NAALEH.COM and YU TORAH Productive Planting Parshat Acharei Mot -Kedushim 5773 By Mrs. Shira Smiles

In this class (shiur) Mrs. Shira Smiles discusses Parshat Acharei Mot - Kedushim Available online in streaming video, and for download in mp3 and mp4(Ipod video) formats Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein Among the mitzvoth in these parshiot is the mitzvah of orlah. The verses state: “When you come to the land and you shall plant any fruit tree … for three years [the fruit] shall be forbidden to you … In the fourth year all its fruit shall be sanctified to laud Hashem, And in the fifth year you may eat the fruit so that it will increase its crop for you – I am Hashem your God.” Like all the mitzvoth, the mitzvah of orlah can be understood in a broader manner than referring to the stated specifics of the particular mitzvah. What can we learn from the concept that for three years we help a tree to grow yet may make no use of its fruit, that the fourth year’s fruit is dedicated to praising Hashem, enjoying it or the proceeds from its sale only in Yerushalayim, and only in the fifth year may we enjoy its fruit without restriction?