Date and Place: 23 Marcheshvan 5669, Yafo
Recipient: Rav Chaim Berlin (son of the Netziv, Rav Kook’s rosh yeshiva in Volozhin), former Chief Rabbi of Moscow, and, at the time, assistant to Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rav Shmuel Salant.
Body: There are some farmers who desire with all their hearts to desist from working the land during the Shemitta year, without making any use of the leniency of uprooting the sanctity of the Land as is commonly practiced. However, they will be able to do this only if they will be confident that they will receive help with their livelihood.
There are presently two people in Kostina (now, Be’er Tuvia in the south of Israel), who will need, in order to desist from agricultural work, 120 Napoleon gold coins. If they will be confident about receiving this amount, they will fulfill the [rules of the] Shabbat of the Land to the fullest degree, the way the Torah spells it out. Therefore, I want to make you, esteemed rabbi, aware, so that maybe you can find a financial source, together with other helpers, for this work for the sake of Heaven.
I do not need to write at length about the importance of this matter, certainly not to someone like you (Rav Berlin did not accept the Heter Mechira.) I would like to receive a clear response shortly, preferably by telegram, because the time to work the land has come, and they need to know their situation.
In Ekron (presently, Mazkeret Batya), there is one farmer who is not working his land, as Hashem helped him, so that he is able to support himself without working this year, and is not asking support. We can hope that through this minority of people, the sanctity of Shemitta will spread in the Holy Land. Therefore, it is worthwhile to be very diligent in this matter. Even though we cannot do this for everyone, just like it is important to look favorably when people are not able to keep Shemitta, so too it is necessary to use all our abilities to save as much [of the sanctity of Shemitta] as we can.
