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A Year of Emunah: Farmers’ Wives Reflect on the Past Shemitta Year
The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
A Year of Emunah
Farmers’ Wives Reflect on the Past Shemitta Year
BY MAlkiE SchulMAn
For some farmers and their families, keeping Shemitta according to Jewish law is not a question. “Do I keep Shabbat?” asks Ayalet Hacohen of Yitzhar in the Shomron. “Do I dress tzanua? It’s the same thing with Shemitta. It is a mitzvah like every other mitzvah that I have to keep.”
Not everybody shares her approach, though. To some, it is a real decision – and a hard decision. Kerren Koch of Moshav Tekuma and Chagit Eskozido of K’far Maimon, settlements in the Negev near Gaza, for example, like most, if not all, of their neighbors, always relied on heter mechira, the questionable heter that allows the State of Israel to sell the land to non-Jews for the year of Shemitta. When they changed their ways and began keeping Shemitta laws, some of their neighbors thought they were crazy or making a big mistake. They felt that Shemitta observed not through heter mechira was an archaic mitzvah, not relevant to today.
It was actually the Kochs’ 13-year-old son who convinced them to keep Shemitta properly. It was his bar mitzvah, shares Kerren, and he had read a story in a children’s newspaper about someone who kept Shemitta and experienced blessing from it.
“He came home and asked us if we could keep Shemitta as his bar mitzvah present! We were amazed (in a good way) by his request and decided to agree to it.”
Chagit shares that it was her husband’s idea originally to keep Shemitta. When they were first married, they were not farmers, but after the Jews were chased out of Gush Katif, Chagit’s husband felt a yearning to return to the land, his roots. His father was a farmer, and he felt strongly about not only settling the land but actually working it. That’s when they decided to purchase a farm in K’far Maimon, a moshav (settlement) near Gaza. Their first year farming was actually a Shemitta year, but not knowing any better, they did the heter mechira like everybody around them.
“It was a bad year for us,” Chagit admits. “We lost all our money. My husband was even considering leaving farming altogether, at that point. But I encouraged him to speak to the rabbi who told him, ‘Don’t worry, leave the greenhouses you’re renting in the moshav nearby, build new ones on your property in Kfar Maimon, and everything will be okay.’ And that’s what happened. We built new greenhouses and grew cherries, cabbages, cucumbers and watermelon and, baruch Hashem, we did well.”
However, after that incident, Chagit’s husband learned about the proper way of observing Shemitta and kept urging Chagit to join with him in keeping it. But Chagit was afraid, especially because of their initial challenges. The next Shemitta cycle came around, and they did not observe Shemitta because still Chagit was very nervous. But her husband persisted. And then, she shares, this past Shemitta cycle, the Keren Hashvi’is organization (an organization that supports farmers in Israel that observe Shemitta) contacted them and explained how they financially help farmers who keep Shemitta.
“So, finally, I said OK,” relates Chagit.
Deciding to keep Shemitta is one thing, but following through on it despite the fears and difficulties is quite another.
Everyone agrees that farming is a difficult profession and farming in the land of Israel is perhaps even harder because of the sometimes extreme weather conditions. You have to have emunah (faith) just to be a farmer here. But, even though you may theoretically know it’s beneficial for the land to rest, watching your land lay fallow for an entire year, watching the greenhouses and vineyards go into disrepair and become overgrown, watching ripe produce rot on the field or become damaged from people removing it at all hours of the day requires another level of emunah altogether.
ed like every other mitzvah in the Torah or because they were willing to take on the mitzvah for the first time, the challenges of keeping Shemitta can be daunting. Ayalet compares preparing for Shemitta to erev Shabbat when we’re bustling around trying to get all the last-minute things done because on Shabbat we can’t do the work anymore. Just multiply that by 365, and you get the picture. It’s a lot of work, she explains, for example, in the Hacohens’ case (they have a flour mill and vineyards), trimming all the vines in the vineyard as much as possible to minimize damage, finding place to store their wheat, and then the actual work of storing it so it doesn’t get ruined.
Farm work goes by seasons. In every season, there are different farming tasks to be done. Once that season passes, the opportunity passes as well. Especially once winter arrives, a lot of opportunities are over for that year. So, if Rosh Hashana comes early the year of Shemitta or late the year after Shemitta, it makes a difference in how much time you have to prepare the land for the Shemitta year and for the year afterwards.
Another challenge is that during Shemitta, anybody is allowed to come to the fields and pick the fruit or vegetables. Not everyone is careful to make sure not to damage the vines or the stalks when they remove the produce. Sometimes, much damage is done, and the farmers can only stand by and watch.
“Of course, we post signs with rules but not everybody listens to them, and we can’t be there 24/7 watching to make sure,” says Ayalet. “Sometimes people will leave the gate open, and animals will come in and damage the water pipes.”
Other risks include the possibility losing your buyers. Stores and vendors may decide to go elsewhere for their produce if they can’t buy from a farmer for a whole year. It’s the same with trying to find farm workers after Shemitta year. Nobody is going to hang around for a year if you have no work for them. It becomes a challenge after each Shemitta to find new workers.
“This year, the government promised to send us new workers,” shares Kerren, “but not for another six months! That’s not helpful, so my husband is planning on switching the types of organic fruits and vegetables we will grow that don’t require as many workers.”
Then there is the expense for bringing the land back up to snuff – to repair the greenhouses, the vineyards, it all costs money. But, emotionally, at least, perhaps the hardest part is seeing your land after Shemitta and thinking, “Oh my gosh, where are we going to start? It’s so overwhelming just thinking about all the work involved.”
Miracles Big and Small
Nevertheless, none of these women and their families have any regrets that they have chosen to keep Shemitta – this year and any other year.
Some people claim they’ve seen miracles from the beginning, and others say they see blessing, yes, but miracles, no.
Ayalet insists, “It’s enough that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing, observing a very important mitzvah in the Torah. We feel blessed to be able to do that.
“Actually,” Ayalet continues, “when we started farming, a lot of people told me that you will see miracles when you keep Shemitta. But I can’t say that’s what happened with us.”
In fact, one Shemitta year, the Hacohens lost a lot of money. At that point, in the sixth year, the year before Shemitta, they bought double the amount of wheat because they weren’t going to be growing wheat during Shemitta.
“My husband said, ‘Don’t worry, it’ll be fine’ but it turns out it wasn’t fine. We had to sell it at a loss,” says Ayalet.
Kerren, on the other hand, has seen miracles through their Shemitta observance.
“I knew it would be too hard for my husband to stay at home and watch the farm fall apart; he’s so connected to the land,” shares Kerren, “so I suggested we go to America for that first Shemitta.”
From the beginning, Keren observes, she saw miracles big and small. For example, Kerren is a teacher and wanted to teach while in the U.S., so she had to apply to do that through the sochnut (Jewish agency).
“Usually, it takes them a year to process all the paperwork but, in our case, not only did it go smoothly, but it only took a month. Which, for anybody familiar with Israeli bureaucracy, is truly miraculous!”
Then she continues, “My husband got a job in security with El Al in America. However, after he was working for them for a while, they demanded he work on Shabbat.”
Kerren’s husband said, “I did not decide to keep Shemitta so I could come to America to work on Shabbat!”
He was fired but the executive in the El Al office was so impressed by his convictions that she said she was going to ensure he got paid as if he was still their employee. Not only that, but it was at that point that Keren Hashvi’is called, not even knowing that he was in America, and asked him to work for them (in the U.S.).
Chagit admits it was scary when they first started. Their oldest son got married that August before Shemitta, and she and her husband were very tense, wondering how they would pay their bills for the coming year especially with the added expense of the wedding. It was also a leap year, which made things harder for the year after Shemitta. There is only a limited amount of growing time until winter begins, Chagit explains, and when Shemitta falls out on a leap year, then Rosh Hashana comes out later and the winter comes earlier so there is less time to prepare the land for the
following year.
However, as soon as they re-committed to their original commitment to properly observe Shemitta, she says, she calmed down. She “knew” Hashem would take care of them. And now at the end of Shemitta this year, their second son got married.
“I feel that this bracha of being able to marry off two of my children comes from keeping Shemitta. We began the Shemitta marrying one son off and ended Shemitta with the marriage of our second son.”
Another bracha or miracle, Chagit claims, is that they actually had parnassa for the year even though her husband was not farming the land.
Kerren feels the same way. “We were not impacted in any terrible way because we could not work the land for the year. It’s true, we couldn’t buy everything we normally do, but we always have a lot of guests for Shabbat and we were still able to do that.”
Kerren and her husband, Avichai, share another miracle story. After their first Shemitta, nobody was interested in buying produce from them anymore. They had already found other farmers willing to supply them during Shemitta year. Avichai reports walking through his field shortly before the end of the Shemitta, looking at all the devastation, and wondering how they were going to make the money to pay for all the repairs. Not long afterwards, he relates, he received a call from one of his customers, a businessman who sold organic vegetable baskets to vendors all over the country.
“He gave me a list of organic vegetables that he wanted me to grow for him. He said he would pay for everything – the repairs, the seeds, the greenhouses, he would cover all our losses. Then he asked me to teach his brother, Avi, how to grow organic vegetables and he paid me for that as well.”
Eventually, Avi bought his own farm and slowly added his own greenhouses and vegetables. Nevertheless, he continued to work on the Kochs’ farm. When Avichai asked him why he was still working with him on his farm, he replied, “The bracha I see on your farm, I have never seen on mine.”
Another unexplainable incident, bordering on the miraculous, occurred with the Kochs’ pumpkins. A few months before Rosh Hashana prior to this past Shemitta, Avichai planted pumpkins in his greenhouses. When he went to harvest them a few weeks before Rosh Hashana, he saw there were so many of them, much more than he had anticipated. He called the seed company and asked them to come down to see what had happened; he said he wanted to use the same variety of seed again! When they came down
and measured the field, they discovered that the yield was double what he would’ve normally gotten with that variety. Nobody had any scientific explanation for it.
A Year of Faith
All the women we spoke with report their emunah has been tremendously strengthened but not only in Hakadosh Baruch Hu. They feel that through observance of Shemitta, their faith in their fellow Jew has been renewed as well. Coming to America and going around speaking to different Jewish communities around the country was so heartwarming, says Kerren.
“I loved the Shabbatot where we met wonderful and supportive people. It was like we were all in this mitzvah together.”
Chagit adds that when they decided to keep Shemitta, she thought it was a mitzvah just for the benefit of her family. After this experience of keeping Shemitta, she understands that it is a mitzvah for the whole am Yisroel.
“The response from Jews around the world has been amazing and has given me so much chizuk and koach,” Chagit avers. “We could not have done it without the Jews in chutz l’Aretz, they are for sure all shutafim (partners) with us.”
Wherever they go and speak, Jews ask them to give them a blessing.
“I have taken upon myself every Friday before I light candles to pray for all those who’ve given me their names,” shares Chagit. She’s also taken upon herself to recite birchot hashachar (the morning blessings) every day. “It has been a very spiritual year for us, and we are grateful we merited this mitzvah for our family and, b’emet, for all of am Yisrael.”
Kerren says she and her husband feel their faith has been greatly strengthened. But, she says, their children, now that they’re older, were worried about what would happen to them financially.
“I spoke to them and explained that we saw such blessing seven years ago, this time it will also be fine. And it was.”
Although she does admit to being a bit concerned about where their new workers will come, Kerren, nevertheless, feels confident it will all work out.
The other women echo a similar sentiment. Despite the many problems and issues still to be overcome now that Shemitta is over, they all firmly assert, it will be fine.
Ayalet shares a different perspective in the faith and miracle department. Not seeing miracles from observing this mitzvah has only served to strengthen her emunah, she maintains. It brings home the idea that none of us have any clue what’s going on in this world, why Hashem does what He does. What we might think is bad for us may be exactly what is good for us. We may see that soon or never (in this world).
She also maintains that the whole experience of keeping Shemitta for her is about having a real relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It’s not about reward and punishment; it’s the next level up. It’s not about if I’m good and do what you say, you’ll give me a candy. It’s about – I love you even though I don’t understand what’s going on. Even though, I may think, this is not how it should be, it’s understanding that yes, this is how it should be.
“These kind of experiences (where I didn’t see the miracle),” stresses Ayalet, “are what brought me to a higher level of emunah than I had. I see Hashem walking with me, holding my hand, giving me a smile even when it’s hard. That’s my biggest takeaway.”
