Mitzvos Dependent on the Land - Rabbi Binyomin Cohen shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the “Lemaan Yishme’u” podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 The prohibition of orlah. We know that during the first three years a tree bears fruit, its fruit is forbidden—we may not use it. This is called the prohibition of orlah. The verse says: “When you come into the land and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as orlah; for three years it shall be orlah to you; it shall not be eaten.” From this, our Sages learn that orlah in Eretz Yisroel is forbidden by Torah law, while outside Eretz Yisroel it is forbidden by rabbinic law. Therefore, produce that may be orlah is permitted outside Eretz Yisroel. In Eretz Yisroel, even produce that may be orlah is forbidden. Outside Eretz Yisroel, only produce that is definitely orlah is forbidden; if there is a doubt, it is permitted, because the verse says, “When you come into the land.” In other words, the Torah prohibition applies only in Eretz Yisroel. So if, for example, a person travels abroad and wants to buy fruit—after all, there are no tithes outside Eretz Yisroel—but worries that perhaps the fruit is orlah, he does not need to be concerned about that doubt. What’s more, suppose someone is standing near a fruit orchard. He knows the orchard is less than three years old, meaning its fruit is orlah, and someone is standing outside the field selling fruit. It is quite likely that the fruit came from the orchard, and if its trees are orlah, then seemingly the fruit being sold outside is orlah too. But the halacha is that, since we did not see the seller pick the fruit from the field, it might indeed be from that field, or he might have brought it from elsewhere and simply set up his stand beside the field. The fruit might not be from that field at all, so it is permissible to buy it outside Eretz Yisroel. Unless, that is, we see the seller go into the field, pick fruit there, and bring it out to his stand. Then it is definitely orlah, not a case of doubt. We can see for certain that he goes into the

02:47 Speaker 2 orchard, picks the fruit there, and brings it out to sell. So that fruit is forbidden under the laws of orlah, because there is no doubt about it. It is definitely orlah. Only doubtful orlah is permitted outside Eretz Yisroel; definite orlah is forbidden there too. After the three years of orlah comes what is called neta revai, fourth-year produce. The verse says: “And in the fourth year, all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to Hashem.” When the Beis Hamikdash stood, people would take that fruit up to Jerusalem and eat it there. That is the fruit of neta revai. Alternatively, they would redeem it with money. The fruit would then become ordinary produce, and the money would take on the fruit’s sanctity. They would take that money to Jerusalem and buy food or fruit there to eat in Jerusalem. This entire law of neta revai applies only in Eretz Yisroel. There is no neta revai outside Eretz Yisroel. Outside Eretz Yisroel there is only orlah, and in the fourth year the fruit may already be eaten. Only fruit grown in Eretz Yisroel is subject to the law of neta revai: when the Beis Hamikdash stood, the fruit had to be eaten in Jerusalem or redeemed with money. Nowadays, we redeem it with a coin, as we do with maaser sheini. There is a prohibition called chadash. Often, on products made from grain—crackers, biscuits, matzos, pretzels—you can see the words “Free of concern for tevel, shevi’is, neta revai, and chadash.” Sorry—and the prohibition of chadash. What is the prohibition of chadash? Any new grain that took root after the Omer was brought may not be eaten until the Omer is brought on 16 Nissan. When the Beis Hamikdash stood, the Omer offering was brought on 16 Nissan, and bringing it permitted grain that had taken root by then. Grain that took root afterward had to wait until the following 16 Nissan. When the Beis Hamikdash stood, immediately after the Omer was brought it was

05:56 Speaker 2 permissible to use the grain, because people knew the Omer had been brought. The Omer permits the new grain. In places far from Jerusalem, where people did not know what time the Omer had been brought, they would wait until midday. Why midday? Because by midday the Omer had certainly already been brought. The kohanim are diligent; they would not wait too long. I might not know whether it was brought at eight or nine in the morning, but by midday the Omer offering had certainly been brought, so after midday one could eat the new grain. Nowadays, we wait until the following day. This is what the Mishnah means when it says: “After the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai instituted that the entire day of the waving should be forbidden.” The day of the waving means the day on which the Omer is waved; it remains forbidden until the following day. So that is what the prohibition of chadash is. This prohibition applies only to grain. It does not apply to fruits and vegetables as other prohibitions do—for example, tithes apply to fruits and vegetables, or orlah applies to fruits and vegetables. Not vegetables—fruit is subject to orlah. But the prohibition of chadash applies only to grain. The verse says: “You shall not eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this very day, until you bring the offering of your G-d.” From this we learn that everything involving grain—wheat, barley, and so on—new grain is forbidden until the Omer is brought. A forbidden substance is nullified by a majority. If there is sixty times as much permitted food as forbidden food, the forbidden food is nullified. But new grain that becomes mixed with old grain is not nullified. Even if there is sixty times as much old grain as new grain, the new grain is not nullified. Why? Because it is called something that will later become permitted. Even if we treat all this grain as new grain, it will be permitted after the Omer is brought. So if, for example, grain gets mixed together—old grain and new grain—then it is true that the old grain may already

08:33 Speaker 2 be eaten, because it was permitted when the Omer was brought the previous year. But now that the old grain has become mixed with the new grain, it is all mixed together, and all of it will be permitted after the Omer is brought. So this is called something that will later become permitted. Something that will later become permitted is not nullified, because the law of nullification applies to a prohibition that cannot later be permitted. Take, for example, meat that fell into milk. Meat and milk together are always forbidden. So if there is sixty times as much permitted food, that permits the mixture; if there is not, it does not. But here it is different—this is something that will later become permitted. We can wait a little longer until the Omer is brought, and everything will be permitted, because the new grain too will be permitted afterward. Therefore, it is forbidden to eat it now, because it is something that will later become permitted.