chazon Ish rejoiced on hearing of the growing support
for the idea of keeping shmittah without resort to
the heter mechirah. He moved to enlist the help of
the chareidim in Eretz Yisroel, instructing Reb Yaakov
Halperin to place a notice in the Kol Yisrael
newspaper. This appeared in the erev Pesach, 5697
edition and set forth the Chazon Ish's views.
The notice explained that even the originators of the
heter mechirah had only allowed work on land that had
been sold to be done by Arabs, an arrangement that the Arab
violence of the years 5697-99 (1937-9) rendered impossible.
There really was no other alternative to the massive
chilul Hashem that would result, except for the
response of the handful of "mighty of strength" who had
announced their preparedness to stand up to the trial of
ceasing work for a whole year. The notice ended with a call
for the setting up of Keren Hashmittah to come to their aid
and for a meeting to be held in Yerushalayim during Pesach,
under the auspices of the Av Beis Din of the Eida
HaChareidis, HaRav Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky zt'l.
During Pesach, Reb Yaakov Halperin was despatched by the
Chazon Ish to Gedera to find out exactly how much was needed
to enable them to survive during shmittah without
resort to any forbidden melochos. From there, Reb
Yaakov continued on to Yerushalayim, to organize the
meeting, accompanied by Reb Moshe Sheinfeld who then served
as the kibbutz's external secretary. The committee
which was set up as a result of this meeting was headed by
HaRav Dushinsky himself, with the gaon HaRav Shimshon
Aharon Polansky, av beis din of Teplik as deputy,
HaRav Shmuel Zanvil Spitzer as treasurer and included the
Yerushalmi Rav Eliyahu Nochum Porush who was the
moving force behind all of the Va'ad's activities.
The Va'ad set as its target the collection of one thousand
Palestine liras, then a very large sum, for Kibbutz
HaNoar Ha'agudati in Kfar Saba. The enthusiasm of the
Yerushalmi chareidim, most of whom were impoverished Torah
scholars themselves in need of help, in supporting the
kibbutzniks, was incredible. Collection boxes were
issued to every family and HaRav Dushinsky agreed that the
cheder teachers release their pupils early every
Friday to go around collecting for Keren Hashmittah. The
heads of the Eida HaChareidis went down to Kfar Saba
themselves to see how they could help the
chaveirim.
There were fifty members, mostly young men from Eastern
Europe but also including several families. They were
described by HaRav Dushinsky (in a declaration issued at the
beginning of 5698) as "all are beloved and choice ("kulom
ahuvim uverurim") workers of the land, who live a Torah
life, in purity." On another occasion, HaRav Dushinsky said
in a public address, "If we have workers such as these, we
are assured of our future."
Each member was made to sign a document, arranged by a
notary to be legally binding, in which he pledged to keep
the coming shmittah in accordance with
halacha. The document stated that any member to break
this undertaking, would be obliged to leave the
kibbutz, forfeiting forever all his rights of
membership.
The Central Committee of the European Agudah also held a
meeting during Nisan 5697, in Antwerp, Belgium and the issue
of shmittah was one of the items on the agenda. The
announcement that the chareidi kibbutzim were
preparing to keep shmittah with great self sacrifice
was confirmed by the delegates Auerbach and Gross from the
kibbutzim at Kfar Saba and Gedera (although full
agreement had not yet been reached and they had not been
empowered to make such declarations by the other members).
Rav Moshe Blau, the leader of Agudas Yisroel in Eretz
Yisroel, later said of this occasion, "My eyes filled with
tears to see our workers' dedication to upholding Torah."
At this meeting, the Agudah leadership decided to set up a
world Keren Hashevi'is fund (that continues today) and to
launch an appeal to Agudah members all over the world to
support the kibbutzim that undertook full observance
of shmittah. A few weeks later, on Lag B'omer 5697,
Reb Chaim Ozer issued his famous letter, entitled "Dvar
Hashmittah," in which he called for financial support
for the attempts of the P.A.I. kibbutzim to keep
shmittah.
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