<i>Kerem Revai</i> was brought to Jerusalem from a radius of a day-long journey. And what is its boundary? From Eilat in the south and Akrabat in the north. From Lod in the west and the Jordan river in the east. And when the produce increased, they decreed that it could be redeemed even up to the wall. And the matter was conditional—that whenever they wanted, the matter would revert to how it was originally. Rabbi Yosi says: This condition was made when the Temple was destroyed, and the condition was that whenever the Temple would be rebuilt, the matter would revert to how it was originally.
Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
כרם רבעי – it has the same law as that of Second Tithe, and one must bring the fruits up to Jerusalem and consume them there, either them or their redeemed monetary value, and the Sages ordained that a walk of [one] day all around Jerusalem they would bring up their fruits [themselves] in order to adorn the markets of Jerusalem with fruit, and since every person would consume the fourth year’s fruits of a young tree, the mark would become full of the rest of the fruits.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maaser Sheni
Introduction
As we learned in the introduction to yesterday’s mishnah, during the fourth year of its growth, the produce of a vineyard or an orchard must be brought to Jerusalem and eaten there. Our mishnah teaches that produce that grew more than a day’s journey from Jerusalem can be redeemed, like maaser sheni. The money would then be brought to Jerusalem and used to buy food there.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
שיהא נפדה סמוך לחומה – even the vineyard that is near the wall.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maaser Sheni
[The produce of] a vineyard in its fourth year was brought up to Jerusalem within a distance of one day’s journey on each side. Within a day’s walk on each side of Jerusalem, produce from fourth-year vineyards and orchards would be taken to Jerusalem and not redeemed.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
שאימתי שירצו – if the fruit would be diminished
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maaser Sheni
And what is the border [of a day’s journey on each side]? Eilat to the south, Akrabat on the north, Lod to the west, and the Jordan [river] to the east. “Eilat” in the Mishnah is of course, not modern Eilat, which is far more than a one day’s journey from Jerusalem. Some scholars say mishnaic Eilat was near Hebron.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
משחרב בית המקדש היה התנאי – not because the fruits increased, as has been said, but rather since the Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem came into the hands of the enemies, and they would not suspect to adorn the markets of Jerusalem with fruits.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maaser Sheni
When produce increased, it was decreed that it can be redeemed even if the vineyard was close to the wall. According to the mishnah, the rule that produce within a day’s walk from Jerusalem had to be brought to Jerusalem and could not be redeemed referred to a time when produce was scarce. At that time, to encourage people to bring their produce to Jerusalem, they wouldn’t allow people who lived close to Jerusalem to redeem it. Once produce became more plentiful, they began to allow people to redeem the produce even right next to the walls of Jerusalem.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maaser Sheni
And there was a stipulation on this matter, that whenever it was so desired, the arrangement would be restored as it had been before. When they changed the rule, they made a stipulation that whenever they wished to change the law back to its original state, they could do so. Interestingly, this implies that without this stipulation, it would have been difficult to change the law. In order to make the law flexible, they had to include in it a special stipulation that when they wanted to, they could change it again.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maaser Sheni
Rabbi Yose says: this was the stipulation after the Temple was destroyed, and the stipulation was that when the Temple should be rebuilt the arrangement would be restored as it had been before. Rabbi Yose relates a different version concerning when the law changed. When the Temple was destroyed they changed the law to allow one to redeem produce even right outside the walls of Jerusalem. At that time, they made a stipulation that when the Temple was rebuilt, it would again be forbidden to redeem fourth-year produce (and by extension, maaser sheni) within one day’s journey from Jerusalem.
