Composting terumah and using compost for fertilizing the garden
Question
Is it permissible to place terumah produce in a compost bin for the purpose of making compost, and once it has decomposed, may it be used to fertilize the soil?
Answer
It is forbidden to render terumah tameh (ritually impure), to destroy it, or to cause its loss.1 As it says in the verse (Bamidbar 18:8): “And I have given you the charge of My terumah.” Likewise, the Rambam rules (Hilchot Terumot 12:1): “It is forbidden to render terumah of the Land of Israel tameh like other kodashim, and one must not bring it to tumah nor cause it to be destroyed.”
It is also forbidden to cause the loss or impurity of terumah indirectly. According to some posekim, gram hefsed (indirect loss) is prohibited by Torah law, while others hold that it is only rabbinically prohibited.2
The question arises regarding pure terumah today, when kohanim are impure and may not eat it. According to Rabbi Kook,3 even today there is a mitzvah to preserve pure terumah so that it does not become ruined; therefore, it should be left to decay on its own.4
However, according to the Chazon Ish,5 one may bury it to prevent mishap—that someone might accidentally eat from it—even though this constitutes gram hefsed.6 For this reason, he permits the same practice with terumah teme’ah (impure terumah) nowadays, even though strictly speaking it is a mitzvah to burn it.7
The common custom follows this view: after reciting the formula for separating terumot and ma'aserot, the terumah and terumat ma’aser fruits are wrapped in a plastic bag, even when the terumah is impure, and then placed in the garbage bin in such a way that they are not mixed with the rest of the trash.
Conclusion
Based on this, one may place terumah fruits in a compost bin, provided they are first wrapped in a paper bag and only then put into the compost bin. Although at some point the paper will decompose and the terumah will mix with the compost, by then the fruits will have already decayed and will no longer be fit for human consumption, so the terumah will no longer be sacred.8 Therefore, the resulting compost may be used to fertilize the garden.
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1. Yerushalmi, Challah 3:2; and see the commentaries there; Rashi, Sukkah 35b, s.v. shemakhsherah (“that it renders it susceptible”).
2. Aruch HaShulchan, Zera’im §84:3, expresses doubt about the matter. See also Derech Emunah, Hilchot Terumot 12:1, Bi’ur Halachah s.v. velo yafsidena; Torah VeHa’aretz III, pp. 221–227; Torah VeHa’aretz III, pp. 228–239.
3. Responsa Mishpat Kohen §38:3 — quoted verbatim.
4. Based on Rambam, Hilchot Ma’aser Sheni veNeta Reva’i 2:4; and all the more so regarding terumah, for which there is a mitzvah to preserve it. Although the wording of the Tur YD §331, citing Sefer HaTerumah, states that “in our times, pure terumah should be buried,” Rabbi Kook explained that this is a scribal error and that it should read “should be left to rot.”
5. Chazon Ish, Shevi’it §5:10.
6. Based on the wording of Sefer HaTerumah (Torah VeHa’aretz Institute ed.), p. 172: “Therefore it is better to bury it if it is pure and has not become susceptible to impurity. And one should not place it in a vessel, lest it be found and eaten.”
7. Based on Chazon Ish, Demay §15:1, s.v. ve’al davar; although Rabbi Kook in Mishpat Kohen §37 held that even nowadays, impure terumah should be burned.
8. However, the posekim disagree whether terumah teme’ah loses its sanctity once it becomes unfit for human consumption, as is the case with pure terumah; or whether even in such a state it retains its sanctity, since all its use by kohanim is for non-eating purposes. See Torah VeHa’aretz IV, pp. 116–120. In practice, nowadays it is the practice to be lenient in this matter—except regarding impure terumah oil; see Torah VeHa’aretz IV, pp. 121–123.