Commentary for Sheviit 2:9
הַבְּצָלִים הַסָּרִיסִים, וּפוֹל הַמִּצְרִי, שֶׁמָּנַע מֵהֶם מַיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים יוֹם לִפְנֵי רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, מִתְעַשְּׂרִין לְשֶׁעָבַר, וּמֻתָּרִים בַּשְּׁבִיעִית, וְאִם לָאו, אֲסוּרִים בַּשְּׁבִיעִית, וּמִתְעַשְּׂרִין לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה. וְשֶׁל בַּעַל שֶׁמָּנַע מֵהֶם מַיִם שְׁתֵּי עוֹנוֹת, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, שָׁלֹשׁ:
If one witheld water from seedless onions and Egyptian beans for thirty days prior to <i>Rosh Hashanah</i>, they are tithed according to the preceding year, and are permitted in the Sabbatical year. If not, they are forbidden in the Sabbatical year, and are tithed according to the following year. [The same is true for seedless onions and Egyptian beans planted] in a non-irrigated field, if one withheld [from those plantings] water for two watering cycles, these are the words of Rabbi Meir. The Sages say: [This is only true for] three [cycles].
Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
הבצלים והסריסים – which do not make seed like other onions.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
Introduction
This mishnah teaches that for some types of species the year in which they are tithed depends on how much water they have recently received and how much water they typically are irrigated.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
ופול המצרי – that was sown for herbs, for if it were seed, that which is taught in the Mishnah above (i.e., Mishnah 8), that we follow it after taking root, even if we didn’t prevent water from them.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
Seedless onions and Egyptian beans from which he withheld water for thirty days prior to Rosh Hashanah are tithed with the preceding year, and are permitted in the seventh year. This first section refers to a situation where these species are growing in an artificially-irrigated field. If these types of species had not been watered for thirty days before Rosh Hashanah then they are not treated as vegetables and they are tithed not according to the time that they are harvested (as are vegetables) but according to the previous year. They are also permitted in the seventh year, because they count as sixth year produce.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
שמנע מהם מים שלשים יום – they have departed from the law regarding vegetables that are grown on all water, and have been made like a field sufficiently watered by rain and requiring no artificial irrigation, that suffices with rain water, therefore, we tithe it as according to the previous year.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
And if not, they are forbidden in the seventh, and are tithed according to the following year. But if they are watered, then they go according to when they are harvested if during the sixth year, they are sixth year produce and if during the seventh year, they are seventh year produce.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
ושל בעל – a field which is in the valley and it is moist and there is no need to water it. But nevertheless, for vegetation, it requires watering, because of that which is taught that he deprived water from them for two seasons/periods of watering , the time of watering that is customary to water it is called an עונה/period, season, and the Halakha is according to the Sages.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
And [seedless onions and Egyptian beans grown in a] rain-irrigated field from which two periods of rain have been withheld, the words of Rabbi Meir. But the sages say: three. Seedless onions and Egyptian beans grown in a rain-irrigated field subsist mostly on rainwater but they do need occasional watering. However, since they need less artificial irrigation, the period in which water has been withheld must be greater than for the same species grown in a field that is always artificially irrigated. Therefore, if he withholds water from them before Rosh Hashanah for two periods in which he would have watered them, then they are tithed with the previous year and if the next year is the sabbatical year, the laws of sabbatical produce do not apply. This is according to Rabbi Meir, according to whom not watering them for two periods causes them to no longer be in the category of vegetables. The sages disagree and say that the onions and beans lose the status of vegetables only after three periods of irrigation are withheld from them.
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