What is "orlah"

Orlah ( Hebrew: ערלה, lit. "Blockage of Trees") is the tenth tractate of Seder Zeraim ("Order of Seeds") of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. It discusses the laws pertaining to any fruit bearing tree, whose fruits cannot be eaten during the first three years the tree produces fruit. This law applies everywhere and for all time in Jewish communities and for any fruit bearing tree owned by a Jew. Then it discusses the laws of "Neta Revai", by which produce of the fourth year is to be treated like " Maaser Sheni".

The prohibition on orlah-fruit (lit. "uncircumcised" fruit) is a command found in the Bible not to eat fruit produced by a tree during the first three years after planting. The Hebrew word orlah literally means "uncircumcised". This meaning is often footnoted in English translations:

In rabbinical writings the orlah-prohibition ( Hebrew: איסור ערלה) is counted as one of the negative commandments among the rabbinical enumeration of 613 commandments. Outside Israel the prohibition applies to a certain degree.