Dear members of Klal Yisroel, I am sure by now you have heard about Shmitah — its importance, value, and bracha. There’s another side of Shmitah that you may not have seen yet. A year and a half ago, Reb Chaim Kanievsky told Keren Hashviis that our mission is to ensure Eretz Yisroel is keeping Shmitah, with at least a majority of Jewish-owned agricultural land lying fallow. For more than a year now, our staff has been traveling throughout Eretz Yisroel, going north, south, east, and west to meet thousands of farmers. It was not easy, but with hard work and persistence, what seemed to be only wishful thinking is almost a reality. Nearly 600,000 dunam of land are committed for the Shmitah year (up from 330,000 dunam, approx. 82,000 acres, last Shmitah). Roiv Ha’aretz would require 680,000 dunam — we are almost there. With Klal Yisroel’s support, hundreds of farmers are about to keep Shmitah for the first time. They will shut down their business and have no income, while still balancing the huge expenses that must be paid — land rental, insurance, staff, mortgages, groceries, and life expenses. They have lots of money going out with nothing new coming in. Each Shmitah-observant farmer is a hero. They have a firm emunah that makes them seem like giants among men. With just a week to Rosh Hashanah, the impossible seemed possible with majority of land keeping Shmitah. But Reb Chaim’s dream is in danger of collapsing. What he describes as ושבת הארץ שבת לה may not happen. And although Shmitah starts in a matter of days, many farmers are worried — they are thinking about pulling out. What happened?       Keren Hashviis promised to raise the funds that will support farmers and help them put bread on their tables. To do that, Keren Hashviis committed to raise $66 MILLION dollars — that’s the budget needed to support our brave and heroic warriors. (The US portion of this goal is $35 million.) Yes, baruch Hashem, we have raised an incredible $15 million — but it’s not enough for our global goal. Many of you will think, I’ve already made my Shmitah commitment. I bought an amah, or maybe four amos with a tree for $180. What many people do not realize is that the money used in these transactions does not go toward the farmers. In all likelihood, your purchase went to a private entity. All these businesses do is confuse the public (and even rabonim). It’s not helping Shmitah happen. Your purchase is not encouraging farmers to take the leap or helping us achieve roiv ha’aretz lying fallow. What will we say to the brave farmers who are counting on Klal Yisroel’s support? How do we tell them that we are sorry, but 25,000 people bought a tree — without knowing that the money doesn’t support Shmitah? It’s not too late. If you started the mitzvah, you can still finish it. You can still keep Shmitah in an optimal manner. The land needs to rest. And to enable that to happen we need to pay the farmers so they have food to put on the table. Keren Hashviis is the only organization that enables Shmitah to happen by providing direct support to the farmers. The partnerships that Keren […]

The post Being Shomer Shmitah Requires More – A Heartfelt Letter To Klal Yisroel From Reb Shia Markowitz, CEO Of Keren Hashviis appeared first on The Yeshiva World.