Rabbis back Eliyahu’s call not to buy from non-Jews during ‘shmita’

Senior rabbis in the religious-Zionist community have backed Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu’s call not to buy fruits and vegetables from Arabs during shmita, the upcoming sabbatical year.

Eliyahu, a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council, made his comments within the context of a campaign to buy from Jewish producers during shmita.

Due to the prohibition on working the land of Israel during the shmita year, many Orthodox Jews buy produce from non-Jewish farmers in Israel, which is permitted under Halacha.

The violence between Jews and Arabs witnessed during the conflict with Hamas in May had demonstrated the hostility of “many thousands” of Arab-Israelis to Jews, and other solutions for shmita should be found, Eliyahu said.

“It is our moral obligation not to provide an income to those who wish us ill,” he was quoted as saying by Hebrew-language media outlets. “It is a religious commandment to buy from Jews and not Arabs.”

In response, Meretz MK Mossi Raz said the attorney-general should investigate Eliyahu for incitement to racial hatred.

Rabbi Haim Druckman, Rabbi Dov Lior, Rabbi Mordechai Sternberg, Rabbi David Hai Hacohen and other religious-Zionist rabbis signed a letter to back Eliyahu’s call to buy fruits and vegetables produced by Jews and not Arabs during shmita.

It is a religious commandment to eat produce grown in Israel during shmita in a way that complies with Halacha, and other options were problematic in terms of adherence to Halacha and could also harm Jewish agriculture, they wrote.

The Jewish people were commanded by the Torah to help sustain and support other Jews, “to help our brothers and support their livelihood, as the first pioneers who built the land always advocated for Jewish labor,” the letter said.

“We consider the purchase of the produce of [those who are] declared enemies a total prohibition,” the rabbis wrote.

They also condemned what they said was an attempt to silence Eliyahu and others from expressing their opinions on Halacha.

“We sharply protest against those who want to silence rabbis who openly give their opinion on matters of the Torah,” they wrote. “Rabbis are obligated, not just allowed, to say what Halacha is.”