Status of untithed flour
Question
Rabbi, I would like to know how to proceed if one of the five grains was ground into flour before terumot and ma’aserot were separated from the grain. Is the flour still obligated in terumot and ma’aserot, or is the mitzvah no longer applicable? According to Rabbi Nachman, the blessing on flour is shehakol because its form has changed and it is no longer considered produce. Thank you.
Answer
The prohibition of tevel is not nullified from any plant even if it undergoes a change in form or state of matter. Therefore, flour milled from any of the five grains from which terumot and ma’aserot were not separated is considered tevel flour, even if its blessing changes. It is forbidden to eat, and there remains an obligation to separate terumot and ma’aserot from it.
Similarly, if one juices untithed apples, terumot and ma’aserot must still be separated from the juice, even though its blessing is shehakol.
Ideally, for other halachic reasons, terumot and ma’aserot should be separated before milling grain into flour or juicing fruit. However, if this was not done, the obligation to tithe remains regardless of the form the produce has taken. As noted above, the produce is forbidden for consumption until tithing has been performed.