Once again Yad Hashem is visible to those wishing to see the obvious. Farmers observing shmitah report the bizarre winter storm and thundershowers that began towards the end of Pesach have destroyed many crops and if they had not observed shmitah as they are, their losses would be significant. They explain that farmers working their fields are scrambling to save whatever crops they can as temperatures remain unseasonably cold, accompanied by strong winds and strong rainfall.

Thousands of dunams of crops have been harmed and/or destroyed by the storm. Hit the hardest was hay crops that were piled as feed for livestock. None of the farmers thought to bring the crop inside for rain like that which hit is unprecedented after Pesach. The crops not yet harvested are damaged too as many have snapped under the pressure of the storm and hail and have fallen into the muddy ground below.

Fruit trees sustained damage too, primarily due to the hail over the past days. This impacted a number of crops including apples, peaches, nectarines, cherries and apricots. Farms growing wine grapes also report significant damage as are farms with lettuce and potatoes.

For the shmitah famers, the storm is HKBH’s signal that they acted properly by agreeing to observe shmitah by stopping all their crops.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)