Troumot, Maasserot, Orla and Cheviit
When the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, the land was divided among the tribes. The only tribe that did not receive a portion of the land was the Levite tribe (which included the priests and the Levites), who were designated to serve God in the Temple – and therefore did not receive a plot of land so that they would be available for this holy work. In order for them to live and sustain themselves without land and crops of their own, God commanded to give them certain gifts through which they could live and sustain themselves.
Among these are the tithes and the Ma’aser: the Great Tithe, the First Tithe, the Tithe of the Tithe, the Second Tithe, and the Poor’s Tithe.
In short:
- The Great Tithe: A small amount is separated from the yield that grew – this is given to the priest.
- First Tithe: A tenth of the remaining yield is separated – this is given to the Levite.
- Tithe of the Tithe: The Levite separates a tithe from the tithe he received – this is given to the priest.
- Second Tithe: In certain years, another tenth was separated from what remained – this was eaten in Jerusalem (when the Temple was standing).
- Poor’s Tithe: In other years, a tenth was separated from what remained – this was given to the poor.
Today, if you grow fruits or vegetables in your yard, or if you buy vegetables from a local market stall that is not under the supervision of the rabbinate – places that certainly did not separate tithes and Ma’aser from the yield (or even if it’s just a doubt), don’t eat them before you make the tithes and Ma’aser.
The practice is not so complicated. In order to do things according to halakha, on a regular basis, you should subscribe to the ‘Ma’aser Fund’ of the “High Beit Midrash for Halakha in Agricultural Settlement” in Jerusalem – their goal is to help with all these matters.
- There are many laws regarding tithes and donations, from what you can set aside, what it can be used for, and more. If you encounter this a lot in your life, you should consult with a rabbi who can guide you once and for all.
Orla
Orlah is the prohibition of eating fruits grown in the first three years of a tree’s life. Fruits that grow in these years are forbidden to eat and enjoy. In a sense, there is even a commandment to destroy them so that people will not use them. The prohibition does not apply to vegetables where the bush grows anew every year.
Even an old tree, which has been uprooted from its place when it is without soil around its roots and planted elsewhere, is considered a new tree and it is forbidden to eat its fruits during the first three years in its ‘new place’. However, if uprooted with soil around its roots in such a quantity that it could live from it, this is not considered a new place as it continues to grow in the new place with the soil on which it grew before, and therefore there is no need to wait another three years.
Question: I bought a house with a yard, and there are trees there that I do not know if they are Orlah. What should I do?
Answer: Of course, you should try to find out from the person who sold you the house how many years have passed since they were planted. If this is not possible – you must find out how old the tree is through a professional agronomist. You couldn’t? You have to wait three years.
Dear tree, how old are you?
We change the age of the tree every New Year – 1st of Tishrei. Even if it was planted about two months before the end of the year, when the New Year arrives, it is already one year old. However, if planted within less than 44 days before the New Year, it begins to count its years only from the New Year – then it will still be 0.
Dear tree, how old are you?
We change the age of the tree every New Year – 1st of Tishrei. Even if it was planted about two months before the end of the year, when the New Year arrives, it is already one year old. However, if planted within less than 44 days before the New Year, it begins to count its years only from the New Year – then it will still be 0.
- Pay attention! Although in the third New Year, the tree ‘turns’ three, the fruits cannot be eaten until the 15th of Shevat that year.
Orlah is something that makes it more complex than tithes and donations. You can also handle the portion of tithes and donations yourself, after the purchase, if I’m not sure they have already been made by the grower or marketer. But the problem of Orlah can’t be fixed. Either the fruits are Orlah or not.
Therefore, one must be very careful and check well where you buy the fruits – so as not to fail, God forbid, in this severe prohibition.
Fourth-Year Planting
Have you waited patiently three years since you planted the tree? Well done, but it still doesn’t give you the ability to eat its fruits freely. The fruits of the fourth year are called ‘fourth-year planting’ (from the language of planting a fourth year).
What does it mean?
Unlike the first three years, the fruits of the fourth year can already be eaten. But they are called holy fruits and cannot be eaten unless they are ‘redeemed’ with money – a process in which the sanctity of the fruits is transferred to money.
This too, like the portion of tithes and donations, it is recommended to do only by subscribing to the ‘Tithes Fund’ of the “Higher Yeshiva for Halacha in Agricultural Settlement” in Jerusalem, – a special association that deals with the halachic side of the farmers.
Sabbatical Year
Once every seven years, we reach a special year called the ‘Sabbatical Year.’ In this year, there are several commandments and prohibitions that apply only to this year. For example, during this year, a landowner is forbidden to work his land (hence it is called ‘Sabbatical,’ from the term ‘to abandon’ his land), and also, fruits and crops that grew in this year are forbidden in trade. Moreover, despite the fact that this year’s crop is permissible to eat, one must treat it with a measure of sanctity and it’s forbidden to waste or throw it into the trash or to use it in a disrespectful manner.
- Living abroad? Once the Sabbatical (and also tithes and offerings) was related to you only from verses in the Torah. Today it also applies to you, especially to the residents of Europe. Many fruits are exported from Israel, and therefore when purchasing in a grocery store, you should check that the products did not come from Israel.
What does this mean to us?
Don’t buy fruits grown in the seventh year from a store that doesn’t have oversight regarding the Sabbatical. The reason for this is because God forbade trade in Sabbatical fruits, and even if I’m ‘just’ buying, I violate God’s prohibition and even cause the seller who trades in it to sin.
In addition, all the produce that grew in the seventh year in the land of Israel is holy and is called ‘Sabbatical sanctity’.
Some of the laws pertaining to produce grown in the seventh year:
- You must eat the “holy” produce (Sabbatical sanctity) only in the manner you are accustomed to eating it. This means, if you usually cook it – you must eat it during the Sabbatical only by cooking it, if you usually eat it raw without any cooking – you should eat it only that way and not cook it.
- This year’s produce is exempt from separating tithes and offerings.
- Be very careful with this year’s produce not to cause any damage or loss. Therefore, if there is a fruit or vegetable that you need to peel to eat it – you should peel it with as little of the vegetable or fruit flesh (so that it won’t be thrown into the garbage along with the peel).
- You can give a baby a Sabbatical fruit if he knows how to eat most of it and only spoils a little. But if he usually spoils most of it, you should not give it to him. But even when he eats most of it and you see him at the moment he spoils a little – you should prevent him from doing that.
- Peels of Sabbatical vegetables and fruits, as long as they are suitable for human consumption (or if some edible fruit or vegetable flesh is attached to them), it’s forbidden to throw them into the garbage. Instead, you should set aside a ‘Sabbatical trash can’ in your house, where you can put all the peels and leftovers of the holy fruits and vegetables with Sabbatical sanctity. Even seeds that have some fruit flesh attached to them and also leftovers of dishes from Sabbatical vegetables or fruits should be put in it. Only after they have dried in it and are no longer suitable for human consumption, it is permissible to throw them in the garbage after wrapping them in a plastic bag.
- Sanctifying the ‘holy’ wine of the Sabbatical sanctity? You should make sure that not a drop is wasted.
- Making Havdalah at the end of the Shabbat? It’s not recommended to make Havdalah over the holy wine of the Sabbatical sanctity. The reason for this is that since at the end of Havdalah we usually pour a little wine into the saucer under the cup and extinguish the candle there, this wine will be wasted and won’t be suitable for drinking, and we’ve already learned that it’s forbidden to waste the holy food of the Sabbatical sanctity.
So what do you eat during Shmita (the Sabbatical year)?
The existing solutions today are as follows (and they have varying orders of preference and different customs):
- The best way to buy fruits and vegetables is at stores that sell produce imported from abroad or those from the previous year – the sixth year. Produce grown abroad does not have the sanctity of the Sabbatical year, and the same goes for produce from the sixth year.
- A store that only sells fruits and vegetables grown in a non-Jew’s field. According to certain opinions in Jewish law (Halacha), produce grown in a non-Jew’s field does not have the sanctity of the Sabbatical year, even if it is in Israel.
- A store that sells produce from ‘Heter Mechira’. This means: According to certain opinions in Halacha, a Jewish farmer is allowed to sell his field to a non-Jew for the Sabbatical year. According to these opinions, produce grown in such a field is considered as if it were grown by a non-Jew in Israel (as in the previous section).
- A store that sells “Otzar Beit Din”. All the prohibitions of the Sabbatical year apply only to privately owned produce. It is permitted to weigh and sell the produce grown in the field of the Beit Din (Jewish court). Therefore, many farmers make their fields ownerless during the Shmita (as required by the Torah), and a certain Beit Din takes responsibility for the field. It is the one who takes care of the proper growth of the produce by hiring workers and paying them their wages, and also takes care of their marketing and sale. These fruits are usually sold at a cheaper price than usual (with no profit intention) and one must be careful with them regarding the sanctity of the Sabbatical year.
