The following story is told: A family obviously Dati Leumi entered a fruit store under the supervision of one of the mehadrin Kashrus agencies. The father, whose voice rang throughout the store, told the family that they could take carrots and potatoes since these were Sixth-year produce, but warned them not to buy tomatoes or cucumbers, since [he implied] these they bought from an Arab.
Don't presume to think, dear Reader, that his warning was meant to prevent them from transgressing the prohibition of buying from a non-Jew according to the Chazon Ish, or that he preferred buying produce that came from outside of Eretz Yisrael which does not have kedushas Shevi'is. Not in the least. His warning was one filtering down to many innocent people from that sector, of not buying non-Jewish produce, a principle which for them overrides all the laws of Shevi'is - the prohibition of commerce and biyur and even sefichin. All of these are dwarfed by the "new" and "fundamental" prohibition of not buying non-Jewish produce during Shevi'is. They feel obligated to buy seventh-year produce from a store using the heter mechirah, whose produce is ultimately forbidden as sefichin, just so as to avoid `stumbling' in what they consider the more important principle of not buying Arab grown produce.
And now, my dear friends, stop and consider: throughout the six years between Shmittahs, the Israeli market depends very much on produce coming from the non-Jewish sector, homes established on the "pride of the Jewish State" by Arabs, where at every step one finds non-Jewish companies and workers involved throughout the Israeli economy, and all this is permissible according to them. [Part of the regular supply of many vegetables is usually Arab grown, and there are some items which are grown only by Arab growers, all the time.]
In order to avoid any doubt, let me note certain well-known facts. At the directive of our rabbanan past and present, we also wish to aid and provide kosher produce which is not supplied by non-Jews, as was done in the previous Shmittah, when we were guided by HaRav Yosef Shalom Eliashiv to make every effort to dispense produce from Otzar Beis Din, and in this Shmittah, the vibrant sound of the shofar emanates from HaRav Chaim Kanievsky to encourage the usage of Otzar Beis Din produce since it is apparent that this effort provides economic sustenance for Shmittah-observant farmers. But when such produce is unavailable and the main supply is from non-Jews, he who comes to establish new the prohibitions and prevents the consumption of non-Jewish produce and instead substitutes sefichin, uproots the mitzvah of Shevi'is and brings on golus to the world.
For the past several Shmittahs there has been an attempt to make this issue a bone of contention between Ashkenazim and Sephardim. It was not in vain that our gedolei Yisrael wrote that this issue has nothing to do with the ethnic division between communities and origins (per an open letter by gedolei Yisrael dated Menachem Av 5767). The late HaRav Ben Zion Abba Shaul dealt with this at length in the introduction to his work on Shmittah, adding there what he had heard from Sephardic Torah leadership, HaRav Ezra Attieh, that "one must not rely on the Heter Mechirah." He tells that during the period of great economic difficulty in Yeshivat Porat Yosef when the yeshiva lacked food, "even so, he did not allow the introduction of vegetable produce from places relying on the Heter Mechirah" (ibid. p 19).
And let it be made public that our rabbonim, present and past, from the Chazon Ish transformed the mitzvah of Shmittah from a defunct meis mitzvah to a living relevant mitzvah and including the Steipler, HaRav Shach and HaRav Eliashiv, and yblch"a HaRav Shteinman, HaRav Wosner, HaRav Karelitz and HaRav Kanievsky, along with other gedolei Yisrael. They wrote and explained that the Heter Mechirah is a mockery, especially in the manner practiced in our time which is different from the practice at the time when it was first implemented over a century ago. Therefore, my dear Sir, let us make the computation of a mitzvah that according to the majority of our Torah leaders, is a `sale' which has no value or content. As the Rosh Yeshiva said lately, it is necessary to publicize that the Heter Mechirah is worthless, and the produce thereof is strictly forbidden as sefichin and shomur vene'evad, and serves to abet transgressors. They render the vessels in which they were cooked prohibited for usage, and all mixtures in which they are an ingredient are similarly forbidden for consumption.
And even if there are some opinions which do rely on those who permitted it then, but in its time there was pressure from the extreme poverty reigning, the situation is altogether different now. Those who allowed it then surely also believed that it is better to observe the Shmittah according to its real halachic parameters. Why, then, should we listen to the voice of the yetzer to contort the straightforward and not pursue the straight path and keep Shmittah according the Halacha?
My cry issues from the heart, dear brothers: Does not the holy Torah establish that exile is the punishment for transgressing the mitzvah of Shmittah, as is written, "Then shall the land requite itself of its Sabbaticals (Vayikra 26). This is repeated in Divrei Hayamim (II Perek 36), "Until the land requite itself of its Sabbaticals, all the days of its desolation when it rested to replace the seventy years." It was again repeated by Chazal in Pirkei Avos 5 that Jewry is exiled for the sin of violating Shmittah. Shall we then not rethink the act of rendering areas to non-Jews during Shmittah as punishable by having the land actually transferred to them for many years? And as if we do not know for certain, this is the word of the Torah, which will never be retracted nor altered. Rather, in the merit of Shechita (and the Divine good measure surpasses the Strict and Harsh measure five hundred-fold - Yoma 76a and Rashi), may we merit our Redemption and may the sound of violence and tragedy ring out no longer in our borders.
