Negative commandment · Lo Ta’aseh #192 of 613
Not to eat orlah for three years
שלא לאכול עורלה
The verse · Vayikra 19:23
וְכִי־תָבֹאוּ אֶל־הָאָרֶץ וּנְטַעְתֶּם כׇּל־עֵץ מַאֲכָל וַעֲרַלְתֶּם עׇרְלָתוֹ אֶת־פִּרְיוֹ שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים יִהְיֶה לָכֶם עֲרֵלִים לֹא יֵאָכֵל
“And when you shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then you shall reckon their fruit as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten.”
The Rambam’s words
Not to eat orlah for three years, as [Leviticus 19:23] states: "For three years, you must regard its fruit as a forbidden growth. It may not be eaten."
שלא לאכול עורלה, שנאמר "שלוש שנים, יהיה לכם ערלים--לא ייאכל" (ויקרא יט,כג).
Why · Sefer HaChinuch #246
To not eat orlah
“It is from the roots of the commandment that G-d wanted man to be inspired to praise G-d, blessed be He, with the beginning of the best fruits of his trees; so that the pleasantness of G-d, may He be blessed, and His blessing rest upon him, and [that] his fruits be blessed.”
Who & when
“And [it] is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females.”
Where in the Mishneh Torah
Hilchot Forbidden Foods הלכות מאכלות אסורות