[Avodah] New Year for Trees

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Jul 09, 2025 at 12:52:45PM -0400, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
> In Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Yomi, today begins Siman 173, Hilchos Orlah. I was
> surprised to find that - according to the Kitzur - the critical dates for
> establishing the age of a tree are 16 Av and 1 Tishre.
> 
> Tu B'Shvat is not mentioned at all by the Kitzur in this siman!

In case not everyone knows, I made Aliyah in December, and moved into
my new home in Jan. We redid the yard, and got two new fruit trees
(oranges and pomegranates, so join the already thriving pomelos).
Three year old trees, planted Rosh Chodesh Shevat.

First pragmatic bit.. Checking that the nursery can be trusted that
they didn't round up the age of the trees.

Second, making sure the trees were moved with sufficient dirt around
them to prevent restarting the clock.

But my LOR said that 2 weeks later, Tu biShvat, started their year of
neta revai.

So what do you see here?

Orlah is indeed RH to RH, because it's about the afe of a plant even
before it can produce fruit. (With the caveat that if a tree is planted
more than 44 days before RH, those 44 days are year one of orlah.)

But orlah doesn't end on RH. After the third year, we don't go by the
age of the tree, but which sap nourished the fruit. And that's when Tu
biShvat comes in.

So Neta Revai is fruit that blossoms after Tu biShvat after that last RH,
and ends with the fruit from blossoms after the TbS after that.

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Zion will be redeemed through justice,
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   and her returnees, through righteousness.
Author: Widen Your Tent
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF