A person sows wheat and barley together in his field in the Diaspora. According to the Rambam, what is the halachic status of this act?
Halacha 3 explicitly states that it is permitted for a Jew to sow mixed species by hand in the Diaspora, and it is even permitted to mix the seeds at the outset. This was transmitted as an Oral Tradition.
Question 2
Someone plants a kernel of wheat and a kernel of barley in a pot that has no hole. What penalty does he incur?
Halacha 2 rules that sowing in a pot without a hole incurs only stripes for rebellious conduct (a Rabbinic penalty), because such a pot is not halachically connected to the earth and therefore no Scriptural commandment is violated.
Question 3
A Jew grafts a branch from an apple tree onto an esrog tree while living in the Diaspora. Is he liable?
Halacha 5 states that grafting a mixture of trees carries Torah-level lashes 'in any place, whether in Eretz Yisrael or in the Diaspora,' because the prohibition is derived via association with crossbreeding animals, giving it universal application.
Question 4
According to Halacha 8, in which category does flax seed belong?
Halacha 8 explicitly lists flax seed as belonging to the third category — garden seeds — defined as seeds that are not themselves fit for human consumption but whose fruit (or plant product) is used. Halacha 9 further classifies flax as a field-crop type of garden plant.
Question 5
A field produced a large crop of wheat from seeds that were sown together with barley in violation of kilayim. May the wheat be eaten?
Halacha 7 rules that even though the person is liable for lashes, the produce that grows from forbidden sowing or grafting 'is permitted to be eaten, even by the person who transgressed and sowed it,' because the Torah only forbade the act of sowing, not the resulting produce.