Rabbi Yosef: "Heter Mechira Is Alive And Well," The Torah Is "Not A Torah Of Pointless Decrees"

Ha'aretz reports:

[Rabbi Ovadia] Yosef used his weekly lecture on Saturday night to declare that "the heter mechira is alive and well," as it stems from the principle that "the Torah is a Torah of life, 'that a man shall do them [the commandments] and live,' not a Torah of pointless decrees."
 
He related the story of a married yeshiva student with 10 children who had asked him how to cope with the soaring prices of imported produce.
 
"I asked him: 'Why don't you buy heter mechira?' He replied: 'They say it's forbidden.' 'They say? Why do you listen to what they say? Do we have a Torah or don't we? Go buy heter mechira!'" Yosef declaimed.

In the same lecture Rabbi Yosef noted that the original heter mechira was issued by a Sefardic rabbi. It was not until the following shmita cycle that Ashkenazim followed suit.

Comments

[Abe]

I bet that had the rally been organized to denounce denim skirts or unkosher shaytels, twice as many hareidim would have participated !

[Tzippora]

Just so you know, Rabbi Shlomo Amar spoke this morning at YU, and spent his time talking about the importance of keeping the shmitta year. There are some from the "kibbutzim and the moshavim who sell their land to goyim, and this is NOT CORRECT".

Simultaneously bashing heter mechira and avoiding the conversion issue. Did you see this one?http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380553918&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[Meshiganer]

Your Nuts!

Are you a posek who can tell if its proper or ot??

[The Elder]

This has been an ongoing issue since the moment that Jewish farmers returned to partake in their agricultural duties.

I am quite disturbed by R. Ovadia's Answer. The Hazon Ish was totally opposed to the heter as a legal fiction, and even those who supported it stated openly that the issue should be revisited every shmitta making it clear that such a heter was not to be relied upon from now until eternity.

I would respect R. Ovadia if he engaged in such topics in a manner more consistent with the polemical history that allows for other opinions to be respected and within the scope of the 'tree of life.'

Before people jump down my throat, I am not saying that the heter should be relied upon or dismissed outright, but rather to foster a mutual respect between varying opinions on a given topic.

[Fleishike Kishke]

Seems to me that it is relying on this Heter Mehira that makes the Sabbatical-Year into a pointless decree. The point is to rest the land, cease work, and focus on Torah study.

If you tell me that in this day and age such a restriction is not reasonable I'll tell you I agree, and for this exact reason I no longer celebrate any Sabbath or Festival like the Orthodox do. It's just not feasible. I need to drive, use the phone, do some work on occasion, write, cook.

Orthodox Judaism is so intellectually dishonest.

[Neo-Conservaguy]

If you tell me that in this day and age such a restriction is not reasonable I'll tell you I agree, and for this exact reason I no longer celebrate any Sabbath or Festival like the Orthodox do. It's just not feasible. I need to drive, use the phone, do some work on occasion, write, cook.

Orthodox Judaism is so intellectually dishonest.

Rabbinic judgments that provide ways to circumvent Torah laws that would be a tremendous burden on the Jewish people are an important part of our legal history. They provide mechanisms to address times and circumstances that have changed over the course of more than three thousand years.

It's more difficult to state that you "must" drive on Shabbat than to say the farmers in Israel will suffer a real tremendous financial loss if they can't work the land this year. Our family, for a time, drove on Shabbat to services; it was the correct choice for us at the time, just as it would no longer be the correct choice now that we're at a different part of the religious journey. The Shabbat situation can be dealt with on an individual level; the Shmita year deserves the power and wisdom of the best rabbinic minds to avoid the loss.

Sabbath and festival observance observance is by no means solely in the care of "Orthodox Judaism". Here is a nice essay from a rather secular Jewish viewpoint on the topic of shopping on the Sabbath in Israel: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/hillel/halkin121303.asp

[Fleishike Kishke]

Very nice artical by HH. Thanks for directing my attention to it.

In my experience the overwhelming majority of Orthodox Jews are oppressed by Shabbat, and count the seconds until it ends. Though when they talk about it to others they wax poetic about its beauty.

Orthodox Jews - by and large - care about intellectual honesty like they care if their Tsitsis matches the wallpaper.

[Neo-Conservaguy]

Oppressed by Shabbat? Perhaps you're projecting a bit? ;-)

Now, if you want to talk about oppressive, the two-day chag approach in the "diaspora" is downright annoying. Sukkoth/Atsereth fell out on Thu/Fri two weeks in a row, which was very difficult in the business world.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Neo is correct. Rabbinic decrees should be made for the preservation of the Jewish people, not for individual convenience. I don't observe everything the way the Orthos do anymore, but that's my responsibility. I make no excuses, and don't expect the rabbis to bend to my will.

I am against rabbinic decrees when they hobble the well-being of the Jewish people, however. It is one thing to temporarily suspend something that is in the torah, due to circumstances. It is another to introduce laws, customs, and ideologies not found in the torah and pretend that they are. It is at that point I sound like a Karaite.

[Yochanan Lavie]

In my experience the overwhelming majority of Orthodox Jews are oppressed by Shabbat, and count the seconds until it ends. Though when they talk about it to others they wax poetic about its beauty.

Fleishike: People contradict themselves all the time. I do, too. I love Shabbat- I keep an Orthodox Shabbat, but not the last 2 hours. Like fish, it's delicious when fresh, but not when it overstays its welcome. If only we could end it at about 4;00 in the afternoon- time for shul, a leisurely meal, a quick nap, and maybe a quick minchah. (We should get rid of the 2nd day of Yomtov as Neo implies- that's too much).

[The Elder]

I have been keeping Shabbat for about 15 years and don't recall when I have ever 'needed' to drive or turn the television on prior to its conclusion.

I can see this being the case when individuals experience a vapid and pale imitation of Judaism and all that it has to offer, buying into the degenerative religious formalism that too many abide by.

That being said, I find that all of those here who have 'rid' themselves from the 'burden' of such trivialities have expressed great spirit and enlightenment through all of their kvetching. It is truly inspiring, and I now feel compelled to revisit the 'beauty' of Mitsvot in light of the great difficulties so many experience. Would this be the intellectual honesty standard that people are talking about here? I wonder...