Major Debates: "Eating Out" in a Shemittah Year

“Major Debates in Today’s Jewish World Series” - Shiur Recap:

Balancing “Chumrahs” and “Kullahs”: Eating Out in a Shemittah Year

Rav Yehudah Turetsky

With the Shemitta year now underway, this past week’s shiur was on an important issue relating to the Heter Mechirah.  Specifically, the shiur related to what one who is normally stringent with the Heter Mechirah should do if he is a guest in the home of one who is lenient.

On one level, this is a narrow question about the Heter Mechirah. Among those who do not ordinarily rely on it, do they reject it entirely as a valid halachic mechanism, or do they maintain it is a fundamentally acceptable approach, albeit not one they are comfortable relying on under ordinary circumstances?

This is also an issue with larger ramifications about the nature of “chumrahs” and “kullahs” specifically and the halachic process in general. To what extent do Poskim maintain there are conclusive proofs that a given opinion is correct? The shiur compared the approaches of the Ramban and Vilna Gaon to this question.

What do we do in Sha’alvim?  The policy of the Yeshiva is that while we are stringent within the Yeshiva itself not to eat Heter Mechirah, guests in other people’s homes certainly have what to rely on should they desire to be lenient.

To learn more, please see the attached source sheet. [Please note that the purpose of these shiurim is to focus on contemporary sources rather than provide all of the necessary background information in Chazal and Rishonim.]