Replanting Orlah

Q. With respect to orlah, does replanting change the age of a fruit tree?

A. If a tree was uprooted with enough dirt so that it can survive as is without being replanted, the age of the tree remains the same. (Shulchan Aruch YD 294:19).

However, if unable to survive, it is treated as a new tree and the counting towards orlah begins anew. This is the case whether a person replanted an entire tree, branch or seed, or grafted a branch onto an existing tree. (Shulchan Aruch YD 294:16).

If a tree was transported in a pot without holes (known as an atzitz she’eino nakuv), it is unclear whether one restarts the orlah count (Derech Emunah, Neta Revai 10:65), even if the tree has enough dirt to survive. Some hold that the tree is no longer considered growing in the ground because the pot is a barrier between the dirt and the ground. The rule is that all doubts regarding orlah outside of Israel are permitted. Therefore, outside of Israel, if a tree wrapped in a ball of dirt was moved by truck or car which has no holes on the bottom, one would not need to restart the counting of orlah.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.