[Avodah] Chodosh in Chul

[Prof. Levine]

There is an article about this topic by Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff at 
http://www.jerusalemkoshernews.com/2010/11/chodosh-in-chul/

In part he writes

Other authorities permitted the chutz la'aretz grain, relying on the 
minority of early poskim who treat chodosh as a mitzvah that applies 
only in Eretz Yisrael (Taz; Aruch Hashulchan). This is based on a 
Gemara that states that when something has not been ruled 
definitively, one may rely on a minority opinion under extenuating 
circumstances (Niddah 9b).

and

Another halachic basis to permit use of the new grain is that chodosh 
applies only to grain that grows in a field owned by a Jew, and not 
to grain grown in a field owned by a non-Jew. Since most fields are 
owned by gentiles, one can be lenient when one does not know the 
origin of the grain and assume that it was grown in a gentile's 
field, and it is therefore exempt from chodosh laws. This last 
approach, often referred to simply as "the Bach's heter," is the 
basis upon which most Ashkenazic Jewry relied.

In Conclusion
In explaining the reason for this mitzvah, Rav Hirsch notes that one 
of man's greatest enemies is success, for at that moment man easily 
forgets his Creator and views himself as master of his own success 
and his own destiny. For this reason, the Torah created several 
mitzvos whose goal is to remind and discipline us to always recognize 
Hashem's role. Among these is the mitzvah of chodosh, wherein we are 
forbidden from consuming the new grain until the offering of the 
korban omer, which thereby reminds us that this year's crop is all 
only because of Hashem (Horeb, Section 2 Chapter 42). Whether one 
follows the Bach's approach to the chodosh laws or not, one should 
make note every time he sees a reference to yoshon and chodosh to 
recognize that success is our enemy, and humility is our savior.

Yitzchok Levine 
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