Commentary for Maasrot 5:5
הַלּוֹקֵחַ שְׂדֵה יָרָק בְּסוּרְיָא, אִם עַד שֶׁלֹּא בָא לְעוֹנַת הַמַּעַשְׂרוֹת, חַיָּב. וּמִשֶּׁבָּא לְעוֹנַת הַמַּעַשְׂרוֹת, פָּטוּר, וְלוֹקֵט כְּדַרְכּוֹ וְהוֹלֵךְ. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, אַף יִשְׂכֹּר פּוֹעֲלִים וִילַקֵּט. אָמַר רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, בַּמֶּה דְבָרִים אֲמוּרִים, בִּזְמַן שֶׁקָּנָה קַרְקַע, אֲבָל בִּזְמַן שֶׁלֹּא קָנָה קַרְקַע, אִם עַד שֶׁלֹּא בָא לְעוֹנַת הַמַּעַשְׂרוֹת, פָּטוּר. רַבִּי אוֹמֵר, אַף לְפִי חֶשְׁבּוֹן:
One who buys a vegetable field in Syria: If [when he bought it] the season for tithing had not yet arrived, he is required [to tithe]. If the season for tithing had arrived, he is exempt, and he may go on gathering in his usual manner. Rabbi Yehudah says: he may even hire workers and gather. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: When does this apply? When he has bought the land. But when he has not bought the land, [even] if the season for tithing had not yet arrived, he is exempt. Rabbi [Yehudah HaNassi] says: he must also separate [tithes] according to calculation.
Bartenura on Mishnah Maasrot
הלוקח שדה ירק – from the heathen.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maasrot
Introduction
In rabbinic language “Syria” refers to the land that borders Israel to the north and east but is not considered fully part of Israel. The rules of tithing and terumah do apply to produce grown by a Jew in Syria but one who purchases produce in Syria can assume that it grew on gentile land and is therefore exempt from the laws of tithing and terumah. Our mishnah deals with a person who is buying land in Syria from a Gentile, and the land has produce growing on it that is in various stages of growth.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maasrot
בסוריא – they are the lands that [King] David conquered, such as Damascus, Aram Naharayim and Aram Zovah. But in some of the things, he made them like the Land of Israel, and in some of them, not.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maasrot
One who buys a field of vegetables in Syria: If before the season for tithing arrived, then he is liable to tithe. If after the season for tithing he is exempt, and he may go on gathering in his usual manner. Rabbi Judah says: he may even hire workers and gather. If he buys a field from a Gentile before the season for tithing the vegetables in the field has arrived, then he is liable to tithe because the vegetables became liable for tithes under his (Jewish) ownership. However, if he buys the field after the season for tithing has already arrived, he need not tithe the vegetables. Furthermore, even if the vegetables continue to grow after this time, he may still collect them and eat without tithing. In contrast, in the land of Israel when one buys a field from a non-Jew he always must tithe the produce, no matter when he buys it.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maasrot
אם עד שלא בא לעונת המעשרות חייב – since for at the time that they come towards the liability [for tithing], they are in the possession of an Israelite. But if if the time of the liability [for tithing arrived when it was in the possession of an idolater, he is exempt [from tithing].And regarding this thing, they made Syria like the conquest of an individual, which is not called a conquest.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maasrot
Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: When does this apply? If he has bought the land. But if, he has not bought the land, even before the season for tithing arrived he is exempt. Rabbi Judah adds that he may even hire workers to help him collect the added growth from the produce, even though this will cause more people to know that he is not tithing this field.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maasrot
ולוקט כדרכו – and he is exempt from tithing even what was added in his possession. But he should not hire workers, for we are concerned that perhaps they will come to work this, even in a field that he purchased even before the time arrived for tithing. But Rabbi Yehuda did not make [this] decree.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maasrot
Rabbi [Judah Hanasi] says: he must also tithe according to calculation. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says that he is liable to tithe the produce in this field only if he bought the land. If he didn’t buy the land, but was only renting the land, then the produce is always exempt from tithes.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maasrot
פטור – even though he doesn’t have in the body of the land anything.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maasrot
Rabbi holds that when he is exempt from tithing, he is still liable to tithe on the percentage of growth that the vegetable experienced after he bought it. Thus if he buys the field after the season for tithing has arrived, he is exempt from tithing on the growth that occurred before this season, but he is liable to tithe for the percentage of growth that took place after he bought the field.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maasrot
רבי יהודה אומר אף לפי חשבון – He is referring to the matter of the first Tanna/teacher. But this is what he said: that just as he is liable [for tithing] if he purchased prior to the arrival of the time for tithing, to tithe on everything, that is so, that he is liable [for tithing] if the season for tithing has arrived, to tithe according to the percentage that was added to his possession, such as for example, if they brought one-third in the hand of the heathen, he is liable to tithe on the two-thirds that were added to his possession. But the Halakha is according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel.
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