Why Was R’ Shimon bar Yochai Allowed to Eat Orlah

The Torah forbids the consumption of orlah, the fruits produced by a tree for the first three years (Vayikra 19:23). The Gemara in Shabbos (33b) relates that when R’ Shimon bar Yochai was forced to flee to a cave to save his life, a carob tree miraculously sprouted there to provide him sustenance. How was he permitted to eat the fruits, which are considered orlah?

1. Rav Yissochar Dov of Belz cites the Yerushalmi (Orlah 1:1), which rules that if a tree grows in a place that is not designed for human settlement, which was the case with the cave of Rabbi Shimon, it is exempt from the laws of orlah.
2. Rav Chaim Kanievsky (Derech Emunah, Hilchos Maaser Sheini 10:6) notes that the Rambam rules that if a tree grows on its own in a public area, such that its fruits are ownerless and available to all, the laws of orlah do not apply to it.
3. The M'rafsin Igri gives a few answers. First, a tree that grows miraculously is exempt from all laws governing fruits, such as orlah and ma’aser. Second, the tree may have already been planted elsewhere for more than three years, and if it was transferred to the cave together with its roots, and in such a case its fruits would be immediately permissible. Alternatively, Rabbi Shimon may have eaten the carob fruits while they were still small and not yet legally classified as fruits that are forbidden as orlah.
4. The Madanay Asher suggests that the fruits were permissible to R’ Shimon due to the principle of pikuach nefesh - one may transgress any prohibition, with three exceptions, to save one's life - and since he was trapped in the cave with nothing else to eat, he was permitted to eat fruits that would normally be orlah.

However, he notes that it would be unusual for Hashem to miraculously save R’ Shimon's life in a manner that would require him to eat otherwise-forbidden food, especially when many opinions maintain that forbidden food eaten to save one's life still causes spiritual damage to a person.