|
Encyclopedia
Judaica 1906
Orlah By :
Wilhelm Bacher Jacob Zallel
Lauterbach
Name of a treatise in the Mishnah,
Tosefta, and Yerushalmi, devoted to
a consideration of the law, found in
Lev. xix. 23-25, which ordains that
the fruit of a newly planted tree
shall be regarded as "'orlah" (A. V.
"uncircumcised") for the first three
years, and that therefore it may not
be eaten. This treatise is the tenth
in the mishnaic order Zera'im, and
is divided into three chapters,
containing thirty-five paragraphs in
all.
Ch. i.: The conditions which exempt
trees from or subject them to the
law of 'orlah (§§ 1-5); mixing of
young shoots of 'orlah or "kil'ayim"
with other young shoots (§ 6); parts
of the tree which are not considered
fruit, such as leaves, blossoms, and
sap, and which are therefore not
forbidden, either as 'orlah in the
case of a young tree, or to the
Nazarite in the case of the vine; it
is noted in passing, however, that
in the case of a tree dedicated to
idolatry (the Asherah) the use of
these parts in any way is likewise
forbidden (§ 7); the parts which are
considered fruit in reference to
'orlah, but not in reference to
"reba'i" (the fourth year); so that,
although these parts may not be
eaten during the first three years,
it is not obligatory to take them to
Jerusalem in the fourth year (§ 8;
comp. Lev. xix. 24); concerning the
planting of 'orlah shoots (§ 9).
Ch. ii.: On the mixing of oblations
("terumah"), the priests' share of
the dough ("callah"), firstlings
("bikkurm"), 'orlah, and kil'ayim
with things which may ordinarily be
eaten; the quantity of ordinary
things which renders a mixture
lawful in spite of the intermingling
of unlawful things (§ 1); unlawful
things which nullify one another
when two or more of them are mixed
with lawful things, and those which
are added together, so that a larger
quantity of lawful things must be in
the mixture if it is to be eaten (§§
2-3); cases in which ordinary dough
is leavened with leaven made of
oblations, 'orlah, or kil'ayim, or
food is seasoned with spices made of
the same ingredients (§§ 4-15);
other mixtures which are unlawful
(§§ 16-17).
Ch. iii.: On garments dyed with dye
made from 'orlah fruit (§§ 1-2); on
garments partly woven from the wool
of a firstling or the hair of a
Nazarite (§ 3); on bread baked in an
oven heated by the peelings of 'orlah,
and on food cooked on a hearth
heated in the same way (§§ 4-5); 'orlah
and kil'ayim which cause lawful
things mixed with them to become
unlawful, although the latter
constitute the larger portion of the
mixture (§§ 6-8); difference between
Palestine, Syria; and other
countries with reference to the laws
regarding 'orlah and kil'ayim (§ 9).
In the Tosefta the treatise 'Orlah
stands fourth in the order Zera'im,
and consists of a single chapter. In
the Palestinian Gemara to this
treatise the several mishnayot are
explained, and new regulations
regarding 'orlah are added.
Especially noteworthy is the passage
i. 2, which states that R. Ishmael,
by explaining the difference in
wording between Num. xv. 18, and
Lev. xix. 23, and deducing a law
there from (Sifre, Num. 110 [ed.
Friedmann, p. 31a]), violated the
principle which he had enunciated
elsewhere to the effect that
different expressions if they have
the same meaning may not be
explained in such a manner as to
permit of the deduction of different
laws.
|
