3,398. Finding Produce

Hilchos Maaser 3:21

If someone finds fruit on the road, it need not be tithed. This is the case even if it was found next to an orchard of that same type of fruit. If one finds dried figs at a time when most people have already crushed their dried figs into cakes, they must be tithed; this is because we assume that they are from produce whose labors have already been completed. Similarly, if one found pieces of dried fig cakes, one must assume that they came from produce whose labors have already been completed.

Hilchos Maaser 3:22

If someone finds sheaves of wheat in a private domain, he must tithe them, but if they were found in a public domain, they are exempt. Large sheaves must be tithed wherever they are found. If one finds grain that has been straightened, he may take it as terumah and maaser for other grain without concern (that it may already have been tithed). A covered basket of produce that is found must be tithed. If one finds a basket somewhere that most people take such a thing to sell in the market, he may not snack from it and he must treat it as doubtfully tithed produce (demai). If most people in that location would bring such a basket home, he may snack from it and it must be tithed. If half of the locals would take such a basket to market and the other half would bring it home, then it is treated as demai; if he brings it home, he must tithe it. This is the case when it comes to produce that doesn’t have a specific stage for the completion of its labors. When it comes to produce that does have a specific stage for the completion of its labors, he must take maaser from this produce but he need not take terumah. This is because one can assume that terumah was taken when such labors were completed.