{"id":11954,"date":"2026-07-04T00:01:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T21:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=11954"},"modified":"2026-08-03T13:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T10:12:26","slug":"17-04-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-04-01\/","title":{"rendered":"01. The Prohibition Against Seed Kilayim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"direction: ltr\">The Torah prohibits sowing two types of seed together in a field in Eretz Yisrael. Each type must be sown on its own, as it says: \u201cYou shall keep My statutes\u2026 You shall not sow your field with <em>kilayim<\/em>\u201d (Vayikra 19:19). The word <em>kilayim<\/em> means \u201cmixture.\u201d This prohibition includes edible grains, legumes, and vegetables. Plant species grown for ornamentation or medicine, however, are not included.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">The prohibition against seed <em>kilayim<\/em> applies to annual crops: grain, legumes, and vegetables. There is no prohibition against planting different species of trees together, nor against planting trees together with an annual crop. Even when trees are intermingled, their size makes it clear that each tree has its own distinct place. The annual crops planted among them likewise have their own place, since trees grow upward and their roots spread far outward, leaving room for the annual crop to grow among them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">One who waters, fertilizes, weeds, or otherwise assists the growth of <em>kilayim<\/em> violates a Torah prohibition punishable by lashes. Even when <em>kilayim<\/em> grew on its own in his field, as long as he wants them there \u2013 or it appears as though he wants them there \u2013 he must uproot them, for one may not maintain <em>kilayim<\/em> in one\u2019s field (MT, Laws of Kilayim 1:1\u20133).<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">If one deliberately sowed <em>kilayim<\/em>, the produce may nevertheless be eaten. The prohibition is against sowing and cultivating <em>kilayim<\/em>; eating what grows from them is not prohibited (MT, Laws of Kilayim 1:7). Only with vineyard <em>kilayim<\/em> does the resulting produce become forbidden to eat.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">The prohibition against seed <em>kilayim<\/em> applies in Eretz Yisrael. Even on land owned by a gentile, a Jew may not sow <em>kilayim<\/em>. In the Diaspora, however, a Jew may sow seed <em>kilayim<\/em>, because the verse speaks of \u201cyour field,\u201d and only Eretz Yisrael is considered \u201cyour field\u201d for this purpose. The Sages did not prohibit seed <em>kilayim<\/em> there either; they prohibited only vineyard <em>kilayim<\/em> in the Diaspora, because it is more severe: one may neither eat its produce nor derive benefit from it (see below, section 7).<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">In Eretz Yisrael, it is also prohibited to sow two species together in a pot. If the pot is perforated, it is considered connected to the ground, and the prohibition applies by Torah law. If it is not perforated, it is detached from the ground, and the prohibition is rabbinic.<sup><a id=\"_te01ftnref4_1\" class=\"aup1\" href=\"#_te01ftn4_1\">[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<div>\n<hr style=\"direction: ltr\" size=\"1\" \/>\n<div>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\"><a id=\"_te01ftn4_1\" href=\"#_te01ftnref4_1\">[1]<\/a>. One who sows <em>kilayim<\/em> or performs an act that promotes their growth is liable to lashes. If the plants grew on their own and he wants them to remain, then for as long as he leaves them in place without uprooting them, he violates a Torah prohibition; however, he is not liable to lashes, because lashes are imposed only when a prohibition is violated through an action (<em>Yerushalmi<\/em>, <em>Kilayim<\/em> 8:1). This is the view of almost all Rishonim and most A\u1e25aronim. Some maintain that even this case is prohibited only rabbinically (Vilna Gaon; \u1e24azon Ish).<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">According to most authorities, the Torah prohibition applies when the seeds are sown <em>be-mapolat yad<\/em>, meaning that the two types of seed are cast by hand together. This includes any act that promotes their joint growth, such as covering them with soil, watering, fertilizing, or weeding (Tosafot; Rash; Vilna Gaon; and others). Some are stricter and maintain that one who sows one species beside another violates a Torah prohibition even if he does not later tend them together (<em>Kaftor Va-Fera\u1e25<\/em>; <em>Mishna Rishona<\/em>). Even today, <em>kilayim<\/em> is prohibited by Torah law within the territory settled by those who came up from Egypt (see below, 12:2, note 2).<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">Crops grown as animal fodder together with crops grown for human consumption constitute <em>kilayim<\/em>. However, all types of animal fodder are treated as a single species, so sowing different kinds of fodder together is not <em>kilayim<\/em> (<em>Kesef Mishneh<\/em>; Taz; and others). Some maintain that animal fodder is not subject to the prohibition against <em>kilayim<\/em> at all, even when sown together with crops grown for human consumption (Radbaz; <em>Mishpat Kohen<\/em> 26). Others maintain that any plant grown as a full field crop, such as cotton, is subject to <em>kilayim<\/em> when sown together with food crops, even though it is not itself grown for human consumption (Mabit). Some maintain that the prohibition against <em>kilayim<\/em> applies by Torah law even indoors (<em>Yeshu\u2019ot Malko<\/em> 1:1; \u1e24azon Ish), while others hold that it applies only rabbinically (<em>Mishpat Kohen<\/em> 49; <em>Eretz \u1e24emda<\/em>, pp. 21\u201322). In a greenhouse, however, it appears to apply by Torah law, since that is a standard way to grow such plants.<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Torah prohibits sowing two types of seed together in a field in Eretz Yisrael. Each type must be sown on its own, as it says: \u201cYou shall keep My statutes\u2026 You shall not sow your field with kilayim\u201d (Vayikra 19:19). The word kilayim means \u201cmixture.\u201d This prohibition includes edible grains, legumes, and vegetables. Plant [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-04"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>01. The Prohibition Against Seed Kilayim - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-04-01\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"01. 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