Hi,
May I
purchase Israeli produce, if I am not sure whether terumah and maaser have been
separated?
One certainly
should support Israeli agriculture. We can manage doubt about tithing with the
following procedure, which should be followed for each species of produce
separately:
Keeping all
of the produce to be tithed in one place, we separate a little more than 1% of
the produce and hold it apart. [We do not recite a berachah unless we are
certain that the produce has not been tithed already.] We declare:
- The northern portion of the produce I am
holding, beyond the 1% of the total produce, is terumah for the
total produce.
- The produce I am holding that consitutes 1%
of the total produce is maaser rishon, along with nine equal parts
within the upper portion of the rest of the produce.
- The produce I am holding that constitutes
1% of the total produce is terumat maaser.
We put
aside the separated produce to deteriorate, because we are currently unable to
give it to a kohen to consume in purity. Once it is inedible, we may dispose of
it in our compost bins.
This year
is the sixth year of the shemitah cycle, and so we must also separate
10% as maaser ani and give it to a needy person. There are several ways
to do this, but one method is this: Designate 10% of the remaining produce as maaser
ani, and then declare that it is redeemed for an equivalent sum of money,
which you may then give to a needy Jew. However, one may keep the maaser ani
for himself; unless someone can prove that the produce was never tithed, there
is no obligation to distribute maaser ani.
Please
note:
- The COR has a video on this procedure at http://cor.ca/view/255/video_instructional_tithing_produce_from_the_land_of_israel.html.
- In certain years one must separate maaser
sheni. For guidance regarding maaser sheni, see The Complete
Artscroll Siddur, page 226.
- Next year is a shemitah year, with
unique rules for Israeli produce. I hope to discuss these rules in the
future.
Have a great day,
Mordechai
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