What to do if you forgot to do bi'ur ma'aserot by the deadline
The ma'aser sheni coin should be destroyed by Pesach (years four and seven of the shemita cycle: 5779,5782). What happens if you forget? Can you use ma'aser sheni fruit you forgot to redeem? An abstract from Emunat Itecha, Tammuz 5779, issue 124.
What should a person do who forgot to do bi'ur ma'aserot (removing ma'aserot from one's domain) today, and one still has the ma'aser sheni coin?
The Minchat Chinuch deliberated on this question (Mitzvah 607):
"It is unclear if one did not remove the ma'aser sheni … if it can be removed afterwards, or if the mitzvah is no longer applicable after the holiday (Pesach)."
The doubt relates to the definition of bi'ur ma'aserot. One approach is that bi'ur ma'aserot is simply part of the mitzvot of terumot and ma'aserot: we are commanded to give our tithes to the people intended to receive them, but the Torah set up a deadline for us to do so. Alternatively, bi'ur could be a mitzvah in its own right; namely, ma'aser sheni produce should be removed from one's domain at the appointed time of bi'ur.
What, then, happens if the deadline passed and someone still has the ma'aser sheni produce or the ma'aser sheni coin that one did not redeem? Many poskim maintain that both the produce and coin are forbidden to benefit from and must be destroyed. This approach is based on the view of bi'ur ma'aserot being its own independent mitzvah. If the time of the mitzvah passed, and someone fails to remove the produce from his domain or redeem the coin, he has transgressed a positive injunction. Accordingly, this approach views the produce as prohibited: it cannot be redeemed, nor can the sanctity in the coin be transferred to sugar. The coin must be defaced or thrown into the sea.
The Chazon Ish, however, holds that it is not forbidden to derive benefit from either ma'aser sheni produce or the coin. His views bi'ur as integral part of the mitzvot of terumot and ma'aserot. It is simply the deadline for appropriating them to their destinations. He draws a parallel between this mitzvah and the injunction of bal te'acher for korbanot: while a person who failed to bring the sacrifice to the Beit Hamikdash within the prescribed time transgressed bal te'acher, he can nevertheless offer his sacrifice. Thus, the Chazon Ish hold that even if the time of bi'ur has passed, one can still redeem the coin onto a peruta or sugar.
In practice, one who still has the ma'aser sheni coin and forgot to do bi'ur on time should deface it so it cannot be used.
For the full article in Hebrew, see here.
