According to a recent report in financial daily
Globes, the citrus-fruit industry is enjoying an
upswing after years of inactivity. This summer 350,000 citrus
trees will be planted on 6,000 dunams (1,500 acres) of land
in the Northern Negev and in the Sharon Region. The Director-
General of the Council for Citrus-Fruit Marketing said
planting was made possible in the Sharon through increased
water supplies provided by large new sewage-recycling and
desalination plants.
Two types of seedlings are being planted. Some orchards will
produce citrus fruits intended for local and import sales,
planting varieties in demand in Israel and abroad. Other
orchards will grow fruit for industry, particularly Valencia
and Jaffa oranges. The renewed planting follows financing
agreements between the major manufacturers in the citrus
industry and citrus-growing companies. Under the agreements,
financial assistance from manufacturers such as Gan Shmuel
and Gat will be reimbursed when the first crops are
delivered.
The reports on the planting of hundreds of thousands of
seedlings raise concerns among bnei Torah of large-
scale orloh problems in the coming years. To clarify
the issue we spoke with HaRav Yosef Efrati, head of the Beis
Medrash LeHalochoh BeHisyashvus HeChakla'is.
HaRav Efrati explains that the development of modern
agricultural methods has brought a wide range of new
questions. Previously people had little cause for concern
since the majority of trees do not produce fruit within three
years anyway. Therefore in Teshuvos HaRadvaz we find
that in the Tzfat of his generation the question of
orloh only arises regarding grapes because even under
natural conditions grapevines can yield fruit in less than
three years.
However, in modern agricultural growers use the "two-year
seedling," which is raised for 1-2 years in a nursery and
then sold to farmers who plant it in their fields. From an
agricultural standpoint such a tree can yield fruit in less
than three years since it already spent two years growing in
a nursery, but from a halachic standpoint the orloh
count starts over again the moment it is uprooted and
replanted elsewhere. Therefore fruit from trees just one or
two years old according to halochoh could reach the store
shelves.
Yated Ne'eman: Does this mean all seedlings of this
kind create a problem of orloh prohibitions?
HaRav Efrati: Not always. With the encouragement and
guidance of maranan verabonon shlita, led by Maran
HaRav Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, shlita, many activities
were pursued by the members of the Institute and the Beis
Midrash to eradicate the bane of orloh around the
country, so today more and more farmers transplant the
seedlings differently, in a way that prevents orloh
prohibitions according to the majority of poskim.
A seedling raised in a nursery is transported in a perforated
pot along with the clump of earth in which it was grown. It
is thus shipped to the orchard [with the clump of earth]
intact. In such cases the subsequent orloh years can
be calculated according to the original planting. But it
should be stressed that although the Chief Rabbinate kashrus
committees and the regular kashrus certifiers rely on this
heter, it should not be relied upon for kashrus
lemehadrin since in such a case Maran the Chazon Ish
zt'l had doubts whether the separation of the seedling
and the clump of earth for several hours--during which it is
transported to the orchard on a metal truck bed that acts as
a chatzitzoh--means the orloh count must start
from the beginning. Yet this is merely a sofek and
some say the Chazon Ish concludes lekuloh. But for
kashrus lemehadrin there is no room for
uncertainty.
Y.N.: What percentage of orloh is found today
in summer fruits?
HaRav Efrati: In Halichos Sodeh (the official
journal of the Beis Medrash LeHalochoh BeHisyashvus
HeChakla'is) and other publications we publish the
orloh figures gathered by the Institute from across
the country. By the way, many people must have noticed that
the orloh figures for the summer of 5763 are
relatively low, showing a decrease in the percentage of
orloh. The reason for this is two years ago was a
Shmittah year and after the big polemics on the heter
mechirah arose, many farmers were concerned that the
religious and chareidi sectors would not purchase fruit from
trees planted that year, which also increased awareness of
orloh concerns, so they completely refrained from
planting that year. Nevertheless we must continue to instruct
the chareidi public to buy only at places under supervision.
Most orloh fruit makes its way to the market not under
supervision.
And again it should be emphasized that there is a difference
between activities undertaken to save the klal, under
the guidance of our rabbonim, and kashrus lemehadrin,
where fruits that carry the Chazon Ish's sofek should
be avoided. The lemehadrin kashrus committees should
systematically check to ensure fruits under their supervision
do not have even the possibility that two-year seedlings were
transported with clumps of earth in perforated pots.
Y.N.: What is the practice followed by the Jerusalem
Rabbinate's Department for Mitzvos Eretz Yisroel and by the
Center for Torah-Based Agriculture also under their auspices
for food products bearing a lemehadrin label?
HaRav Efrati: Clearly in kashrus lemehadrin the
supervision should be to avoid the slightest suspicion, even
according to the doubt the Chazon Ish had.
Y.N.: If so why do you make such concerted efforts to
ensure farmers at least maintain the practice of
transplanting in perforated pots with the earth intact?
HaRav Efrati: As we said above, according to the
instructions we received from gedolei Yisroel we must
act to save "ha'am shebasodos" from orloh
prohibitions. We have to ensure that when a housewife in
Ashkelon or Afula goes to the local grocery store she, too,
is spared from issur orloh as much as we can. The
Institute's publications are intended for the general public,
to inform them with which varieties of fruit one must beware
of the dangers of orloh prohibitions. This is how we
save ha'am shebasodos from transgressing
prohibitions.
Meanwhile, with regard to kashrus lemehadrin, we must
supply produce that is not under any sefeikos or
sheilos, therefore we are careful to avoid fruits that
are kosher, but not lemehadrin--and hopefully all of
the mehadrin hechsherim do the same.
This can be illustrated with a parable. Imagine an isolated
place where it was impossible to obtain glatt meat
without any sheilos, but the meat available is
halachically kosher and the traditional Jews in the area are
satisfied with it. It goes without saying that even if we
insist on eating only glatt meat we still have an
obligation to ensure that the regular meat is produced
through proper shechitoh, even if it is not
lemehadrin. Meat produced through unsupervised
shechitoh there is totally treif. This is for
the sake of the locals who keep kosher, to save them from
ma'acholos asuros.
At the same time the mehadrin kashrus maintains
numerous hiddurim and chumros in order to
provide the chareidi sector with glatt meat that
adheres to all the hiddurim.
Y.N.: In conclusion, what is the practical meaning of
the recent reports on large-scale planting of citrus
trees?
Rav Efrati: Again, a distinction must be made between
regular kashrus and mehadrin kashrus. With regular
kashrus our hope is that through concerted efforts most of
the orloh prohibitions will be prevented since most of
the nurseries have converted to the system of transporting
seedlings with clumps of earth in perforated pots in order to
meet the regular kashrus requirements, and we should be
pleased that the masses of Jews are saved from the
michshol. But at the mehadrin kashrus
committees, there will have to be more oversight of citrus
fruits to ensure there are also no concerns based on the
Chazon Ish's sofek.
We must act in the area of mitzvos Ha'aretz in two
ways. One, to save acheinu Beis Yisroel from
tevel and orloh prohibitions, and two, to
encourage mehadrin kashrus figures, operating under
the guidance of maranan verabonon shlita, in their
task of bringing produce free of any doubts to the tables of
yirei Hashem.
