Comentario sobre Arakhin 3:2
בִּשְׂדֵה אֲחֻזָּה לְהָקֵל וּלְהַחֲמִיר. כֵּיצַד. אֶחָד הַמַּקְדִּישׁ בְּחוֹלַת הַמָּחוֹז וְאֶחָד הַמַּקְדִּישׁ בְּפַרְדְּסוֹת סְבַּסְטִי, נוֹתֵן בְּזֶרַע חֹמֶר שְׂעֹרִים חֲמִשִּׁים שֶׁקֶל כֶּסֶף. וּבִשְׂדֵה מִקְנָה, נוֹתֵן אֶת שָׁוְיוֹ. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, אֶחָד שְׂדֵה אֲחֻזָּה וְאֶחָד שְׂדֵה מִקְנָה. מַה בֵּין שְׂדֵה אֲחֻזָּה לִשְׂדֵה מִקְנָה. אֶלָּא שֶׁבִּשְׂדֵה אֲחֻזָּה נוֹתֵן חֹמֶשׁ, וּבִשְׂדֵה מִקְנָה אֵינוֹ נוֹתֵן חֹמֶשׁ:
La ley del campo hereditario [dedicado] es a veces indulgente y a veces estricto. ¿Cómo es eso? Ya sea que uno dedique un campo en la llanura arenosa de Mahoz o en los huertos de Savaste, [para canjearlo] uno debe dar cincuenta shekalim de plata por [cada sección de campo suficiente para] la siembra de un jonrón de cebada. Pero si se trata de un campo [adquirido por] la compra, uno debe dar lo que vale. El rabino Eli'ezer dice: es lo mismo si es un campo hereditario o un campo [adquirido por] compra. ¿Cuál es la diferencia entre el campo hereditario y una compra [adquirida por]? [Al canjear] un campo hereditario uno debe dar el quinto [agregado], mientras que para un campo [adquirido por] la compra uno no necesita dar el quinto agregado.
Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
בחולת המחוז – around the city. That which is not all that praiseworthy because of the treading of the feet.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Introduction
Leviticus 27:16 states, “If anyone consecrates to the Lord any land that he holds, its assessment shall be in accordance with its seed requirement: fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed.” Verse 22 of the same chapter deals with a case where a person dedicated land that he purchased.
Our mishnah deals with both of these laws. The same topic will be discussed again later in tractate Arakhin.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
חולות – surrounding [of a town] (Jastrow defines this as the “sand-plain of the Mahoz (district of Semaria). Like (Tractate Kilayim, Chapter 4, Mishnah 2): “the outer space of the vineyard”/מחול הכרם.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
“The law of the field of possession is sometimes lenient and sometimes strict.”
How so? Whether one dedicates a field in the sandy plain of Mahoz or in the orchards of Savaste, [if he would redeem it] he must pay fifty shekels of silver for [every part of the field sufficient for] the sowing of a homer of barley. Similar to a case where a person dedicated the value of another human being, when one dedicates a field of possession, meaning one that is part of his ancestral inheritance, he must pay a fixed amount in order to redeem the field. That amount is set by the Torah as being fifty shekels of silver for every part of a field that can grow enough to sow a “homer” of barley. This is a standard amount set by what an average field can produce. It is not based on what the field actually dedicated produces. There are two regions mentioned in this section. The first is the sandy plains of a region called “Mahoz.” I do not know where this region is, but since there are many sandy regions in Israel, and “Mahoz” is a generic term meaning “the district” it probably could be in a variety of different places. Savaste is in Samaria. According to Albeck, Herod expanded this area and planted there gardens and orchards, and he was the one who called it by this name.
How so? Whether one dedicates a field in the sandy plain of Mahoz or in the orchards of Savaste, [if he would redeem it] he must pay fifty shekels of silver for [every part of the field sufficient for] the sowing of a homer of barley. Similar to a case where a person dedicated the value of another human being, when one dedicates a field of possession, meaning one that is part of his ancestral inheritance, he must pay a fixed amount in order to redeem the field. That amount is set by the Torah as being fifty shekels of silver for every part of a field that can grow enough to sow a “homer” of barley. This is a standard amount set by what an average field can produce. It is not based on what the field actually dedicated produces. There are two regions mentioned in this section. The first is the sandy plains of a region called “Mahoz.” I do not know where this region is, but since there are many sandy regions in Israel, and “Mahoz” is a generic term meaning “the district” it probably could be in a variety of different places. Savaste is in Samaria. According to Albeck, Herod expanded this area and planted there gardens and orchards, and he was the one who called it by this name.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
מחוז – a city. Another explanation of מחוז – name of a place where its fields are not important.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
But if it was a field which he bought, he must pay what it is worth. If he dedicated a field that he bought and not one that he inherited, when he redeems the field he owes whatever the field is actually worth.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
פרדסאות (pleasure gardens) – a place where there are a lot of gardens planted.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Rabbi Eliezer says: it is all the same whether it is a field of possession or one that he bought. What is the difference between the field of possession and one that he bought? A field of possession he must pay the [added] fifth, whereas for a field that he has bought he need not pay the added fifth. Rabbi Eliezer reads these verses differently and holds that in both cases, the person must redeem the field for fifty shekels of silver for [every part of the field sufficient for] the sowing of a homer of barley. The only difference between the two is that when one redeems a dedicated field of possession he must add an extra fifth (see Leviticus 27:19), whereas when one dedicates a field which he bought, he need not add the extra fifth. Chapter seven will deal more with this subject.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
סבסטי – name of a place. And the trees there are very exalted.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
בית זרע חומר שעורים בחמשים שקל כסף (see Leviticus 27:16: “[If anyone consecrates to the LORD any land that he holds,] its assessment shall be in accordance with its seed requirement: fifty shekels of silver to a HOMER of barley seed.”) If it is the beginning of the Jubilee cycle. But if not, he deducts from the years that have passed a Selah and a Pundiyon (i.e. 16 Perutah or 2 Issar) per year. [For every part of a field that suffices for] the vowing of a HOMER of barley, a place that is appropriate for sowing a KOR, that is thirty SEAH of barley, and it is larger than the place of sowing a KOR of wheat. But the person who dedicates the field of possession that is filled with trees, when he redeems them , he deems the trees at their worth, and then returns and redeems the land, its assessment shall be in accordance with its seed requirement: fifty shekels of silver to a HOMER of barley seed.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
ובשדה מקנה נותן את שויו – for in a field which he has bought, it is written (Leviticus 27:23): “The priest shall compute for him the proportionate assessment [up to the jubilee year, and he shall pay the assessment as of that day,” but the proportionate assessment is not other than the number of coins, which are according to what it is worth, and similar, it (i.e., the Torah) states (Numbers 31:28): “You shall exact a levy [for the LORD: in the case of the warriors who engaged in the campaign, one item in five hundred, of persons, oxen, asses, and sheep].”
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
אחד שדה אחוזה ואחד שדה מקנה – for it is stated [in the Torah] regarding the ancestral field/field of possession (Leviticus 27:18): “the priest shall compute,” and regarding the acquired field it is stated (Leviticus 27:23): “the priest shall compute for him [the proportionate assessment up to the jubilee year],” just as regarding an ancestral field it is a fixed amount, so also, it is a fixed amount for an acquired field, “which is fifty shekels of silver [for every part of a field that suffices for] the sowing of a HOMER of barley” (see Leviticus 27:16 -and Tractate Arakhin, Chapter 7, Mishnah 1).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
ובשדה מקנה אינו נותן חומש – that regarding an acquired field, it is written (Leviticus 27:23): “[the priest shall compute for him] the proportionate assessment [up to the jubilee year],” Scripture makes an analogy to valuation/Arakhin, just as regarding valuation, one does not include an added fifth, even with regard to an acquired field, one does not add a fifth. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer.
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