We have a home that does not use “heter mechira” for shmitta. ThisShabbat we must go to a Kiddush and lunch at our schul & we just discovered that the meat is mehadrin but the cooked and fresh vegetables are Heter Mechira! We must attend and don’t want to embarrass the hosts. What can we eat? May we eat the cholent even though the potatoes might be heter?
Thank you so much for your help! Tizke l’mitzvos
Answer:
You should attempt to refrain from eating any vegetables at the kiddush. Being that this is not a full meal your abstinence should go unnoticed.
Sources:
One who is stringent with regards to Heter Mechira [selling the land of Israel to a non Jew to circumvent the agricultural laws of the sabbatical year], is assuming the sale is not valid and hence the vegetables are “sfichin” wild growth of vegetables prohibited for consumption in the Sabbatical year, see Shviis 9:1 and Pesachim 51b. In addition there is concern for the potential prohibition of “shamur v’neevad” produce which is kept and worked during the Shviis, which according to some opinions renders the produce prohibited for consumption, see Minchat Yitzchak 8:55.
When put in a situation with no choice one has to determine if he refrains as merely a stringency or because his or his Rav’s opinion is that this is the letter of the law. Generally , for something kept as a stringency there is room for leniency in extremely extenuating circumstances.
