TORAH VEHA'ARETZ BY RABBI MOSHE BLOOM INSTITUTE en.toraland.org.il Do We Need To Separate Terumot And Ma’aserot From Seeds Before Planting Them? he Tosefta states (Demai 1:13): they then sprout new plants with fruits “We may not sow tevel (untithed thereafter), and this is perhaps prohibited. produce) or cover sowed tevel with T Two explanations appear among the earth.” Rishonim for the expression: “tevel crops Yet the Mishnah states (Terumah 9:6): are permissible.” “Tevel crops are permissible if they grow Rabbi Ovadia of Bartenura maintains that from a seed that disintegrates.” The this refers to snacking on crops before Mishnah implies that lechatchilah we gemar melacha (acts of final processing, should not sow tevel, but bedi’avad the including bringing them indoors). It is crops are permitted (only for seeds that permissible to snack on crops before they disintegrate – we will expand on this point are tithed outside, where they grow. One in the coming weeks). might think that since in this case I planted In Derech Emunah (Rambam, Ma’aser 6:6), tevel seeds, their ensuing crops might be Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky (who has recently tevel too, and thus such snacking would contracted corona; may this devar Torah be prohibited. Here the Mishnah informs be for his speedy recovery) offers two us that it is permissible nevertheless to possible explanations for the prohibition snack on such produce. Even though the to sow tevel: (1) It destroys the terumot and seeds were tevel, once they produce fruit, ma’aserot contained in the tevel, and it is a they assume the status of regular crops. loss for the kohanim, leviim and poor people; or (2) sowing such seeds is considered Next week we will look at the Rambam’s deriving benefit from their consumption, explanation to this phrase. He is much and such benefit is prohibited: when I sow more stringent and seems to require these seeds, I seem to be benefiting from uprooting tevel seeds that were their decomposition (despite the fact that planted. OU ISRAEL CENTER 61.