Peal Appeal

Question:

Do inedible peels of shemittoh fruit (e.g., melons) have kedushas shevi'is? The peels could be eaten by rabbits or other pet rodents – but if nobody in my area has pets to which they would feed them, can we treat the peels as if they came from non-kedushas shevi'is fruit (assuming we can cut away all significant remnants of edible fruit from the peels)?

Answer:

It is permissible to peel fruits and vegetables whether the peel is inedible (e.g., melons) or edible (e.g., apples, pears, cucumbers and even grapes). If the peel is edible by humans or some edible fruit is attached to an inedible peel,[1] the edible part retains its kedushas shevi'is.[2]

Therefore one should put an edible peel (or a non-edible peel that has edible fruit on it) directly into a clean pach shemittoh and wait until it becomes inedible. (The stem of an apple, pear or tomato may be thrown out in the regular garbage since it is not normally eaten and has no kedushas shevi'is.)

Just as one may remove peels that one is not interested in eating, one may also remove part of the fruit that has rotted or is about to rot. Whatever one would do during a non-shemittoh year with a fruit in which part is going bad may be done during shemittoh.

Furthermore, even if someone wishes to eat only part of a fruit (or vegetable) and leave the remaining, perfectly edible part to rot, he may do so. The mitzvah of shemittoh does not require eating everything that has kedushas shevi'iskedushas shevi'is. Leaving it in the pach shemittoh to rot is perfectly acceptable.

Peels that are generally thrown away because they are not human food even though they are edible by animals may be thrown away in the normal trash. Since they are not fit for human consumption, the only concern is whether they are fit for animal consumption. Being fit for animal consumption is not an objective determination. Although given the opportunity an animal will eat the peels, if common practice in a certain period and region is to dispose of them, they are not considered animal food. The exception is if a particular pile of peels has been specifically designated to be given to animals. In that case, the fact that those peels have been earmarked as animal food would elevate their status to that of animal food. Consequently, they would retain their kedushas shevi'is.[3]

For example, banana peels may be thrown away since they are not fit for humans even though they are edible by some animals. Because they are not commonly saved for animals, they are not considered animal food. Should someone put banana peels aside for an animal, they would have kedushas shevi'is. The same logic applies to peels of fruit that could potentially be eaten by humans but are thrown away instead. For example, all citrus peels may be thrown in the normal garbage because they are usually just thrown out. They are not considered fit for humans or animals since it is not the common practice to save them for any type of consumption.

Although some industries will collect orange or grapefruit peels and process them for human consumption, that is the minority practice; because most peels go straight to the garbage, they are not considered fit for human consumption and they lose their status as fruit.

The Chazon Ish was of the opinion that one should recite shehakol over them and that they are exempt from maaser and have no kedushas shevi'is.[4] Nevertheless, because there is some dispute regarding citrus peels (since some industries will save and process them for humans), he reportedly was careful to treat orange peels as if they had kedushas shevi'is despite his own ruling to the contrary.[5] He may have only been machmir regarding peels that can technically be eaten by humans but are normally thrown out. I have not found a source indicating that he was careful in the case of peels that are inedible by humans and only potentially edible by animals but are normally thrown out.[6]

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