Tithing of an Etrog Picked After Rosh Hashanah
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Question
Hello, I would like to know about the status of an etrog picked from an ownerless orchard after Rosh Hashanah (with the owner's permission). Does it need to be tithed (according to the opinion that follows the picking), or is it considered ownerless according to all opinions, since the owner allows picking?
Answer
There is no need to tithe.
Source
Rambam (Shemita and Yovel, Chapter 4, Halacha 12), Kesef Mishneh (there), Chazon Ish (Shevi'it, Siman 7, sections 10, 14, 16; Siman 27, section 6).
The orchard owner declared it ownerless, and since it is completely ownerless, it is exempt from tithing. In practice, it is not ownerless only for Israel, as the orchard owner does not supervise the place at all.
In the case where the orchard owner did not explicitly declare it ownerless, the law follows the majority of the Rishonim who follow the blossoming, and it is a complete seventh year, but it is customary to be stringent like Rambam, according to Kesef Mishneh out of doubt [and then it needs to be tithed], and according to Chazon Ish, even according to Rambam, by the main law, they follow the blossoming, and it is a complete seventh year, therefore there is no need to tithe, but if it blossomed in the sixth, they are stringent to observe in the seventh the laws of the seventh, and also to tithe it, and also in a doubtful year if it is the second tithe and the tithe for the poor, they are stringent to tithe both, and so did Chazon Ish.