328. Wild One: The prohibition against reaping crops that grow wild during Shemittah
You may not reap that which grows by itself… (Leviticus 25:5)
During the Sabbatical year, we are allowed to pick and eat that which grows ownerless, but we may not harvest things in the normal fashion. God doesn’t want us to starve to death during Shemittah, so of course we can eat produce that grows spontaneously from the unworked land. What we can’t do is act like masters of the land by gathering crops the way we normally would. We may only take what is necessary for our immediate needs.
The reason for this is what we have said about Shemittah in general: its purpose is to remind us that God is Boss of the land, not us.
This mitzvah applies to both men and women but only in Israel. It is the subject of the Mishnaic tractate of Sheviis and it is codified in the Mishneh Torah in Hilchos Shemittah. This is #222 of the 365 negative mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos and #24 of the 26 mitzvos that can only be performed in Israel according to the list of the Steipler Gaon.