שאלות ותשובות

תשובה:

Nowadays, when everyone is tamei, the challah is tamei as well, and it is a mitzvah to burn challah that is tamei. If you are unable to burn the challah, or it is very difficult for you to do so, you should bury it or throw it in the garbage in a respectful way, such as by wrapping it in a bag first. It should not be left around, so that it will not inadvertently get mixed up with other dough and eaten.

What do I do with the piece of challah that I separated from the dough? Do I specifically have to burn it, or can I wrap it in a bag and throw it in the garbage?

תשובה:

Pomegranate trees are problematic, because if they are not properly cared for, they will grow suckers, which are branches that sprout from the bottom of the tree trunk and sometimes bear fruit. The halachah is that a sucker is considered a new tree, and orlah years must be counted for it. The fruit that grows on a sucker during the first three years after it comes out of the ground is orlah. Unless you know for sure that your friend’s tree is free of suckers, you must suspect that the fruit is orlah.

A friend gave me some pomegranates for Rosh Hashanah, and he told me that the tree is over five years old. Can I eat the pomegranates or do I have to be concerned about orlah?

תשובה:

The two doughs cannot be combined for hafrashas challah because they taste different, and people are generally careful not to mix them up. However, according to some opinions they do combine if placed in a container together. If you did place both doughs in one container or bag together, it is best to separate challah without a brachah.

I made a batch of dough for yeast cake, and another batch of dough for my Shabbos challahs. Each batch on its own does not contain enough flour for hafrashas challah, but together they would. Can I combine them in order to separate challah?

תשובה:

If the owner neglects his trees, leaves the fruit to fall off the trees and rot, and doesn’t care at all who picks fruit from his trees, then the fruit is considered hefker (ownerless), and you are not required to separate terumos and ma’asros from it (assuming you pick a normal amount). If the owner tends to his trees, yet he gives permission to everyone to pick some fruit, it is doubtful whether the fruit is hefker or not, because the owner has not explicitly made it hefker. In such a case, we are unsure whether the fruit is considered hefker or a gift, and terumos and ma’asros should be separated without a brachah. Fruit growing on trees in public places is considered hefker if the local authorities do not pick the fruit or give the rights to the fruit to a specific person. Terumos and ma’asros are not separated from such fruit.  

There’s a man in our neighborhood who grows fruit trees in his yard and anyone who wants is allowed to come and pick the fruit . Do I have to separate terumos and ma’asros from the fruit that I pick? And what about fruit picked in public places where the authorities don’t harvest the fruit?

תשובה:

According to most poskim one must separate terumos and ma’asros from such produce, but without bracha since it might be from places that are patur, or from goyim, also maybe terumos and ma’asros were already seperatd.

When I was visiting the United States, I found Israeli fruit for sale in the grocery store. Do terumos and ma’asros need to be separated from this fruit?

תשובה:

It is forbidden to give someone produce that is tevel (i.e. ma’aser has not been separated from it). If you would like to give your friend the zechus of separating terumos and ma’asros with a brachah, place the produce on the table while it is still yours and ask your friend to separate ma’aser from it.

I have a few fruit trees in my garden, and I would like to give my friend the opportunity to do the mitzvah of separating terumos and ma’asros with a brachah. Am I allowed to give him a gift of fruit from which ma’aser has not been separated?

תשובה:

Dough that contains a minimum of 1.200 kg (2.645 lbs) of flour requires hafrashas challah without a brachah. According to some opinions, the minimum is 1.250 kg (2.755 lbs) of flour. To separate challah with a brachah, according to the opinion of Rav Chaim Naeh, the dough must contain a minimum of 1.666 kg (3.673 lbs) of flour. According to the opinion of the Chazon Ish, one should only separate challah with a brachah when using 2.250 kg (4.960 lbs) or more.    

What is the minimum amount of flour that requires hafrashas challah? And what’s the minimum amount for hafrashas challah with a brachah?

תשובה:

If you place all of the rolls together in a large container or plastic bag, they will combine to require hafrashas challah. It’s sufficient for them to be together in the container or bag for just a moment; after that they can be separated again. If the rolls were already packed in separate bags, according to some poskim, they should be removed from the bags and placed together in a large container or bag to require hafrashas challah. According to other opinions, they can be joined in a container or large bag even if they are packed in separate, smaller bags.

I was hosting sheva brachos and baked rolls from 3 kg (6.6 pounds) of flour, but because my mixer is small, I kneaded one kilo (2.2 lbs) of dough at a time and baked each batch separately. Now I want to put all of the rolls together and separate challah with a brachah. What should I do?