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Orlah: Practical Halacha and the Ideas Behind It - Rabbi Moshe Bloom Vayikra 19: 23-25

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בס"ד Orlah: Practical halacha and the ideas behind it - Rabbi Moshe Bloom Vayikra 19: 23-25 וְכִי תָ בֹאּו לאֶ ץהָאָרֶ ּונְטַעְתֶ ם כָ ל עֵ ץ And when you shall come into the land, and shall have planted all מַ אֲ כָל וַעֲרַ םלְתֶ עָרְ לָ תֹו אֶ ת פִרְ יֹו שָ ֹלש manner of trees for food, then you shall count the fruit thereof as שָ נִים יִהְ יֶה לָ כֶם עֲרֵ לִ ים לֹא יֵאָ כֵ ל: forbidden; three years shall it be as forbidden unto you; it shall ּובַשָ נָה הָרְ בִיעִ ית יִהְ יֶה כָל פִ רְ יֹו קֹדֶ ש not be eaten. And in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be הִּלּולִ ים לַ ד': ּובַשָ נָה הַחֲ מִ ישִ ת holy, for giving praise unto the Lord. But in the fifth year may you תֹאכְ לּו אֶ תפִרְ יֹו לְ הֹוסִ יף לָ כֶם eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you more richly the תְ בּואָ תֹו אֲנִי ד' אֱ ֹלקֵ יכֶם. .increase thereof: I am the Lord your God Ta'amei HaMitzvah - Rationale for the Mitzvah Rambam (Maimonides), Guide for the Perplexed 3:3 כנגד עבודה זרה. To counter idol worship Ibn Ezra וידוע כי הפרי הבא עד שלש שנים אין בו It is known that a fruit that develops before the third year is תועלת ומזיק, כאשר יזיק לגוף כל דג not beneficial and is harmful, just as any fish without fins and שאין לו סנפיר וקשקשת, ויזיק לנפש scales is harmful to the body, and the flesh of raptors and החכמה בשר כל עוף דורס והבהמות impure animals will harm the wise soul, and the intelligent הטמאות, והמשכיל יבין. .will understand Ramban (Nachmanides) וטעם המצווה הזאת, לכבד את ה' And the reason for this precept is to honor G-d from the first of מראשית כל תבואתנו מפרי העץ all our produce, from the fruit of the tree and produce of the ותבואת הכרם ולא נאכל מהם עד vineyard, and we will not partake of them until we bring each שנביא כל פרי שנה אחת הלולים לה'. fruit for one year [to Jerusalem] as thanksgiving to G-d. And והנה אין הפרי בתוך שלש שנים ראוי since no fruit within the first three years is worthy to bring it להקריבו לפני השם הנכבד, לפי שהוא before the Illustrious Name, since it is scant, and the tree does מועט, ואין האילן נותן בפריו טעם או not imbue its fruit with a pleasant taste or fragrance within the ריח טוב בתוך שלש שנים, ורובן לא first three years, and most [trees] do not produce fruit at all יוציאו פירות כלל עד השנה הרביעית. until the fourth year—for this reason we will wait for all [fruits] ולכך נמתין לכולן ולא נטעום מהם עד שנביא מן הנטע שנטענו כל פריו and we do not taste them until we bring from the sapling we הראשון הטוב קדש לפני השם ושם planted all its first quality fruits, which are sacred before יאכלוהו ויהללו את שם ה', והמצווה Hashem, and there [in Jerusalem] we eat them and praise G-d's הזאת דומה למצות הבכורים. .name. This precept is similar to the precept of first fruits Ha'amek Davar (Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, Netziv) לאגוד את האילן שלא יוציא את הפרי כלל, To bind [i.e. take off the flowers of] the tree so it will not כדרך שעושים מגדלי אילנות כדי שלא produce any fruit, as tree growers are want to do, so as יכחישוהו. .[not to weaken it [i.e. the tree What exactly is forbidden? Mishna, Orlah 1:8 קליפי אגוזים והגרעינים אסורים בערלה. .Nut shells and the seeds are prohibited due to orlah Gemara, Berachot 36b: 'וערלתם ערלתו את פריו', את הטפל You shall count the fruit thereof as forbidden," [this refers" לפריו. .to] the secondary part of the fruit Torah VeHa’aretz Institute - The Institute for Torah and the Land of Israel Email: [email protected] | Tel. +972-8-6847-325 | Website: www.toraland.org.il/en Shavei Darom, P.O.B. 18, D.N. HaNegev 8536500 1 בס"ד Prohibition of deriving benefit Gemara, Kiddushin 56b: 'ערלים לא יאכל' - אין לי אלא It be as forbidden unto you; it shall not be eaten." [from this verse] I" איסור אכילה, הנאה מנין שלא have [derived] only a prohibition against eating it; from where [do I ייהנה ממנו, ולא יצבע בו, ולא derive that one may not even] benefit from it, one may not paint ידליק בו את הנר? ת"ל: with [dye extracted from the fruit], and one may not light a lamp 'וערלתם ערלתו', לרבות את with it[s oil]? The verse states: "Then you shall count the fruit thereof כולם. .[orlato] as forbidden [araltem], to include all these [types of benefit] What part of the tree is forbidden? Sifra, Kedoshim 3:5 'פריו' פרט לעלים ולולבים... ]וכן פרחים[ ;[Its fruit" except its leaves, branches [and flowers" * עלי גפן )אוכלים את הענבים וגם את העלים( ,(Grape leaves (grape leaves are also eaten * * צבר נפוליטס )מגדלים ע"מ לאכול את העלים(, (Nopalitos cactus (cultivated for its leaves * * עץ הגאת. The gat bush * *"עץ מאכל" ולא עץ סרק. .Fruit tree" not a non-fruit-bearing tree" * Calculating orlah years Mishna Rosh Hashana 1:1 ארבעה ראשי שנים הם... … There are four new years באחד בתשרי ראש השנה לשנים ולשמיטין ,Tishrei is the new year for years, Sabbatical years 1 וליובלות לנטיעה ולירקות .Jubilee years, for planting [trees], and for vegetables באחד בשבט ראש השנה לאילן כדברי בית Shevat is the new year for trees, according to the House 1 שמאי, בית הלל אומרים בחמשה עשר בו. .of Shammai; Beit Hillel says: on the 15th thereof Shulchan Aruch, YD 294:4 ופעמים שאינו אלא שתי שנים ומ"ד יום, Sometimes it is only two years and 44 days, and ופעמים שהם יתרים על ג' שנים. כיצד, נטע sometimes it is more than three years. How is this so? If מקודם ט"ז באב, שנשאר עדיין מ"ד יום עד one plants before 16 Av, so that 44 days remain until 1 ר"ח תשרי, כיון שהגיע ר"ח תשרי עלתה לה ,Tishrei, by the time 1 Tishrei arrives this counts as a year שנה ומונה עוד שתי שנים. ואם נטע ביום and one counts another two years. If one plants from 16 ט"ז, ומיום ט"ז ואילך, מונה מראש חדש Av on, one counts from the coming 1 Tishrei 3 complete תשרי הבא ג' שנים שלמים. ולאחר ר"ח years. After 1 Tishrei of the fourth year, all fruits that תשרי של שנה רביעית, כל הפירות שיחנטו bloom on it prior to 15 Shevat are also subject to orlah, בו קודם ט"ו בשבט יש להם גם כן דין ערלה, even though they will ripen later on. אף על פי שנגמרים אח"כ. Torah VeHa’aretz Institute - The Institute for Torah and the Land of Israel Email: [email protected] | Tel. +972-8-6847-325 | Website: www.toraland.org.il/en Shavei Darom, P.O.B. 18, D.N. HaNegev 8536500 2 בס"ד What is considered a "tree"? Shulchan Aruch, OC 203:2-3 על התותים... הגה: דלא מקרי עץ אלא For strawberries … Note (Rema): "trees" are considered שמוציא עליו מעצו, אבל מה שמוציא plants that foliate from the trunk, but whatever foliates עליו משרשיו לא מקרי עץ, והני כיון from the root is not considered a tree; and since in this דכלה עציו לגמרי בחורף והדר פרח case its trunk shrivels up in the winter and grows back משרשיו, מברכין עליו בפה"א. .from the roots, we recite the blessing bore peri ha'adama על המאוזי"ש )בננה(, בורא פרי האדמה. .For a banana, bore peri ha'adama Mahari Hagiz, Halachot Ketanot 1:83: אם הגזע חלול - נחשב כירק. .If the trunk is hollow, it is considered a vegetable Birkei Yosef, YD 294:4 צמח שכמות פירותיו ואיכותו יורדים עם A plant producing fruit of lesser quality and quantity over השנים, נחשב ירק. .the years, is considered a vegetable Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, Iggerot HaRa'aya II:468 אבל שיהיה מין צומח שיהיה אסור כשם That there should be a plant that is forbidden as there are שיש איסור כזה במיני בעלי חיים – זה אי forbidden animals – this is utterly impossible (regarding אפשר כלל )צמח רב-שנתי שלא מתקיים .(perennials that do not lost more than three years יותר משלוש שנים(. Radbaz, Responsa III: 531 ונתחדש לי טעם אחר שאין בכל מיני I discovered another parameter that does not exist in any אילן שזורעין הגרעין ועושה פרי בתוך type of tree: that from the time the seed is planted it שנתו כזה הילכך ירק הוא. .produces fruit within a year—this is a vegetable Purchasing a tree from a nursery Jerusalem Talmud 1:2 רבי יצחק בר חקולה בשם חזקיה :Rabbi Yitzchak bar Chaluka states in the name of Chizkiya הנוטע בעציץ שאינו נקוב חייב בערלה. One who plants in an unperforated pot [the tree] is רבי יוסי אמר מפני שהשרשין מפעפעין subject to orlah. Rabbi Yose states: Since its roots אותו. רבי יונה מפיק לישנא כלי חרש penetrates through it. Rabbi Yonah extrapolates from this עומד בפני שרשין? ?terminology: Can an earthenware vessel withstand roots Rambam, Ma'aser Sheni 10:8 הנוטע בעציץ שאינו נקוב חייב בערלה, Whoever plants in an unperforated pot [the tree is] subject אף על פי שאינו כארץ לזרעים הרי to orlah, even though it is not like "land" for the seeds, it is הוא כארץ לאילנות. .considered "land" for trees Chazon Ish, Dinei Orlah 32 הנוטע בעציץ נקוב, בין של עץ, בין ,Whoever plants in a perforated pot, whether wooden, stone של אבן ומתכת, חייב בערלה ורבעי or metal, [the tree] is subject to orlah and [neta] revay from מהתורה..
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    NATHANIEL HELFGOT Minority Opinions and their Role in Hora’ah I. Introduction IN TRANSITIONING from the abstract and theoretical learning of the beit medrash, Halakhah and its practitioners are called upon to narrow the var- ious possibilities of legal decision and issue normative rulings. The pletho- ra of opinions and possible choices, while stimulating and reflective of the polyphonic nature of the system, often needs to be systematized and formal- ized in order that there not be chaos, or in the language of the rabbis, shelo yehei ke-shtei torot be-yisrael. Any student of rabbinic literature, while nurtured on the ethos of eilu ve- eilu divrei Elokim hayyim,1 is aware that in the practical realm the narratives of R. Gamliel coercing R. Yehoshua to present himself in the court on the day R. Yehoshua felt was calenderically Yom Kippur seem to be determina- tive. Furthermore, the upshot of the celebrated sugya in Bava Metzia (59a-b) of tannur shel akhnai is that the majority view of the rabbis on earth is what determines normative practice. Majority rule is a principle ingrained in the functioning of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem and all lesser courts. Indeed, the rebellious elder (zakein mamrei) who tenaciously maintains his minority view and rules for others to follow in his footsteps is liable for capital punishment; a phenomenon that certainly gives pause to any notion that the minority voice retains operative status after the court has ruled. Yet there still exists a number of areas in which the minority viewpoint is not only given an airing but has operative value and status.
  • The Hatam Soferâ•Žs Copyright Rulings

    The Hatam Soferâ•Žs Copyright Rulings

    DAVID NIMMER In the Shadow of the Emperor: The H. atam Sofer’s Copyright Rulings oedelheim, on the outskirts of Frankfurt am Main, was a well- known seat of Jewish printing. Wolf Heidenheim published his R famous prayer book there in 1800, giving rise to a controversy between two famous rabbis of the early nineteenth century. At stake in the dispute were divergent views about copyright protection. This controversy represents the second time in the annals of rabbinic writings that sages were called upon to issue responsa regarding author’s rights. The first case dates back to 1550, when R. Moses Isserles (Rama) addressed the permissibility, under Jewish law, of the Giustiniani house in Venice publishing an edition of Rambam’s Mishneh Torah in competi- tion with the one published earlier that same year by the rival Bragadini house, under the supervision of Rabbi Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen, Maharam of Padua.1 My colleague on the UCLA Law Faculty and I are co-authoring a book on the subject; that forthcoming volume will sys- tematically analyze the pertinent responsa. Our study begins with that 1550 case of Maharam of Padua v. Giustiniani and concludes with the 1999 poster (pashkevil) from rabbinic leaders in Bnei Brak regarding the permissibility of copying computer software.2 DAVID NIMMER is the author of Nimmer on Copyright (11 volumes, Lexis Nexis, rev. ed. 2009), Copyright Illuminated (Wolters Kluwer, 2008), and Copyright: Sacred Text, Technology, and the DMCA (Kluwer Law Int’l, 2003), as well as co- author of the forthcoming From Maimonides to Microsoft (Oxford University Press), which will systematically analyze rabbinic responsa on authors’ rights.
  • The Mitzvah of Yoshon Grain ויקרא פרק כג

    The Mitzvah of Yoshon Grain ויקרא פרק כג

    “We Use Only the Oldest Ingredients!”: The Mitzvah of Yoshon Grain Ohr Chadash Adults Rabbi Jonathan Bienenfeld ויקרא פרק כג (פ' אמר) (יד) וְלֶחֶם וְקלִי וְכַרמֶל לא תֹאכְלו עַד־עֶצֶם הַיום הַזֶה עַד הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת־קרבַן אֱלהֵיכֶם חֻקַת עולָם לְדרתֵיכֶם בְכֹל מֹשְבֹתֵיכֶם: (טו) וסְפַרתֶם לָכֶם מִמָחֳרת הַשַבָת מִיום הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת־עֹמֶר הַתְנופָה שֶבַע שַבָתות תְמִימֹת תִהְיֶינָה: Leviticus 23 (Parshat Emor) (14) You shall not eat bread or roasted kernels or plump kernels until this very day, until you bring the offering of your G-d; it is an etertnal decree for your generations in all your dwelling places. (15) You shall count for yourselves—from the morrow of the rest day, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving—seven weeks, they shall be complete. מנחות סח. רב ושמואל דאמרי תרוייהו: בזמן שבית המקדש קיים - עומר מתיר, בזמן שאין בית המקדש קיים - האיר מזרח מתיר. Talmud Menachot 68a Rav and Shmuel both said: At a time when the Temple stands, the Omer permits [the eating of new grain]; at at time when the Temple does not stand, the illumination of the eastern sky permits it. ערלה פרק ג' משנה ט' החדש אסור מן התורה בכל מקום והערלה הלכה והכלאים מדברי סופרים: Orlah, Chapter 3, Mishna 9 Chadash is biblically prohibited everywhere; and Orlah by halacha; and Kilaim rabbinically. קידושין פרק א משנה ט כל מצוה שהיא תלויה בארץ אינה נוהגת אלא בארץ ושאינה תלויה בארץ נוהגת בין בארץ 1 בין בחוצה לארץ חוץ מן הערלה וכלאים רבי אליעזר אומר אף מן החדש: Kiddushin, Chapter 1, Mishna 9 Every mitzvah that is dependent upon the Land applies only in the Land, and that is not dependent upon the Land applies both in the Land and outside the Land, with the exception of Orlah and Kilaim.
  • Fit to Eat: Food Security and Justice Resource and Action Guide for Jewish Organizations

    Fit to Eat: Food Security and Justice Resource and Action Guide for Jewish Organizations

    Fit to Eat: Food Security and Justice Resource and Action Guide for Jewish Organizations Authors: Alli Rosen, Food Justice Program Associate, and Liz Traison, Thought- Leadership and Capacity-Building Program Associate Contributing authors: Judith Belasco (Hazon), Helen Bennett (JOIN for Justice), Julie Botnick (Hazon), Rachel Brodie (JCCSF), Devorah Brous (Netiya), Leah Bry (Hazon), Drisana Davis (Hazon), David Fox (Amir), Davida Ginsberg (Moishe Kavod House), Ari Hart (Uri L’Tzedek), Dr. Oran Hesterman (Fair Food Network), Rachel Kahn-Troster (T’ruah), Liz Kohn (Fair Food Network), Lucinda Kurtz (Fair Food Network), Becca Linden (Hazon), Adrienne Markworth (Leah’s Pantry), Allen Moy (Fresh Approach), Lev Nelson (T’ruah), Deborah Newbrun (Get Set Go Community Adventures, Hazon), Avery Robinson, Michael Rothbaum, Laura Salcido (Fresh Approach), Ilana Schatz (Fair Trade Judaica), Margot Seigle (Hazon), and Carly Zimmerman (Challah for Hunger). Hazon Jewish Food Education Staff: [email protected] Hazon | 125 Maiden Lane, Suite 8B | New York, NY 10038 | 212.644.2332 Hazon.org | www.jcarrot.org Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved. Printed Environmentally: www.gregbarberco.com 2 © Hazon 2015 Fit to Eat JEWISH INSPIRATION. SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES. The word hazon means vision. We create healthier and more sustainable sustainable in the Jewish world and beyond. WE EFFECT CHANGE IN THREE WAYS: Transformative experiences: Our programs directly touch lives in powerful ways. Thought-Leadership: Writing, speaking, teaching, and advocacy. Capacity-Building: