This poster from 1993 was used to inform the Haredi community about the permissibility of eating fruit. The Torah prohibits the eating of fruit from trees younger than three years and calls the fruit of these young trees orlah. The sign, sponsored by Badatz (Beit Din Tzedek – the high religious court) of the Orthodox Council of Jerusalem (Eida HaHaredit), explains that signs in grocery shops will warn consumers from buying orlah fruit.
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Orlah Commandment - The commandment regarding orlah is found in Leviticus 19:23 where it is written: ”When you enter the land and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden for you, not to be eaten.” This is one of a large collection of laws that refer to farming in the Land of Israel. Some of the laws direct farmers to offer a portion of their produce to God and other portions to the poor. While orlah is a religious law, it was of agricultural beneficial to the farmer since it ensured better produce in the following years. The Ramban (Nachmanides), a thirteenth-century medieval scholar, explained that one should give an offering of the first fruit to God but, since the produce of the first three years is poor, wait for the fourth year.
The Orthodox Council of Jerusalem - The Orthodox Council of Jerusalem (Eidah HaHaredit) is a large Ultra-Orthodox organization that has several thousand affiliate households. It is an anti-Zionist organisation known for its kashrut organization, Badatz (the Badatz HaEidah HaHaredit), which works outside of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel with its own kashrut certification. Badatz is an extremely strict level of kashrut and foods certified by Badatz are marked with their own highly recognizable symbol.
Pashkevils - This poster is an example of a genre of posters found in Ultra-Orthodox communities called pashkevils. They are the main means of communication within the community and are used to convey a wide range of messages, most often regarding religious laws and traditions.