Mentioning the desire of gedolei Yisroel to arouse
people concerning the mitzvos hateluyos ba'aretz
(mitzvos that are applicable only in Eretz Yisroel) is
hardly necessary. The baal Kaftor Voferach already did
this in his introduction, requesting that people "remove the
rust" that surrounds the mitzvos of Eretz Yisroel.
Similarly, throughout the history of Jewish settlement in
Eretz Yisroel our Torah giants constantly raised these
issues. We all know of the extraordinary efforts of the
Chazon Ish ztvk"l, who revived the mitzvos of Eretz
Yisroel in general, and the mitzvah of shmittah in
particular.
The members of the Beit Midrash Lehalachah in Agricultural
Settlements, under the leadership of HaRav Yosef Efrati, are
faithful to the directives of gedolei Yisroel of all
generations and serve as partners in the dissemination of the
mitzvos of Eretz Yisroel. The Beit Midrash sponsors
day and night kollelim in 13 locations throughout the
country, each one solely dedicated to the in-depth study and
clarification of the sugyos of the Yerushalmi
on Seder Zeroim.
In the central kollel of the Beit Midrash, rabbonim
and yungerleit learn these sugyos in order to
clarify the halochos involved.
It is important to mention that the mitzvos of Eretz
Yisroel are different from other mitzvos in the Torah
that many others study. In other parts of the Torah, the
Rishonim and Acharonim are well formulated.
However, "Toras Zeroim" was not subject to the
systematic scrutiny of most of the Rishonim. The
poskim also did not deal with these matters
extensively, since these mitzvos were not applicable in
chutz la'aretz where they were, and the yishuv
in Eretz Yisroel was not very large.
Therefore, the founders of the Beit Midrash, HaRav Kalman
Kahana zt"l and yibodeil lechaim aruchim
vetovim HaRav Yosef Efrati, decided to open a Torah
center dedicated to the study and clarification of the
halachos of these important mitzvos. All difficult
matters are brought before the poskim of our
generation and these halochos are thus clarified.
The "Institute for the Study of Agriculture According; to the
Torah," founded over 40 years ago, functions alongside the
Beit Midrash. The main goal of the Institute is to find
agricultural solutions for Torah-related agricultural issues.
For example, it is necessary to prevent planting trees that
might be orlah by providing appropriate supervision.
Another example is the case of vegetables, where solutions
must be found for growing bug-free produce.
The Institute was among the pioneers in providing supervision
(via the "Center for Agriculture According to the Torah") for
these concerns and today its activities cover many areas of
agricultural halochos. All difficult questions are
brought to the yungerleit and rabbonim of the Beit
Midrash where the halachic implications are analyzed
and clarified.
For example, one of the latest projects of the rabbonim of
the Beit Midrash is kil'ei ilan (tree grafts). The
current agricultural procedure is to graft the top part of a
tree ("rocheiv") on the bottom part of a tree
("kanah"). The saplings sold in most nurseries
therefore usually involve a graft of two different species
and thus it is prohibited to maintain them. Many people are
unwittingly guilty of this transgression, even in the
chareidi sector where, Boruch Hashem, there are many
places that have gardens planted around their homes.
Since there are no supervised plant nurseries where one can
be sure that only permitted grafts are performed, many people
transgress this prohibition. HaRav Shaul Reichenberg expends
much effort to clarify which species are considered the same
and which are considered different. In this matter, the Beit
Midrash works with the Institute in developing species of
permitted saplings. The Beit Midrash has publicized in the
past which fruit trees have a possibility of forbidden
grafts.
The Beit Midrash's bimonthly newsletter also keeps the public
informed of the latest developments. It also publishes tables
of the percentages of orlah for each type of fruit, so
that people will know what to avoid.
There are certain projects of the Beit Midrash that have
become intimately identified with the fulfillment of these
mitzvos, such as the Keren Hama'asrot, which allows
subscribers to properly redeem ma'aser sheini onto
coins that belong to the manager of the Keren.
One cannot ignore the material difficulties that stand in the
way of saving Eretz Yisroel from the problems of
tevel and orlah and of fulfilling all of the
mitzvos of Eretz Yisroel. But little by little, with
the help of devoted friends who accompany this project, the
dream is becoming a reality.
Construction of a permanent building for the Beit Midrash has
begun. It will include a Resource Center whose purpose is to
teach these practical halachos to the younger
generation.
On Erev Tu BeShevat, Rosh Hashanah La'ilanot, the time
to make a cheshbon hanefesh concerning the mitzvos of
Eretz Yisroel, let us send blessings and material aid
to those who are working so hard to implement the fulfillment
of these mitzvos.
