Kommentar zu Sheviit 4:10
מֵאֵימָתַי אֵין קוֹצְצִין אֶת הָאִילָן בַּשְּׁבִיעִית. בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, כָּל הָאִילָן מִשֶּׁיּוֹצִיא. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, הֶחָרוּבִין מִשֶּׁיְּשַׁלְשֵׁלוּ, וְהַגְּפָנִים מִשֶּׁיְּגָרְעוּ, וְהַזֵּיתִים מִשֶּׁיָּנֵצוּ, וּשְׁאָר כָּל אִילָן מִשֶּׁיּוֹצִיא. וְכָל הָאִילָן, כֵּיוָן שֶׁבָּא לְעוֹנַת הַמַּעַשְׂרוֹת, מֻתָּר לְקָצְצוֹ. כַּמָּה יְהֵא בַזַּיִת וְלֹא יְקֻצֶּנּוּ, רֹבַע. רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, הַכֹּל לְפִי הַזַּיִת:
Ab wann darf man im Sabbatjahr keinen [Obst-] Baum fällen? Das Haus von Shammai sagt, jeder Baum, sobald er produziert. Das Haus von Hillel sagt, Johannisbrot - sobald sie ein kettenartiges Aussehen gebildet haben; Trauben - sobald sie Kügelchen gebildet haben; Oliven - sobald sie geblüht haben; andere Bäume - sobald sie produziert haben. Und jeder Baum kann gefällt werden, sobald er seine Zehntenzeit erreicht hat. Wie viel muss ein Olivenbaum produzieren, damit er nicht gefällt werden kann? - eine Rova [spezifische Volumeneinheit]. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel sagt, es kommt auf den jeweiligen Olivenbaum an.
Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
אין קוצצין את האילן בשביעית – because the All-Merciful said, to eat them, but not to loss them, and I heard since the All-Merciful made them ownerless, for fruit, if he cut them down, he would rob the many.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
Introduction
During the seventh year it is forbidden to cause produce to come to ruin, because it must be for eating. Therefore, it is forbidden to cut down trees from the time that their fruit has begun to appear until the fruit is fully ripe. This is the period of time when the fruit needs to be on the tree in order to develop.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
משיוציא – the beginning of the leaves in the days of Nisan.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
From when may they no longer cut down trees in the seventh year? Bet Shammai says: every tree, after it has produced [fruit]. Bet Hillel says: carob trees after [the carobs] begin to droop, vines after the berries begin to be moist, olive-trees after they had blossomed, any other tree after it has produced [fruit]. According to Bet Shammai it is forbidden to cut down any fruit tree once the fruit has begun to appear on the tree. Bet Hillel gives different times for three of the most productive trees, the olive, the grape vine and the carob tree. In these three cases he seems to be slightly more lenient, allowing one to cut down the tree at a later period in its development than would Bet Shammai. However, when it comes to other trees, Bet Hillel agrees that it is forbidden from the time that the fruit begins to appear.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
משישלשלו (let them down) -when they begin to become heaven and to hang down like a chain.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
And any tree as soon as it reaches the season for tithes it may be cut down. Once the fruit has reached the season when it must be tithed before it is eaten (see above, mishnayot 7-9) the fruit is considered to be viable off the tree. Since the fruit can be used as food when picked, it is no longer considered to be ruining the fruit by cutting down the tree. Therefore, it is now permitted to cut down the entire tree.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
משיגרעו – when they make kernels of fruit/stones; another explanation: the half-ripe grapes when [the grapes] grow and they become like a white bean that is called inferior.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
How much should be on an olive tree such that it may not be cut down? A quarter [kav]. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: all depends on the olive-tree. This mishnah deals with a general prohibition of cutting down fruit-producing trees during any year. This prohibition is derived from Deuteronomy 20:19, which contains the prohibition of cutting down fruit-bearing trees when waging war. The olive tree is the most productive and important of the trees in the ancient Israeli economy, and, I should note, is still the most important agricultural product in many areas of Israel, especially certain Arab areas. According to the first opinion, if the tree can produce a quarter-kav of oil, then it cannot be cut down. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says that it all depends on the tree, its size and the type of oil that it produces.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
משינצו – when it grows a blossom, like (Song of Songs 2:12): “The blossoms have appeared in the land,” when they have reached these measurements it is forbidden to cut them in the Seventh Year.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
מותר לקצצו – and there is nothing here because of loss of the fruit, or because of theft, to the other language, for the fruit is already appropriate for eating, and because he cuts down good trees, it is not if it of great monetary worth, for its worth is expensive for wood more than for a tree.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
וכמה יהא בזית – It does not refer to the Seventh Year, but rather that it would be forbidden to cut it because cutting good trees, as it is written (Deuteronomy 20:19): “you may eat of them, but you must not cut them down.”
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
רובע –[one quarter] of a Kab, because it is considered greater from other trees, whereas, with the palm-tree, it is permitted to cut it until It is laden with a Kab.
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