Q&A: Agricultural Commandments in Our Time
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Agricultural Commandments in Our Time
Question
Many commandments in the Torah are agricultural commandments — commandments dependent on the Land, the pilgrimage festivals, the four species, the omer, and so on. How are we supposed to relate to this nowadays, when almost nobody is a farmer?
In exile I can still understand it, because we thought that when we returned to the Land it would become relevant. But then we returned to the Land and nobody is a farmer…
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. Whoever is a farmer will observe them, and whoever isn’t, won’t. There are no fewer Temple-related commandments, and they are not relevant at all in our time.