Physical Description

Only edition, [1], 6, [1] ff. octavo, 136:109 mm., wide margins, light age staining. A very good copy bound in modern cloth over boards.

Detail Description

Condensed laws of shemitah by R. Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin (1818–1898), also known as the Maharil Diskin, was a leading rabbi, Talmudist, and Biblical commentator. He served as a rabbi in Łomża, Mezritch, Kovno, Shklov, Brisk, and, finally, Jerusalem, after moving to Eretz Yisrael in 1878. He opened what today is known as the Diskin Orphan Home in 1881.

Shemitah  (literally "release") also called the sabbatical year or sheviit (is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the Land of Israel, and still observed in contemporary Judaism. During shmitah, the land is left to lie fallow and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by halakha (Jewish law). Other cultivation techniques (such as watering, fertilizing, weeding, spraying, trimming and mowing) may be performed as a preventive measure only, not to improve the growth of trees or other plants. Additionally, any fruits which grow of their own accord are deemed hefker (ownerless) and may be picked by anyone. A variety of laws also apply to the sale, consumption and disposal of shmita produce. All debts, except those of foreigners, were to be remitted. Chapter 25 of the Book of Leviticus promises bountiful harvests to those who observe the shmita, and describes its observance as a test of religious faith. There is little notice of the observance of this year in Biblical history and it appears to have been much neglected.

Hebrew Description

אשר ערך בשנת השמיטה דשנת התרמ"ט ... מרן משה יהושע יהודה ליב דיסקין זצ"ל האבד"ק בריסק דליטא ...

( תוצאת חדות ישראל <ספר ה> על ידי אברהם אהרן זאננענפעלד )

מעבר לשער: הקונטרס הזה לקוח הוא מספרו הגדול של ... המחבר ... "שו"ת מהרי"ל דיסקין" [ירושלם תרע"א] ... סימן כז.  .

References

Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 # 000118054