Land of Israel

Near Mitzpeh Ramon, there is a vineyard with table grapes. Should one conclude me'ein shalosh by saying al haeitz ve'al peiroteha or al haeitz ve'al hapeirot?

Our pomegranate tree is about 5-6 years old. It's never really produced edible fruit. We're considering getting another non-fruit tree in its place. Are we allowed to uproot the pomegranate tree?

1)   In my home garden, there are two small palms that were self-seeding (I didn't plant them intentionally) that sprouted near the tiles, and they are a nuisance.

2)     Elsewhere in the garden, there is a white mulberry tree that seems to not be in good condition, and I'd like to move it elsewhere or uproot it altogether (it currently is not producing fruit; when it does, the fruit is infested.

3)      I have a golden rain tree (not a fruit tree) that doesn't look good. Is it permissible to uproot it?

I have several fruit trees that we grew from the seed. When they began to grow, I moved each of them to planters. Some of the trees aren't growing nicely—it seems that they are sick. My question is if the prohibition of uprooting fruit trees applies only to trees growing in the ground, or also to those growing in planters? I want to uproot them so I can use the planter to grow other plants. Is there a halachic issue with that? Thank you.

My friend has a feijoa tree in his garden. The tree produces very small, sour fruit that are not pleasant to eat. Is it permissible to uproot the tree?

I am about to buy a house with a small garden and several fruit trees. The problem is that the fruit trees take up nearly all of the space. Am I allowed to prune them? Or uproot them and transplant them in someone else's garden?

I was interested in obtaining a book(s) on halachot pertaining to plants in Israel. (I'm not a farmer :)) I am not clear as to which book/books I should get. Could you please advise? Thank you

Dear Rabbi Yehuda Halevi Amichai,

I read with great interest the detailed explanation published on this site regarding the issue of “cutting down fruit trees for the sake of a mitzvah.”

I am a civil engineer specializing in transportation, and as part of my training, I work as a traffic planner on various projects across the country.

Many projects involve designing new roads, which often leads to the need to cut down or relocate trees, including fruit trees.

The clients are usually the Ministry of Transportation, Netivei Israel, Netivei Ayalon, local municipalities, or private developers (for residential projects).

When we plan a new road, we as traffic planners don't necessarily have information about which trees — and whether they are fruit trees or not — are located along the road's path.

During the project, an agronomist typically joins and classifies the trees according to their importance. Based on this, decisions are made about which trees will be cut down, which will be relocated, and in rare cases, which trees should be preserved even if they interfere with the road layout.

In smaller projects, an agronomist is not always involved, and sometimes the decision to cut down the trees is made within the project team (of course, after obtaining the necessary permits).

My question is: What is my level of responsibility as a traffic planner regarding this issue?

After all, it is my job to design the road in the best possible way (usually the utility of the road outweighs the importance of preserving the trees).

Of course, we make every effort to preserve existing trees, but in many cases, tree cutting or relocation is necessary — and sometimes these are not national infrastructure projects but smaller ones serving different needs over the years.

It's also important to note that I have no way of knowing whether the tree cutting is done by a non-Jew or a Jew.

I would greatly appreciate a response on this matter, as it concerns me due to my frequent involvement in such issues.

Thank you very much.

I want to build a storage area in my yard, but there's an avocado tree currently standing in the area where I want to build it. Am I allowed to uproot the avocado tree?

I live in the Jerusalem area and have a garden. I would like to start a vegetable patch and also plant some fruit trees. Could you please tell me about the halachic issues I have to take into account?