I've often claimed that the purpose of Jewish law is to notice the world. The halachic imperatives urge us to ask questions about categories (kosher? pure? forbidden?), categories that have no sense in themselves, but the questioning wakes us up and makes us notice the world again (What blessing do I say on a pineapple? Wow, so that's how pineapples grow!).
That's more or less how I got into this question of grafting. I accidentally bought a plum tree that was on sale, then noticed that a) we don't have room in our house for a tree, and b) it was actually two plum trees grafted onto a root of what seemed to be something else.
That opened up a whole halachic journey, which led me to learn a bit about how the world works. The only way I manage to learn well these days is by preparing to teach, so I put together a shiur.
You can find all the Jewish and botanical sources I used here.
Then I recorded myself reading and pondering these texts on my podcast here. (Also available on spotify and apple and blablabla). It's a bit longer than usual - 27 minutes!
I was also excited so made a shorter youtube episode here, for visual people.
But all of that is just the beginning.... I felt I was too much in my own head, reading and trying to piece together the puzzle of what is going on behind the prohibition of grafting. I didn't know enough. So I decided to turn to some earthy friends, and some were kind enough to give me their time and thoughts.
My baby brother Kobi and his wife Chana were also perturbed by the grafting question, when they went to volunteer at a local permaculture collective near Manchester, and weren't sure what they were allowed to take part in. Kobi writes:
"I really enjoyed this shiur, especially as it explored a mitzvah that I didn't know much about, and tree grafting is not a subject I would naturally have associated with halacha.
Reb Josh made an interesting point that the Rabbis writing about kilei ha'ilan don't seem to know much about grafting or trees. It made me think about how Jews and Judaism have become more detached from the earth and the growing of our food.
I like the idea that the Torah, in prohibiting grafting, might be saying we need to appreciate our trees and their fruit in their most original form, as products of creation."
This idea was taken up by Shoshana in Berlin, fusing her halachic knowledge with her gardening practice.
Philosophically I would say that Lev 19:19 is probably saying: there is nothing equal in this world in terms of appearance and needs and every living being needs its own needs fulfilled, otherwise it can’t grow. In modern permaculture gardening you do the same: you try to give every plant its space and the neighbors it is comfortable with. If you are into eco gardening you also try to find „old species“, which are often not that big or that profitable that the modern bred varieties but which are more resilient. Of course you need always to look that they get enough „food“ (mulch) and space - which is again for me is referring to Lev 19:19. Strawberries just don’t grow well under maïs and the like.
Concerning animals I think it is good what Hashem put into this world.* Also here eco farmers and gardeners look for chicken (for example) which are old breeds. The mixing of cloth I always saw as a reminder of sorts - to build the awareness that there is a place for special features, for distinction, for uniqueness.
In my garden I often plant in rows or circular areas. Because nevertheless it makes sense to plant the plants in some distance from each other, in terms of harvesting and weeding, which is much more easy if you have designed areas.There are clearly defined places for the onions, the carrots, the fields of strawberries, and the trees all have some space around them which is only overgrown by wild flowers, which are not planted for being eaten. When you harvested one crop you can use the complete field for another new seed. If you have a lot of mixture, this is much more complicated. Halacha prohibits planting a crop species inside a vineyard. We hold our vine trees free from other plants, mainly because we know that they grow so much better when no other plants are taking away nutrients from the soil they are growing in.
With the speciality of the grafted trees I think I said already something (don’t remember right now, what) - but like R’ Yaakov Emden says it is forbidden for a Jew to do the actual grafting, but he is allowed to enjoy the fruits of a grafted produce. I know that there is a difference halachically between E’’Y and Chul - like Chul we are indeed allowed to plant a large variety of vegetables without much halachic concern. But I think it is very interesting how Halakha and common-sense-agriculture sometimes meet.
The interesting thing for me was to find out that in Germany (or Europe?) there are only grafted vine plants because of the Reblaus, an animal which killed all the original vines. Then they imported grafted vines from the US which are not destined to be eaten by the Reblaus. I don’t know what the Poskim who have a strikt opinion are making with that. I mean there are still the ones who think you should cut down the grafted trees in a garden you purchase and the like… Anyway - we buy grafted trees which are already some years old and are coming in a big pot, which means they are in the earth since some time already (halakhic knack).
Finally, Liam made a really interesting distinction between mixing trees and mixing seeds. What I like is that someone coming from the Torah world would never see that distinction, because the words are the same. But looking and listening and feeling and understanding the earth, Liam showed me a new perspective.
So the benefits of grafting are many and, thinking about it, the practice really reflects the typical ways we ‘master’ nature to get an edge on life. By that I mean that they would not happen naturally but the wonders of plant physiology allow it, and allow us to make a pretty penny. This is nothing new, but resonates especially in our materialist capitalist society. I can think of three good examples:
1) Grafting is super useful for businesses to increase efficiency and profit, as they can start growing straight away by grafting fruiting branches onto established root stock, thereby skipping the unproductive years and sculpting more manageable, uniform trees.
2) Grafting also helps to avoid risk, as it allows us to genetically manufacture resistance and immunity. For example, most European wine grapes are grown grafted onto one American rootstock which is resistant to the insect grape phylloxera.
3) It allows producers to meet demand for identical products in taste and look - which fits the bill for most commercial fruit trading, where knobbly veg is invariably thrown out.
So yes, clearly a useful tool for businesses and feeding people/customers. I also find this quite sad though. It reflects our transactional relationship with nature and leaves no room for chance or creativity. Not only does this take away the fun, but almost completely stopping (and often patenting!!) seeds through sexual reproduction, we miss out on endless potential characteristics of mixed and novel species. Ironically, this massively increases the risk of all of that type of eventually being destroyed by one pathogen/insect.
This makes me think that these biblical laws are preaching is to remain closer to the laws of nature, not to over-manufacture her goods, which are perfect in their imperfection.
The law on the non-mixing of seeds is an interesting one too. Whilst traditional agricultural wisdom follows a roughly monoculture rule (albeit with crop rotation), most progressive agricultural studies have moved away from this, recognising its tendency to leach soil of particular nutrients, be more liable to soil degradation, generally offer little in terms of year-round-pollination opps and habitats. Rather, dynamic agro-ecological techniques promote a diverse mix of growth in the same field, to boost vitamins and minerals, hold together the soil even in the depths of winter or heights of summer (thereby preventing soil degradation) and providing valuable habitats. This is proven (and amazing to see!) in field crops but also in orchards (agroforestry).
So back to what the bible said: in this case it promotes the state of nature farthest away from what would be found in the wild. So not reflecting the laws of nature, but perhaps contemporary understandings of how best to feed the people (?)
What to make of all of this? I don't have a magic understanding of all of this. More than anything, though, I appreciate the journey this took me on, and the conversations it opened up. Distinctions lead to connections.
אם אין דעת הבדלה מניין?
Welcome to write to me and share your thoughts! Happy month of Kislev!
Josh