Kommentar zu Kilayim 1:11

Introduction to Kilayim
The word “kilayim” means mixture, either a mixture of seeds, plants, cross-bred animals or even cross-yoked animals. The Torah twice prohibits kilayim.

Leviticus 19:19
You shall not let your cattle mate with a different kind (kilayim); you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed (kilayim); you shall not put on cloth from a mixture of two kinds of material (kilayim shatnez).

Deuteronomy 22:9-11
You shall not sow your vineyard with a second kind of seed (kilayim), else the crop – from the seed you have sown – and the yield of the vineyard may not be used. You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. You shall not wear cloth combining wool and linen (shatnez).

The rabbis interpreted “You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed” to mean that planting two different kinds of seed in a field was forbidden and that grafting one type of plant onto another was also forbidden. “You shall not sow your vineyard with a second kind of seed” meant that one could not plant either grains or vegetables in a vineyard.

Planting two different kinds of seeds in one field is only prohibited if the seeds are mixed up together. If they are planted separately and there is a divider, one can plant two different kinds of seed in one field.

In total there are four types of kilayim: 1) kilayim of the vineyard; 2) kilayim of mixed seeds in a field—this prohibition includes a prohibition of grafting together different trees; 3) cross-breeding animals; 4) yoking two different types of animals together. Our tractate will discuss all four different types.

Good luck learning Tractate Kilayim!

Wheat and zunin do not constitute kilayim one with the other.
Barley and oats, spelt and rye, or beans and sapir (a type of, or purkdan and tofah (two similar types of, or white beans and kidney beans, do not constitute kilayim one with the other.
Our mishnah teaches that if two types of seeds, either grains or beans, are very similar to one another then they are not “kilayim” and one can plant a field with both of them mixed. Kilayim is prohibited only in cases of two distinct species of seed; if the two are almost interchangeable, then there is no prohibition. The mishnah therefore lists pairs of seeds that are not kilayim with each other. Since the mishnah’s meaning is quite simple, I have refrained from commenting below.
One problem in interpreting and translating this mishnah is that it is difficult to identify many of the species mentioned. Albeck provides various Latin terms, and all commentators attempt to identify the species, but some of their meanings have probably been lost. To avoid this problem, I have transliterated some of the terms rather than translate them. Thus “zunin” instead of “Cephalaria Syriaca” or “sapir” instead of “Vicia Narbonensis.” I realize that this may disappoint the hard-core botanists among you, but I can’t write these Latin terms and pretend I know what they are. The most important thing to know is that in each pair, the two species are very similar. So while I might not know what “zunin” is, I know it is similar to wheat.

Cucumbers and melons do not constitute kilayim one with the other.
Rabbi Judah said they do constitute kilayim.
Lettuce and wild lettuce, endives and wild endives, leek and wild leek, coriander and wild coriander, or mustard and Egyptian mustard, Egyptian gourd and the bitter gourd, or Egyptian beans and carob shaped beans do not constitute kilayim one with the other.
This mishnah continues listing pairs of seeds that do not constitute kilayim one with the other. While this admittedly may not be the most exciting topic of study, we should recognize how important these laws would have been to the farmers observing them. A farmer simply had to know what could and what could not be grown together. Growing the wrong things together may have made his produce forbidden to eat, causing him great financial loss. We should also note that by allowing similar seeds to grow together, the laws were much easier than the might have otherwise have been interpreted.
Again, there is not much to explain on this mishnah so I have refrained from commenting.

Turnips and the cabbage turnip, cabbage and cauliflower, beet and rumex do not constitute kilayim one with the other. Rabbi Akiva added: garlic and small wild garlic, onion and small wild onion, lupine and wild lupine do not constitute kilayim one with the other.
Again, the mishnah deals with pairs of seeds that may be grown together.

As for trees: the pear and the crustumenian pear, the medlar and azarolus, do not constitute kilayim one with the other.
The apple and the crab-apple, or the peach and almond, or the jujube and rimin, even though they are similar one to the other, they nevertheless constitute kilayim one with the other.
This mishnah begins to deal with kilayim in trees, meaning which trees may not be grafted one onto the other. Note that this section does not deal with planting, because there is no prohibition of planting different trees in juxtaposition. The only prohibition is grafting.
The first section of the mishnah continues to list trees that are not kilayim one with the other. That is, they are nearly the same species. In the second section, the mishnah begins to list trees that are indeed kilayim with one another. Although they look similar and are in some ways similar, they are distinct enough that one cannot graft them together.

The radish and the cabbage turnip, mustard and charlock mustard, Greek gourd with Egyptian gourd or [Greek gourd] with bitter gourd, even though they are similar one to the other, are nevertheless kilayim one with the other.
This mishnah returns to discussing kilayim in vegetables. In the earlier mishnayot (1-3) the mishnah listed vegetables that were similar enough not to be kilayim one with the other, and therefore permitted to plant together. In today’s mishnah we learn of vegetables that are similar but not similar enough and therefore are kilayim one with the other.
Note that the first five mishnayot form a chiastic structure, meaning an x-like literary structure (usually a-b-b-a, or perhaps a-b-c-b-a). We began with vegetables that are not kilayim (A1), continued with trees that are not kilayim (B1), then trees that are kilayim (B2) and finally vegetables that are kilayim (A2). This is a typical structure in rabbinic literature.

A wolf and a dog, a wild dog and a fox, a goat and a deer, a gazelle and a ewe-lamb, a horse and a mule, or a mule and a donkey, a donkey and a wild donkey, even though they are similar one to the other, constitute nevertheless, kilayim one with the other.
This is the final mishnah which lists species that are close to one another and yet nevertheless still constitute kilayim. This time the mishnah deals with animals, which means that they may not be cross-bred, nor may they be yoked together or put together to perform any labor. The mishnah will discuss these prohibitions in greater depth in chapter 8:1-2.
I realize that some of these species cannot successfully cross-breed, and some are not domesticated and therefore don’t perform work. It seems that the rabbis were theoretically interested in categorizing animals, even if there was no likely halakhic ramification. This may be as close as the mishnah gets to a “zoological” work, such as may have been written by ancient scientists like Aristotle.

Introduction This mishnah discusses the prohibition of grafting.

They may not graft from one tree to another, or from one vegetable to another, or from a tree to a vegetable, or from a vegetable to a tree. This section is in some ways a continuation of mishnayot four and five. The prohibition of grafting is also a prohibition of mixing different kinds of trees or vegetables two different kinds are prohibited. Assumedly, the mishnah relies on the lists already found above trees and vegetables that can be grown together, can also be grafted.

Rabbi Judah permits it from a vegetable to a tree. Rabbi Judah allows one to graft from a vegetable onto a tree (I don’t really know if this works). According to the Tosefta, he also allows from a tree onto a vegetable. The commentators explain that when a vegetable and tree are grafted together, a new species is not formed, even though they the plant grafted onto the mother plant benefits. According to Rabbi Judah, the Torah prohibits the formation of a new species, but does not prohibit grafting when new species will not be formed. The rabbis are stricter and rule that any grafting of different species is prohibited.

Introduction This mishnah forbids certain practices because they are considered grafting or close enough to it. These examples demonstrate cases in which a person might have “grafted” a vegetable onto a tree, a tree onto a vegetable or one vegetable onto another. I should note that “vegetable” in rabbinic literature means anything that is not a tree, grain or bean. Thus herbs are “vegetables.”

They may not plant vegetables in a trunk of a sycamore tree. It seems that people may have planted vegetables in the trunks of sycamore trees that had been cut down. Assumedly, the vegetables would be able to derive nutrients from the decomposing wood. Alas, while this might be a good idea, it is prohibited because of kilayim.

They may not graft rue on white cassia, since that is [grafting] a vegetable on a tree. A rue is a shrub, which falls in the vegetable family (according to rabbinic classification, of course) and a white cassia is a tree. Thus grafting the two together is prohibited.

They may not plant a young fig-shoot in sea squill so that it might provide shade for it. The sea squill is a bulbous plant whose roots grow deep. It seems that planting the young fig in the sea squill would help cool it by providing shade. However, this is kilayim and is therefore prohibited.

They may not insert a vine branch into a melon, in order that the latter might shoot its moisture to the former, since that is [grafting] a tree on a vegetable. A vine is considered a tree and a melon is a vegetable. Hence it is forbidden to stick the vine into the melon to use it as a source of moisture.

They may not place gourd seed into anchusa for the purpose of preserving it (the gourd, since that is [grafting] a vegetable on another vegetable. It seems that the moisture of the anchusa plant could be used to preserve gourd seed. Our mishnah teaches that although the intent here is not to actually graft one plant on another but just to preserve them, it is still forbidden due to kilayim, in this case one vegetable with another.

One who buries turnips or radishes beneath a vine, if some of their leaves are uncovered, he need not have fear [of having transgressed] kilayim, or the sabbatical year, or tithes and they may also be pulled up on Shabbat. The first section deals with someone who buries turnips or radishes in the ground not so that they will take root but so that they will stay cool. This was an ancient form of refrigeration. The mishnah rules that as long as some of their leaves are still exposed, we don’t consider the turnips or radishes to have been planted. Thus the person who buried them does not have to worry about having transgressed the laws of kilayim, or the prohibition of planting on the sabbatical year. If the plant grew more in the ground then he doesn’t have to tithe for the extra growth. On Shabbat he can take them out of the ground, and this is not considered “harvesting” because they weren’t really attached to the ground.

One who plants a [grain of] wheat and [a grain of] barley at one time, behold this is kilayim. According to the first opinion in the mishnah, planting two different grains together is already a violation of the laws of kilayim.

Rabbi Judah says: it is not kilayim unless there are two grains of wheat and two grains of barley, or one grain of wheat and two grains of barley, or a grain of wheat, a grain of barley and a grain of spelt. In contrast, Rabbi Judah holds that it is not a prohibition unless he plants three grains, two of one kind and one of another, or three different kinds.