NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

Book Review: Shemita by Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Rimon

With about two weeks until the start of the shemita year 5775, I must say that if you are going to buy just one book that will help you understand all the issues and tell you what to do, Shemita by Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Rimon, published by Maggid Koren, should be that one book.

Shemita was published in both Hebrew and English. The  English translation is very true to the original Hebrew, though the books are not exactly the same. One glaring difference is that the discussions regarding the delineation of the borders of Eretz Yisrael and how they affect shemita issues, is largely left out of the English edition - at least, it is not dealt with in as much depth as it is in the Hebrew.Besides for that, the English edition is some 540 pages of goodness.

The book Shemita is more than just a book that tells you what to do. Shemita is a comprehensive guide both telling you what to do, and giving you all the background.

Most books on shemita, at least of the ones I have read, either are very thorough in telling you what to do, or are very thorough in giving you the belief system and hashkafa behind the issues of keeping shemita. As well, all books, including this book, have a clear line of psak, and perhaps and agenda, of what the author wants the reader to do during the shemita year.

The difference between that and this book is that if you do not like his psak and how he guides you to act on any given issue, you can still benefit tremendously from the book. In Shemita Rabbi Rimon details all the major issues, and there are some serious and difficult issues, and he explains them comprehensively. Shemita goes through all the opinions on any given topic, explains the opinions, details the sources for all the opinions, describes different psak by different poskim and he gives you his own psak. But even if you don't like his psak, this is perhaps the most comprehensive book reviewing all the major opinions and explaining them.

Some of the topics dealt with in Shemita:  Pruzbol, hetter mechira, kitchen maintenance,buying fruits, buying vegetables, otzar beis din, produce of non-Jews, flowers, gardening, trees, shemita money, hothouses, institutions, Jewish produce, and much more.

This book came recommended to me, and I was very happy I got it, having bought the Hebrew edition and then having received the English edition for review. Shemita is more than just a guide, it gives you all the background in a very clear. You will be immensely smarter after reading Shemita.

And I would be remiss if I left out a mention of the amazing pictures and charts used to help make the issues clearer. They add to the book, and to the readers understanding of what is being discussed, immensely.

As I said above, if you are only going to buy one book on shemita, Shemita should be that one.



buy Shemita on Maggid Koren





NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.