"היוצא בימי ניסן וראה אילנות שמוציאין פרח, אומר: בא"י אמ"ה שלא חיסר בעולמו כלום וברא בו בריות טובות ואילנות טובות ליהנות בהם בני אדם".
(שולחן ערוך אורח חיים, סימן רכו)
A Brilliant Idea for the “Blessing of the Trees"
Shlomi came to visit his sick father early in the month of Nissan.
His father was hospitalized for an indefinite period of time and Shlomi had a hard time cheering him up during this time. That day, during their conversation, Shlomi spoke of the joy that he and his father had experienced planting their beautiful garden, hoping that this memory would buoy his father’s spirits. Shlomi realized, and then commented, that he hadn’t yet recited the blessing for the trees in their garden (customarily said during Nissan). He noticed that his father seemed to grieve even more at the mention of this.
His father was hospitalized for an indefinite period of time and Shlomi had a hard time cheering him up during this time. That day, during their conversation, Shlomi spoke of the joy that he and his father had experienced planting their beautiful garden, hoping that this memory would buoy his father’s spirits. Shlomi realized, and then commented, that he hadn’t yet recited the blessing for the trees in their garden (customarily said during Nissan). He noticed that his father seemed to grieve even more at the mention of this.
Shlomi wondered what he could do to help his father …and then…he came up with a brilliant idea! He told his father he’d return in a little while. He hurried back to the house, took a hoe and began to dig around the young apple tree that he and his father had planted a few years ago. With great determination, he eventually managed to extricate the tree with its soil and roots intact.
The people in the hospital were quite amused and surprised to see Shlomi carrying the tree down the corridor and then into his father’s room. Shlomi set the tree down and witnessed his father’s face turn from one of gloom to one of happy excitement. And so, the two recited the blessing with more enthusiasm than in any of the previous years.
Was it halachically permissible to uproot the apple tree?
Answer:
Rabbi Dov Lior Shlit"a:
It is forbidden from the Torah to uproot a fruit tree. The severity we may learn from the Gemara (Baba Batra 26a) where it is mentioned that Rabbi Chanina said that his son died because of his grave sin whereby he chopped down a fig tree before its time. However, in this case, Shlomi removed the tree together with the roots and soil and thus it is not considered uprooting.
We can learn this from the laws of Orla (the prohibition of eating fruit within the first 3 years of the tree’s planting). According to the laws of Orla, when a tree is removed together with the earth surrounding it and survive in that earth for two weeks, one need not count the mandatory 3 years over again because halachically it was not uprooted. So too, in this case, the tree was technically removed but not uprooted.
Rabbi Lior commented that it might have been simpler for the son to take a tree from the ‘mishtala’ (plant nursery) instead of removing the tree from their garden.
Rabbi Avigdor Neventzal Shlit”a agreed that Shlomi is permitted to do so. However he is permitted providing that the son will then replant the tree back in the soil.
*****
A related story:
In his memoirs, Reb Aryeh Levine wrote:
I recall the early days, from 1905 onward, when it was granted me by the grace of the blessed Lord to go up to the holy land, and I came Jaffa. There I first went to visit our great master R. Abraham Isaac Kook (of blessed memory), who received everyone. We chatted together on themes of Torah study.
After an early minhah he went out, as his hallowed custom was, to stroll a bit in the fields and gather his thoughts; and I went along. On the way I plucked some branch or flower.
Our great master (R. Abraham Isaac Kook of blessed memory) was taken aback; and then he told me gently, “Believe me: In all my days I have taken care never to pluck a blade of grass or a flower needlessly, when it had the ability to grow or blossom. You know the teaching of the Sages that there is not a single blade of grass below, here on earth, which does not have a heavenly force (or angel) above telling it - "Grow"! Every sprout and leaf of grass says something, conveys some meaning. Every stone whispers some inner hidden message in the silence. Every creation utters its song (in praise of the Creator).”
Those words, spoken from a pure and holy heart, engraved themselves deeply on my heart. From that time on I began to feel a strong sense of compassion for everything.
(from ‘A Tzadik in Our Time’ by Simcha Raz, Pages 108-109)
*****
A Mishap in Selling Chametz
A few years ago before Pesach, in a city in Israel, a gentile was sought to be the broker for the Jews to “sell” their chametz for the duration of Pesach and then “buy” it back after the holiday. The rabbis found a fine and highly suitable person named Ahmed and the sale went according to plan. After Pesach, the rabbis approached Ahmed to “buy” the chametz back and engaged in a conversation like this:
The rabbis: “So… how did you manage over Pesach supervising all of our city’s chametz?”
Ahmed:” Well I was tempted to eat some delicious looking cookies…” He continued.
"You know, I am a devout Muslim, but I would like to share something interesting about myself- my grandmother told me before she died that she was once Jewish."
"What????" The rabbis asked, "Was it your maternal or paternal grandmother?"
"It was my mother's mother," Ahmed declared with great pride (and did not notice the pale faces of the rabbis). "Maybe that’s why I am so fond of the Jewish people."
After this unforeseen and very ironic revelation, the rabbis informed Ahmed that he too, was a Jew!
But now a difficult question arose: Was all the chametz sold to Ahmed considered to be as חמץ שעבר עליו הפסח (chametz which was unsold over Pesach, which is forbidden to derive benefit from afterwards)?
Answer:
Rabbi Chaim Eideles Shlit"a (Rabbi of the Goren Synagogue in Tel Aviv, and Dayan at Beit Din of Rabbi Yaakov Meir Stern in Bnei Brak)
Ahmed has the status of a Mumar (a Jewish apostate) who does not observe the commandments of the Torah.
The Mishnah Brura rules that when chametz is sold to an apostate, the chametz IS forbidden to derive benefit from.
However, the “Magen HaAlef disagreed with the Mishnah Brura.
He explained that the sages did NOT forbid benefitting from the chametz of an apostate Jew. The reason is that the sages issued a fine to a person who did not destroy his chametz, so that it would serve as a deterrent and that it would not happen in the future. However, an apostate Jew does not adhere to the Halacha. Therefore it would be pointless to punish him (the fine would not deter him).
Rabbi Yosef Shaul Nathanson (the author of the שואל ומשיב) also holds that the chametz is permitted but for a different reason. (Sadly) an apostate Jew is considered Hallachicily to be a gentile.
In summary: The Mishnah Brura rules that chametz sold to a Jew, even an apostate Jew, is forbidden after Pesach. Although other poskim hold that an apostate Jew’s chametz is not forbidden and therefore it is permissible to benefit from it.
Furthermore, we may rely on these poskim who permitted it, but only Bedieved (after the fact or occurrence) and not Lehatchila (before the fact or occurrence).
*****
Compiled by Rabbi Daniel Kirsch
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