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Mishnayot

Acharei-Kedoshim

ןושאר

: The Yom Kippur Avodah of the KohenGadol is described, details include the fact thathe has to change his garments 5 times and im-merse in a Mikveh 5 times. He cannot go intothe Kodesh Hakadoshim wearing his normalGold garments.

ינש

: The averoh of bringing a Korban outsidethe Bet Hamikdash is related and this averoh issaid to be one of Bnei Yisrael's big sins whichthey are guilty for.

ישילש

: The aveirah of eating blood is repeatedand the end of Acharei Mot describes the 15prohibited relationships.

יעיבר

: Homosexuality and Bestiality are relatedas serious aveirot. How to be Kadosh (holy) isdiscussed and the halachot of tzedakah, hon-esty and paying wages on time are related.

ישימח

: Favouritism when judging a case is for-bidden and the Aveirot of wearing Shatnez,cutting peyot and tattooing are also mentioned.

ישש

: We are given the mitzvah of loving geirim(converts). Failure to accord appropriate re-spect to a ger shows an extreme arrogance.Anyone who worships idols is Chayav Mitah(liable to the death penalty) and there is also apunishment if Bnei Yisrael neglects to punishother Jews who worship Avodah Zarah.

יעיבש

: The punishments for someone whocurses their parents or who engages in a forbid-den relationship are discussed. Kedoshim endswith an instruction that we should be very care-ful about only eating kosher foods.

Shabbat Shalom

‘Parasha Digest – Acharei-Kedoshim

תבש תכסמ

This week we will learn Mishna Gimmel,Perek Gimmel in Messechet Shabbat. ThisMishna is quite an enjoyable one as much of itis dealing with cooking (one of my favouritetopics).One may not roast an egg by putting it next toa hot kettle of water (or a Shabbat urn) onShabbat. This applies even if one is not fullycooking it, merely eating it ‘softly done’.One may not fry an egg by cracking it over hotscarves, warmed in the sun. R’Yose permits it.However, even R’Yose agrees that one maynot roast an egg by burying it in hot sands.The Mishna now recites an incident which oc-curred in Tiberius. Tiberius has many hotsprings. However, explains the Pnei Yehoshua,the water is not so pleasant. Therefore, the resi-dents ran a pipe of clean, cold water throughthe hot springs and then, when heated, theclean water ran out into a separate pool. Theywould turn on the ‘cold tap’ before Shabbat,and therefore they felt that they were doing theright thing. However, the Chachamim toldthem that for Shabbat, it was forbidden to usethat hot water for bathing or even for drinking!They then said that on Yom Tov, one couldalso not use the water for bathing, however,one could drink it and cook with it.Next week we will continue with the theme of water-heating. (But no more eggs!)

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A Three Way Dispute on Fourth-Year Fruits

Editorial Team: Eli GaventaAvi GreenbergGeorge KestelRaphy MeyerContributor: Nathan WitzumDirector : Rabbi D Meyer

No.338

ParashatAcharei-Kedoshim

ע״שת

5770

24thApril2010

ר עמשנ יולעל

ריאמ ןב םימחר והילא

ע דוד

ר ויחאו ה

ריאמ ןב גרפ הללאדבע

ע דוד

ה

The Torah says (19:23-24),

"When you come to theland and you plant any food tree...for three years it shall be orlah to you, it may not be eaten. And in the fourth year, all its fruit shall be sanctified lauding to Hashem."

In these two pesukim, the Torah sets forth the lawsof orlah, that fruit from a tree may not be eaten forits first three years, and

neta reva'i

, that the fruits of the fourth year must be brought to, and eaten in,Yerushalayim (or else redeemed, and the money istaken to Yerushalayim).The Gemoro in Brochos (35a) brings down a disputebetween two Amora'im as to whether the law of

netareva'i

applies exclusively to vineyard produce(namely, grapes and wine) or to all types of fruit-bearing trees. Rav Achai Gaon (c. 900 CE), in hismonumental work, She'iltos (She'iltah 100), explainsthe rationale behind these two opinions. The opinionwhich holds that

neta reva'i

applies to all trees basesitself on the preceding verse regarding orlah, whichstates, "And you plant any food tree." He under-stands that this phrase refers to the law of

neta reva'i

as well. The other opinion, however, learns a gezei-rah shavah from the word "produce" in verse 25 to apasuk in Devarim 22:9, which reads, "And the pro-duce of a vineyard." Just as over there, "produce"refers to the produce of a vineyard only, so too,here. Alternatively, this opinion could also learn outthat the law of

neta reva'i

applies exclusively tovineyard produce by the fact that the pasuk uses theword "lauding", which hints to the fact that thepasuk refers to something over which they wouldsing in the Beis Hamikdash. Hence, the pasuk wouldthen only refer to vineyard produce, as the Gemoroin Brochos (ibid.) states, "We only sing over wine."Due to this dispute, there is a split amongst the Ris-honim as to what the halachah regarding neta reva'iis in Chutz La'aretz. Many Rishonim (includingTosfos, the Rosh, the Rashba and the SeferHaChinuch) state that neta reva'i only applies tovineyard produce in Chutz La'aretz, basing them-selves on the famous principle, "Whoever is lenientin Eretz Yisroel, the halachah is like him in ChutzLa'aretz," and hence, we can only apply the law tovineyard produce. The Rambam (HilchosMa'acholos Assuros 10:15), on the other hand, dis-agrees strongly and argues that the whole rule of

neta reva'i

shouldn't apply at all in Chutz La'aretz,not even to vineyard produce. He brings a kalv'chomer to support his opinion, stating that if evenSyrian land, which is obligated in Ma'aser andShmittah, is not obligated in

neta reva'i

, how muchmore so the rest of Chutz La'aretz which is not obli-gated in Ma'aser and Shmittah.Lastly, Rabbeinu Yonah in his commentary to the6th chapter of Brochos entertains the possibility thatin such a case, we cannot apply the principle of "Whoever is lenient etc." and consequently, even inChutz La'aretz, we must adhere to the opinion thatthe law of

neta reva'i

applies to all trees. The confu-sion amongst the Rishonim is reflected in the factthat all three opinions are quoted in Shulchan Aruch(Yoreh Deah 294:7), and is further stressed by thefact that the commentaries on Shulchan Aruch (see,for instance, the Shach and the Vilna Gaon) are atloggerheads as to how to pasken the halachah. Inany event, the Sefer HaChinuch (247) explains thatthe purpose of this mitzvah is so that Hashem'sblessing can rest upon the fruits of the one whobrings them to Yerushalayim. He also adds thatthrough this mitzvah, "One will fix his place, or theplace of his sons in that place to learn Torah there,as it is the centre of wisdom."May we all merit to bring our fruits to Yerushalayimand fix our place there, speedily and in our days.

By Nathan Witzum.

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