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>From today's OU Kosher Halacha Yomis</div>
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<p><strong><strong>Q. How does <em>Tu’bishvat</em> impact the counting of years of
<em>orlah</em> (prohibition of eating fruit from a tree during its first three years)?
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<p>A. The Torah states, “When you enter the land and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden for you, not to be eaten.” (Vayikra 19:23) From here we learn that one may not eat or derive benefit from
fruit that grew during the first three years of a tree’s existence. This fruit is called
<em>orlah</em>. This prohibition applies both in the land of Israel as well as in the diaspora. In Israel, fruit that grows in the fourth year has a special
<em>kedusha</em> (sanctity) known as “<em>neta revai</em>”. When calculating a tree’s first three years of existence for
<em>orlah</em>, the years need not be complete. Rather, if a new tree grew for a minimum of thirty days before Rosh Hashana, this is treated as the first year of the tree's existence. It is assumed that a tree does not begin to take root and grow until fourteen
days have elapsed after planting. Therefore, if a tree is planted on or before the 15 day of Av, which is 44 days before Rosh Hashana, the tree is considered one year old on Rosh Hashana, and Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the tree’s second year of growth.
If a tree is planted less than 44 days before Rosh Hashanah, one must wait until the following Rosh Hashanah (more than a year) to complete the first year of
<em>orlah</em>. However, even after the third Rosh Hashanah marks the completion of three years, the fruit which blossoms in the fourth year before
<em>Tu’bishvat</em> is treated as <em>orlah</em> as well. This is because this fruit was nourished from sap that the tree produced before Rosh Hashana. If fruit blossomed after
<em>Tu’bishvat</em> of the fourth year, we assume that the fruit was nourished from the current year’s sap, and the fruit is not
<em>orlah</em>. The Shach (YD 294:10) quotes the Rosh who notes that in our climate, trees don’t ordinarily blossom before
<em>Tu’bishvat</em>, so one may assume that all fruit that is found on the tree in the fourth year is not
<em>orlah</em>.</p>
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