Practical Agricultural Halakha in Modern Israel:
Feeding the Animals in the Zoo
prepared by R. Eliezer Kwass

Implementing agricultural halakha in modern day Israel has presented some knotty problems, and the poskim have worked out some creative solutions. Dealing with Teruma today is a good example.

According to Torah law, an Israelite gives about 2% of his produce to a Kohen (Teruma gedola), and a Levite gives him 10% of what he got from an Israelite (Terumat Maaser). The Kohen eats that in a state of tahara, purity. The level of purity this requires, which entails using the ashes of a red heifer to remove impurity that comes from contact with the dead, is no longer possible today. And eating Teruma while in a state of impurity is a serious prohibition. Yet Teruma (today even a tiny bit is sufficient) and Terumat Maaser (about 1%) must still be taken off, otherwise the remainder of the produce is forbidden (and referred to as tevel). What can be done?

It could be taken off and buried or burned, but on a national scale this involves massive amounts of produce. So poskim have worked out the following solution. It is forbidden for a Kohen to give Teruma edible by the Kohen himself to his animals. But it is permissible to feed them impure Teruma, or, according to many authorities, Teruma that for some other reason cannot be eaten by a Kohen. Since now all of our Kohanim are impure, all of today's Teruma is inedible by humans. But it can be fed to a Kohen's animal. So poskim have directed many kibbutzim, private livestock owners, and zoos to give over legal ownership of their animals to a Kohen. They can now be fed the otherwise inedible Teruma and Terumat Maaser that has been taken off – today ammounting to slightly more than 1% of the original produce.

Note:
A farmer following the agricultural halakhot noticed an inconsistency between two pieces of halakhic advice he was given. He had transferred his animals to a Kohen in order to feed them the Teruma and Terumat Maaser he took off. However, he had also transferred partial ownership of his young cows to a non-Jew in order to avoid their first born calves having kedushat bekhor, a first born animal. First born animals were to be given to a Kohen to sacrifice in the times of the Temple, but today can only be used after they develop a mum, a blemish. Transferring ownership to a non-Jew is a standard way of circumventing this issue. However, can a cow partially owned by a non-Jew and partially by a Kohen eat humanly inedible Teruma? Ostensibly not. So he brought his dilemna to the Institute for the Research of Agriculture According to Torah, who presented the issue to Rav Elyashiv, shlita. For a discussion of the issues and the solution they arrived at see Rav Moshe Taval's article in the Institute's latest halakhic journal (We'll mail you a copy if you're interested.).