Q&A: Oh neighbors, oh neighbors, oh neighbors….
Oh neighbors, oh neighbors, oh neighbors….
Question
“For eating and not for commerce.”
Therefore, someone who eats terumah and must repay the principal plus an additional fifth cannot repay with Sabbatical-year produce, because he is paying off a debt, and the produce is “for eating and not for commerce.”
I still haven’t eaten terumah. But sometimes I borrow an apple from neighbors, or they borrow one from me. Would it be permitted to give them back a Sabbatical-year apple? Does that involve the same “not for commerce” issue as with terumah? And is there any practical difference depending on whether the original loan itself was of a Sabbatical-year apple, or of ordinary produce, or produce grown by a non-Jew, for example?
Answer
See here for a summary of the parameters of the prohibition on selling Sabbatical-year produce: https://ph.yhb.org.il/16-04-06/
We see that a small-scale sale, done with some modification and not by exact weight, was permitted. Therefore, there is room to say that the prohibition on repaying the principal and the additional fifth applies only because we are dealing with an exact amount, and because this is not just the value of the produce itself but also the penalty. But in an ordinary loan, the Sabbatical-year produce is simply the equivalent of the fruit you took, and in that case there is no prohibition (at least when it is a small amount).
I just found a detailed and comprehensive responsum. True, its conclusion is to prohibit it, but in my opinion there is room to be lenient (especially since nowadays this is rabbinic): http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/kitveyet/emunat/45/04507.htm
I didn’t understand the question about produce from outside the Land of Israel or produce owned by a non-Jew, since that is just a loan of ordinary non-sacred produce. If the loan is in Sabbatical-year produce itself, then the only question is whether that itself is permitted; but regarding repayment, I do not see a difference.