Today, first-time Shomer Shviis farmer Schachar Piticihi returned to his field after a full year.
Schachar Piticihi’s grandparents came from Yemen to Eretz Yisroel in 1948 and always wanted to keep Shmittah. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to.
Schachar this year decided he would keep Shmittah for the first time, and just several months later, his grandmother – who was Zoche to see her grandson keep the Mitzvah – was Niftar.
Watch below as his cousin helps him plow the weeds of his mint field.
I visited Shachar this summer when we were in Eretz Yisroel. He is a courageous ba’al bitachon, and inspired us greatly. He is the only one of the six farmers on his moshav who kept shmittah fully, and we saw his friends’ lush green fields side-by-side with Shachar’s brown dry rocky ones. He said that it will take months to clear the weeds, re-plant his herbs, and start making a profit, making shmittah an 16-18 month (13 shmitta plus 3-5 after) process. This assumes he can get back his trained Thai workers and his customers. But he was sure and proud of what he was doing. These farmers are the real deal.