Last week, terumos and ma'asros were separated
from wheat which was harvested for baking matzos for Pesach
5760, at the Matzos Hamehudoros Bakery -- Yad Binyomin.
Present at the occasion were the members of the BaDaTz of
Shearis Yisroel: HaRav Tzvi Weber and HaRav A. Halevi
Dunner, as well as HaRav Shoul Reichenberg, the head of the
Keren Hamaasros committee, and the kashrus supervisors of
Shearis Yisroel.
Two weeks ago, the harvesting of the wheat was completed at a
special ceremony attended by the gaavad, HaRav Chaim
Shoul Karelitz; the ravad of Kedassia of London, HaRav
Yosef Tzvi Halevi Dunner; the members of the BaDaTz of
Shearis Yisroel; HaRav Tzvi Friedman and HaRav E. Halevi
Dunner, as well as by HaRav Y. Chesner, the moreh
tzeddek of the chareidi community of Ofakim.
After the harvesting and cleaning, the wheat was placed in
large, hermetically sealed sacks and transferred, under
constant supervision, to the granaries in Yad Binyomin. The
granary where the ma'aser was taken from approximately
200 tons of produce, is near the mill.
An elevated mood prevailed at the granary when the members of
the BaDaTz arrived for the ceremony. For a long while before
the actual separation of the ma'aser, the rabbonim
deliberated on the finer points of the halocho, and
determined the final nusach to be used. This was done
very meticulously, and in line with the particulars of the
produce before them.
The terumos and ma'asros were separated by
Rabbi Shmaya Yosofovitz, the owner of the bakery. Immediately
after the separation, the two tons of terumas ma'aser
were transferred to a nearby chareidi farm, which has 12
animals acquired by a Kohen.
The rights to ma'aser rishon were transferred by the
owner of the bakery to HaRav Dunner, who in turn presented
them back to the owner of the bakery, for their full cost.
This was done according to the guidelines of the halachic
authorities of our times, who advised following such a
procedure so that the acquisition would not be a feigned
one.
The ceremony was conducted with cherdas kodesh, in
order to fulfill the mitzvos of terumos and
ma'asros in the most scrupulous manner possible, as is
customary in the kashrus network of Shearis Yisroel. The
rabbonim blessed the bakery's owner that he be able to
prepare superior quality matzos for many years for the
bnei Torah community which is stringent about kashrus.
