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Q&A

Pesach: Selling products with wheat ingredients together with the chametz

Rabbi Yaakov Ariel

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

Does aloe vera require terumot & ma'aserot when eaten?

Avraham Sochovolsky

I saw an article discussing the  shemitah-year sanctity (kedushat shevi’it) regarding the aloe vera plant. However, I couldn’t find whether one must separate terumot and ma’asrot from aloe vera leaves if the contents of the leaves are used for consumption?
Thank you.

 

Aloe vera for burns during shemitah

Rabbi Moshe Bloom, Tammuz 5782

 Is it permissible to use an aloe vera plant to treat burns during shemitah? Do we have to ask permission from a neighbor to take a leaf? Once we use the leaf, do we put it in the pach shevi'it?

Do I need to understand the nusach for separating terumot and ma'aserot?

Dr. Mordechai Shomron, agronomist; addition by Rabbi Moshe Bloom | Av 5785

I don't really understand the nusach for separating terumot and ma'aserot - with the percentages, locations, etc. Does it matter?                              

Is natal plum subject to orlah?

Dr. Mordechai Shomron, agronomist; addition by Rabbi Moshe Bloom | Av 5785

Hello, is Carissa macrocarpa (Natal plum) considered a tree subject to the laws of orlah?

Separating terumot and ma’aserot at a cherry-picking festival

Rabbi Ehud Ahituv

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.

Orlah count when transplanting trees into the ground vs. into pots sitting on concrete outside Israel

Rabbi Moshe Bloom
Our shul in Whashington D.C. has recently planted a garden with blueberry bushes and apple and fig trees. I am trying to determine if there would be orlah concerns. The bushes and trees were planted in a mature, fruit bearing stage - I assume they are several years old, but am wondering if there are additional questions I should ask. Does the "clock" go back to zero every time the trees are planted or not if the roots remain entangled in dirt?
And one follow-up question:
The fig trees are in a large earthenware pot which rests on the cement steps of the shul - they are disconnected from the ground. Would that be a reason for their orlah count to restart?

Fruit growing on branches that belong to Shimon but the trunk belongs to Reuven

Rabbi Ehud Achituv | 27 Tammuz 5785

There is a tree whose trunk is primarily located in Reuven’s garden, while its canopy extends into Shimon’s garden. Reuven transferred ownership of the canopy to Shimon. The question is: Are the fruits that grow on the canopy—which now belong to Shimon—obligated in terumot and ma'aserot mide’oraita?

Or, since the trunk is rooted in Reuven’s property, does this constitute a deficiency in the criterion of "זרעך פרט ללקוח" —excluding acquired produce—thus rendering the obligation only derabanan? This follows the view of certain Rishonim who hold that even if the final processing (gemar melachah) is performed by the buyer, there is no Torah-level obligation.

The practical implication would be whether one may separate tithes from these fruits on behalf of fruits from a tree that grows entirely in Shimon’s garden—assuming the level of obligation must be the same.

Someone else separated terumot and ma'aserot without saying the special formula of separation

Dr. Mordechai Shomron, agronomist
If someone else separated ma'aserot on my behalf, but they didn't say the formula, does it count?
I hope they actually separated from each type - I'm not sure.

Does kilei zera'im apply to unperforated pots?

Rabbi Moshe Bloom

Does the kilei zera'im prohibition also apply to pots with a hole?