Wer es auf sich nimmt, vertrauenswürdig zu sein, muss den Zehnten geben, den er isst und den er verkauft und den er kauft, und er darf nicht als Gast eines Am HaAretz bleiben [einer, der den Zehnten und die Reinheit nachlässig beachtet Rechtsvorschriften]. Rabbi Yehudah sagt: "Auch wenn er Gast eines Am HaAretz ist , ist er vertrauenswürdig." Sie sagten zu ihm: "Wenn er für seinen eigenen Verbrauch nicht vertrauenswürdig ist, wie kann er dann mit dem vertrauenswürdig sein, was einem anderen gehört?"
Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
להיות נאמן – on the tithes and that his produce will not be doubtfully tithed from here and onwards.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Demai
Introduction
The opposite of an am haaretz, one who is assumed not to have tithed his produce, is one who is “ne’eman,” which means trustworthy. He is a person that one can trust to have tithed his produce. One who buys from such a person need not treat his produce as demai. Our mishnah teaches how one can be considered “ne’eman.”
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Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
את שהוא לוקח – [what he purchases] in order to sell, for whereas in order that he eats it, it is taught in the first clause [of our Mishnah]: “he tithes what he eats.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Demai
One who accepts upon himself to be trustworthy (ne’, must tithe whatever he eats and whatever he sells and whatever he buys, and he may not be the guest of an am haaretz. For a person to be considered “trustworthy,” meaning other people can buy and eat his produce without having to fear that the produce was untithed, he must be scrupulous in his personal observance of the laws of tithes. He must tithe whatever he eats, sells and buys. “Buying” here refers to buying something in order to sell it. He also, according to the first opinion in the mishnah, may not be a guest of an am haaretz, because that would mean he is probably eating untithed produce.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
ואת שהוא מוכר – from the produce of his lands.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Demai
Rabbi Judah says: even one who is the guest of an am haaretz can still be considered trustworthy. Rabbi Judah argues that even one who is guest at the table of an am haaretz can still be considered trustworthy. Perhaps this person trusts that this particular am haaretz did indeed tithe his food. At the least, the person might claim that he trusts the am haaretz not to feed him (the guest) any untithed produce.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
על עצמו אינו נאמן – for behold he consumes something that is not legally fit for use by giving the priestly dues when he is a guest with those who do not observed certain religious customs regarding tithes/עם הארץ. But Rabbi Yehuda holds that he doesn’t lose his trustworthiness through this. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Demai
They said to him: He is not trustworthy in respect of himself! How can he be considered trustworthy in respect of others? According to the sages, by eating with the am haaretz, he is not acting in a trustworthy manner in regard to that which he eats, because he may be eating untithed produce. If he is not trustworthy in regard to that which he himself eats, how can he be considered trustworthy with regard to that which he sells to others? Therefore, the sages hold that one who eats with an am haaretz is not trustworthy to sell tithed produce. Produce brought from him is considered demai.
