Rosh Hashanah marked the beginning of the third year after shemittah, when Jews in Eretz Yisroel begin separating ma’aser oni from fruits and vegetables instead of ma’aser sheini.
In honor of the occasion, Rav Yosef Efrati, one of Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv’s closest talmidim, spoke to the mashgichim of his Kashrus Lamehadrin hechsher of the importance of giving ma’aser oni to the poor, a factor that is unfortunately neglected by many kashrus organizations.
Due to the difficulty in giving nine percent of their produce to tzedokah on top of income tax and other expenses, poskim allow farms and businesses to rely on a Tosfos which rules that one can arrange with a poor person to give him all of one’s ma’aser oni, and then buy it back from him at a cheaper price.
{Matzav.com Israel News Bureau}
