Israel’s Top Court Backs Loophole in Farming Law

Steven Erlanger, The New York Times, JERUSALEM, Oct. 24 — The Israeli Supreme Court stepped into a religious dispute on Wednesday, ordering the chief rabbinate not to allow local rabbis to decide for themselves whether to authorize produce from Jewish land to be sold during this sabbatical year.

The case centered on a loophole in religious law used to allow Jewish-owned farms to grow and sell kosher produce every seventh year, when the Bible says that Jewish land in Israel should be left fallow. The Biblical injunction about the sabbatical, or “shmita” year, is taken literally by many ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, who refuse to buy or consume produce unless it is grown by non-Jews on land not owned by Jews.

In the past, the chief rabbinate, which controls kosher regulations in Israel, accepted a compromise or loophole called “heter mechira,” or sale permit. The permit allows Jewish farmers and businesses to “sell” their land formally and temporarily to non-Jews during shmita years, enabling the land to be worked as usual.

In cities like Jerusalem, where the ultra-Orthodox make up almost a third of the total population, and a much larger proportion of the Jewish population, heter mechira was not allowed, and prices for produce were rising while Jewish agribusiness was suffering.

On Tuesday, Daniel Friedmann, the justice minister, said he would oppose the adoption of an Israeli constitution that prohibited the Supreme Court from ruling on conflicts between the state and religion. Israel has no constitution and has been debating whether to adopt one.