Ask the Rabbi
- Family and Society
- Mitzvot of the Land
- Trumos & Maasros - Genaral
Question
1) Recently, in ’Masechet Psachim’ I read that the wheat that grows in soil but without any contact to earth is ’Tevel’. Is it right for every plant or only for wheat?
2) Whether the sprouts that grow in the kitchen in water (and later without water and without soil) are ’Pri Haadama’? And if there is necessity in Trumot and Maasrot?
Answer
A plant which grows in a container which has holes in the bottom, even if it is not actually touching the ground, but is close, is considered attached to the ground, and the plants are Tevel Deoraita. If there are no holes, the plants are tevel Derabanan. This is true of all plants.
Sprouts which grow in water do not require Trumot and Ma’asrot, and their Bracha is Shehakol.

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