Squeezing Shemittah Fruits
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Question
Is it permitted to squeeze citrus fruits in order to make juice from them?
Answer
Citrus fruits that are ordinarily used to make juice, such as oranges and grapefruits, may be squeezed. And one who finds it difficult to drink without straining may be lenient even to strain it.
Source
M. Squeezing fruits: see Mishnah (Terumot 11:3); Rambam (Shemittah 5:3; Terumot 11:2). The Chazon Ish (Shevi'it 25:32) permitted squeezing oranges. His reasoning is that although it is forbidden to turn food into drink, since it becomes like “sweat” and the body of the fruit is lost, here it is permitted because it is considered like crushing the fruit, which is allowed since the body of the fruit also comes out. Therefore, even for those who are stringent not to crush fruit, even though nowadays the common practice is to crush it, here there is more room to be lenient. Azmera LeShimcha (Shemittah, bulletin 3).
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