{"id":11946,"date":"2026-07-03T00:06:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=11946"},"modified":"2026-08-30T16:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T13:54:07","slug":"17-03-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-03-06\/","title":{"rendered":"6. BNEI NOA\u1e24 AND THE LAWS OF KILAYIM"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"direction: ltr\">According to most Rishonim and A\u1e25aronim, the prohibitions against grafting trees and breeding animals of different species apply to Bnei Noa\u1e25 as well, although they are not among the Seven Laws of Bnei Noa\u1e25. The verse states: \u201cYou shall keep My statutes\u201d (Vayikra 19:19), and the Sages derive from this: \u201cThe statutes that I already engraved for you\u201d \u2013 even before the giving of the Torah \u2013 \u201cyou must now keep.\u201d Similarly, the Torah states: \u201cThe earth brought forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good\u201d (Bereishit 1:12). From here we learn that these statutes are binding on Bnei Noa\u1e25 as well (<em>Sanhedrin<\/em> 60a; <em>She\u2019iltot<\/em>; Behag; Rambam; Riaz; Vilna Gaon; <em>Arukh<\/em> <em>ha-Shul\u1e25an<\/em>; Rav Kook).<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">Others disagree and maintain that Bnei Noa\u1e25 are not prohibited from grafting trees or breeding different animal species (Ritva, Rosh, and Radvaz). Even according to this view, however, a Jew may not ask a non-Jew to graft his tree or breed his animal. Just as a Jew may not ask a non-Jew to violate Shabbat on his behalf, he likewise may not ask him to perform other Torah prohibitions involving his property.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">Even according to the stringent view, the prohibition may apply to Bnei Noa\u1e25 only when the grafting is certainly prohibited. However, when there is uncertainty about the graft\u2019s halakhic status \u2013 for example, when the rootstock and scion may be two varieties of the same species \u2013 Bnei Noa\u1e25 are not prohibited from performing the graft (see <em>Mishpat<\/em> <em>Kohen<\/em> 13).<sup><a id=\"_te01ftnref3_5\" class=\"aup1\" href=\"#_te01ftn3_5\">[5]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<div>\n<hr style=\"direction: ltr\" size=\"1\" \/>\n<div>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\"><a id=\"_te01ftn3_5\" href=\"#_te01ftnref3_5\">[5]<\/a>. <em>Sanhedrin<\/em> 56a\u2013b states: \u201cThe Sages taught: Bnei Noa\u1e25 were commanded in seven mitzvot: establishing courts, blasphemy, idolatry, sexual immorality, bloodshed, theft, and eating a limb from a living animal\u2026 R. Elazar says: They were also commanded regarding <em>kilayim<\/em>. Bnei Noa\u1e25 may wear <em>kilayim<\/em> and sow <em>kilayim<\/em>. They are prohibited only from breeding animals and grafting trees.\u201d Rambam writes that these forms of <em>kilayim<\/em> are prohibited to them by received tradition (MT, Laws of Kings and Wars 10:6). Some explain that Rambam rules in accordance with the Sages. In their view, the Sages too agree that a gentile may not graft a tree. They merely maintain that he is not punished for this as he would be for violating one of the Seven Laws of Bnei Noa\u1e25 (<em>Arukh<\/em> <em>ha-Shul\u1e25an<\/em> YD 295:7). Others explain that Rambam rules in accordance with R. Elazar (Ran, <em>Sanhedrin<\/em> 56b; Vilna Gaon YD 295:4), since the derivation from \u201cthe statutes that I already engraved for you\u201d is cited in <em>Kiddushin<\/em> 39a as a settled teaching. Either way, most Rishonim and A\u1e25aronim maintain that by Torah law Bnei Noa\u1e25 may not graft trees or breed animals of different species. These include Behag, Laws of <em>Kilayim<\/em> \u00a74; <em>She\u2019iltot<\/em> \u00a799; <em>Hagahot<\/em> <em>Mordekhai<\/em>, <em>Gittin<\/em> 6:464; Riaz; Meiri; <em>Mishneh<\/em> <em>la-Melekh<\/em> to MT, Laws of Kilayim 1:6; Vilna Gaon YD 295:4; R. Akiva Eiger; <em>Arukh<\/em> <em>ha-Shul\u1e25an<\/em>; <em>\u1e24ukot<\/em> <em>Sadeh<\/em>; and Rav Kook, <em>\u1e24ukot ha-Aretz<\/em> 1:6.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">By contrast, Ritva (<em>Kiddushin<\/em> 39a), Rosh, Radvaz, and Shakh (YD 297, second \u00a73) maintain that the halakha follows the Sages and that a Ben Noa\u1e25 is not prohibited from grafting a tree. Nevertheless, even according to them, the Sages prohibited a Jew from telling a non-Jew to graft a Jew\u2019s tree, based on the law of <em>amira<\/em> <em>le-goy<\/em>, instructing a non-Jew to perform a prohibited act. This is also called <em>shevut<\/em> <em>be-sh\u2019ar<\/em> <em>issurim<\/em>, a rabbinic restriction against asking a non-Jew to perform other Torah prohibitions. We have learned that a Jew may not ask a non-Jew to do for him an act that the Torah forbids the Jew himself to perform. In <em>Bava<\/em> <em>Metzia<\/em> 90a, the Sages were uncertain whether <em>amira<\/em> <em>le-goy<\/em> applies even to a Torah prohibition that does not carry the death penalty. Because of this doubt, most Rishonim ruled stringently, as explained in <em>Peninei<\/em> <em>Halakha:<\/em> <em>Shevi\u2019it<\/em> 5, note 9. Based on this, Radvaz writes that one may ask a non-Jew to graft a tree if the intention is that afterward the Jew will buy the grafted tree from him and plant it (Radvaz on MT, Laws of Kilayim 1:6). As explained in the next note, according to Ritva and Radvaz, one may plant it even before the graft has fused. According to most poskim, this is permitted only after it has fused, while some are stringent and prohibit it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">However, according to most poskim, one may not ask a Ben Noa\u1e25 to perform an act of grafting that is prohibited even when he is grafting his own trees, because asking him to do so causes him to violate a prohibition. When the grafting itself is doubtful, however, one may be lenient. First, it seems likely that for Bnei Noa\u1e25 the prohibition applies only when the grafting is clearly prohibited, with no uncertainty. Even if we do not accept this, in a case of doubt there is effectively a <em>safek<\/em> <em>sfeika<\/em>, a double doubt, since we may also include the view that Bnei Noa\u1e25 are permitted to graft trees altogether (<em>\u1e24azon<\/em> <em>Ish<\/em>, <em>Kilayim<\/em> 1:1). For trees about which there is no such doubt, there would seem to be no solution. Nevertheless, it appears that one may be lenient with bench grafting \u2013 grafting dormant cuttings while they are detached from the ground. Only after they have been joined is the rootstock placed where it can take root. Since this form of grafting resembles hybridization and artificial insemination, it may not be prohibited, because it is performed while detached from the ground (see R. Yoel Friedman\u2019s article in <em>Emunat<\/em> <em>Itekha<\/em> 92). Even if we are concerned that bench grafting is prohibited for Jews, it is permitted for Bnei Noa\u1e25 on the basis of a <em>safek<\/em> <em>sfeika<\/em>. After the sapling has fully fused, it may be planted according to most poskim, as explained in the next section.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to most Rishonim and A\u1e25aronim, the prohibitions against grafting trees and breeding animals of different species apply to Bnei Noa\u1e25 as well, although they are not among the Seven Laws of Bnei Noa\u1e25. The verse states: \u201cYou shall keep My statutes\u201d (Vayikra 19:19), and the Sages derive from this: \u201cThe statutes that I already [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[224],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-03"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>6. 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