Q&A

I saw on your website your responsum where you permitted soaking Chasalat leaves on Shabbat in soapy water, and said that you don’t have to worry about killing insects. You didn’t relate to the prohibition of borer (like soaking vetch). Is borer an issue here?

Can one say birkat ha’ilanot on trees grafted in a forbidden fashion?

Can I sell products containing wheat protein (like soluble soup mix) together with the chametz?

There is a cherry picking festival taking place in Gush Etzion, and I’d like to go with a few friends. You can pick cherries, blueberries, and raspberries.

1. Is there a problem with orlah (is there supervision by the Gush Etzion rabbinate)?
2. If we pay upfront and it’s “all you can eat,” how can we eat the fruit without first taking terumot and ma’aserot, and at which point do we need to separate them? The same question regarding eating the fruit in the car on the way home.
3. I know there are guidelines about checking fruit for infestation (and that raspberries are very difficult to check). Do you have current information about infestation status?

This seems like such a nice event, and it is difficult for me to believe that in a place like Gush Etzion, where there are so many observant Jews, there would be a festival that would trip people up in eating tevel mide’oriyta. 

Is a drip irrigation pipe considered a barrier when growing different types of vegetables on either side of the drip pipe? When it comes to seed starters do these pose a kila’im problem?

Can I juice leafy vegetables not grown with special insect-free supervision, using a juicer for hard fruits and vegetables? The juicer grinds the flesh of the fruit/vegetable, and then separates the flesh from the juice by a centrifuge and a fine filter. The filter holes are extremely fine and rarely, if at all, does fruit or vegetable bits mix in with the juice. Note that in order to produce a little bit of juice a lot of vegetables are needed, so the cost of using supervised insect-free leafy vegetables for this purpose is very high.

I received a kit for growing garden rocket at home. I know that there are many complications related to growing leafy vegetables. What can I do so I can eat the leaves that grow? Is there some sort of pesticide that I can use? Or a net? Also, how should I check the leaves so I don’t transgress the prohibitions involved in eating insects? Thank you!

Is it permissible to graft several types of citrus fruit (tangerine, lemon, orange, etc.) onto one tree?

I grow different types of berries. Can I graft a blueberry onto a strawberry tree (they are from the same family).

Can I say birkat ha’ilanot on a tree with several types of fruit growing on it?