Editing Shmita (section)

==Rabbinical interpretations==

The rabbis of the Talmud and later times interpreted the ''shmita'' laws in various ways to ease the burden they created for farmers and the agricultural industry. The ''heter mechira'' (leniency of sale), developed for the ''shmita'' year of 1888–1889, permitted Jewish farmers to sell their land to non-Jews so that they could continue to work the land as usual during ''shmita''. This temporary solution to the impoverishment of the Jewish settlement in those days was later adopted by the [[Chief Rabbinate of Israel]] as a permanent edict, generating ongoing controversy between [[Zionism|Zionist]] and Haredi leaders to this day.<ref name="Erlanger">{{cite news |author=Steven Erlanger |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/world/middleeast/08shmita.html |title=As Farmers and Fields Rest, a Land Grows Restless |date=October 8, 2007}}</ref> There is a major debate among halakhic authorities as to what is the nature of the obligation of the Sabbatical year nowadays. Some say it is still biblically binding, as it has always been. Others hold that it is rabbinically binding, since the ''shmita'' only biblically applies when the Jubilee year is in effect, but the Sages of the Talmud legislated the observance of the ''shmita'' anyway as a reminder of the biblical statute. And yet others hold that the ''shmita'' has become purely voluntary. An analysis by respected [[posek]] and former [[Sephardic Judaism|Sephardic]] Chief Rabbi [[Ovadiah Yosef]] in his [[Responsum|responsa]] ''[[Yabi'a Omer]]'' (Vol. 10), accorded with the middle option, that the biblical obligation holds only when a majority of the Jewish people is living in the biblical Land of Israel and hence the ''shmita'' nowadays is a [[Rabbinic prohibitions|rabbinic obligation]] in nature. This approach potentially admits for some leniencies which would not be possible if the Shemitah were biblical in origin, including the aforementioned sale of the land of Israel. [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]] authorities, on the other hand, generally follow the view of the [[Chazon Ish]], that the ''shmita'' continues to be a biblical obligation.

Rabbi [[Joshua Falk]], author of ''Sefer Me'irat Einayim'' on ''[[Choshen Mishpat]]'', holds that ''shmita'' nowadays is only a rabbinic obligation, and, subsequently, the biblical promise of bounty for those who observe the ''shmita'' (Leviticus 25:20–22<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et0325.htm |title=Leviticus 25 / Hebrew Bible in English / Mechon-Mamre |publisher=Mechon-mamre.org |access-date=2015-04-30}}</ref>) only applies when the biblical obligation is in effect, and hence that the biblical promise of bounty is not in effect today. However, the Chazon Ish, who holds that the biblical obligation of ''shmita'' observance remains in effect today, holds that the biblical promise of bounty follows it and Divine bounty is promised to Jews living in the Land of Israel today, just as it was promised in ancient times. However, he holds that Jews should generally not demand miracles from Heaven and hence that one should not rely on this promise for one's sustenance, but should instead make appropriate arrangements and rely on permissible leniencies.<ref name="Kuber" />