Commentary for Challah 4:11

העלה בכורות מבבל ולא קבלו ממנו – as it is written (Deuteronomy 14:23): “You shall consume the tithes of your new grain and wine and oil, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the LORD your God….”From the place that you bring the tithes of your new grain, you bring firstlings. From outside the Land of Israel where you do not bring the tithe of new grain, you do not bring firstlings.

Introduction This mishnah is a continuation of yesterday’s mishnah.

הביא בכורי יין ושמן ולא קבלו ממני – because the did not cut them from the beginning of this, for had he cut them from the beginning of this, they would have been permitted, and such is taught in the Mishnah in the last chapter of Terumot (Chapter 11, Mishnah 3): “They do not bring first fruits in the form of liquid except for that which is produced from olives and grapes.”

Ben Antigonus brought up firstlings from Babylon, but they did not accept from him. According to rabbinic law, one does not bring bekhorot, first-born animals, from outside the land of Israel.

פסח קטן – The Second Passover (see Numbers, Chapter 9, verses 1-15), and his children were small (i.e., minors) and only on the First Passover are they obligated (i.e. 14 Nisan) , for everyone is obligated in appearing [before God], as it is written (Exodus 23:17): “[Three times a year] all your males shall appear [before the Sovereign, the LORD],” but not on the Second Passover.

Joseph the priest brought first fruits of wine and oil, but they did not accept from him. The mistake of Joseph the priest was that he brought his first fruits in their processed form, as wine or oil, instead of bringing them as grapes or olives (see Terumot 11:3, for a conflicting opinion).

מאפמיא – we read it such, and it is the name of a place in Syria.

He also brought up his sons and members of his household to celebrate Pesah katan in Jerusalem, but they turned him back, so that the thing should not become firmly fixed as an obligation. Pesah Sheni, also called Pesah Katan, is on the fourteenth of Iyyar, the month after Nissan (Numbers 9:11), during which the first “real” Pesah is celebrated. It is the “make-up date” for those who could not offer their Pesah sacrifice on the first Pesah. Joseph the priest brought his children and member’s of his household with him to Jerusalem. The rabbis directed Joseph the priest to return them home because one is obligated to bring one’s family to Jerusalem only during the first Pesah (see Exodus 23:17). Note that it is not prohibited to bring the family for Pesah Katan, it is merely unnecessary. As such, his kids and other members of his household could have stayed in Jerusalem. However, if they had stayed people would have thought that it was obligatory to bring the members of one’s household to on Pesah Sheni. Hence the rabbis told him that he should demonstrate this by bringing them back immediately.

כקונה בפרוורי ירושלים – the fields of Jerusalem and the villages surrounding it. It is the translation of the open space outside of a place called Parva (name of a Persian building and magian – from whom a compartment in the Temple was supposed to have been named – see Mishnah Middot, Chapter 5, Mishnah 3).

Ariston brought his first fruits from Apamea and they accepted from him, because they said, one who buys [a field] in Syria is as one who buys [a field] in the outskirts of Jerusalem. The mishnah (and the tractate) ends with someone whose actions were accepted by the rabbis (whew!). Ariston (not a very Jewish sounding name) lived in Apamea which is in Syria. He brought his bikkurim from there to Jerusalem. The rabbis ruled that these were acceptable because when it comes to the laws of bikkurim, Syria is treated like a suburb of Jerusalem (Haffez Assad might not like this one). We should note that one does not bring terumah from Syria, but one does bring bikkurim. The reason for this difference is that a person who sets aside terumah is not obligated to bring it to the priests in Israel. Therefore we are concerned that priests will go outside of Israel to collect their terumah. In contrast, a person must bring his first fruits to Jerusalem. Therefore, there was no need to be concerned lest priests run off to collect their bikkurim outside of Israel. Congratulations! We have finished Hallah! It is a tradition at this point to thank God for helping us finish learning the tractate and to commit ourselves to going back and relearning it, so that we may not forget it and so that its lessons will stay with us for all of our lives. Hallah is special among the tractates that we have learned because it is still observed to this day outside of the land of Israel. This is not the place for instruction as to how to observe this halakhah, but I hope that learning the tractate but I hope that it has given people “food for thought” (pun intended) as to the observance of this commandment. Of course, despite the fact that we learned that one doesn’t bring hallah from outside the land to Israel, there is no prohibition for bring delicious hallot to a hungry Talmudist living in the land of Israel…☺ Tomorrow we begin Tractate Orlah.