Si uno se vendió a sí mismo y a sus hijos (en servidumbre) a un no judío, no debe ser redimido, [si es que no lo hará, como cuando ya lo ha hecho dos o tres veces]; pero los niños son redimidos después de la muerte de su padre. Si alguien vendió su campo a un gentil, compra y trae bikkurim (primicias) de él (ver Rashi), para "el bien general". [Todos los años debe comprar sus primicias a los gentiles y llevarlas a Jerusalén. ("por el bien general" :) que no se acostumbrará a vender tierras en Eretz Israel a los gentiles, y que, si las vendiera, se esforzaría por redimirlas.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
אין פודין אותו – and he is accustomed to it, such as the case where he sold and resold and sold a third time.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Introduction
The two sections of this mishnah deal with a person who sold either himself, his children or his fields to a Gentile.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
לוקח ומביא ביכורים – In each year, one must purchase from the heathen the first of its fruits with money and bring them to Jerusalem.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
If a man sells himself and his children to a Gentile, he is not to be redeemed but his children are to be redeemed after the death of their father. If the Jewish community were to redeem a man who sold himself to a Gentile, others in the future would be encouraged to do so in order to raise money, and eventually it would become a serious financial burden. Therefore, the community is not allowed to redeem such a person. However, his children were sold through no fault of their own. In order to prevent them from being lost to the Jewish community they are redeemed after their father’s death. However, while he is still alive even they are not redeemed so that the father will not be encouraged to sell them again.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
מפני תקון העולם – so that he not be accustomed to sell land in the Land of Israel to heathens, and if he sold it, he work to return and redeem them.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
If a man sells his field to a Gentile, and an Israelite bought it back, he has to bring, the purchaser must bring first fruits from it, because of tikkun olam. There are two versions to this section, the one that I translated above, and another version which Rashi used. I will explain both. When a Gentile acquires land in Israel, the land still retains its holiness and therefore the first fruits (bikkurim) which grow from this land must be brought to Jerusalem, as is the rule with all first fruits. However, the person who buys the land from the Gentile might think that since the fruits grew while owned by the Gentile, he need not bring first fruits. To prevent this situation, the rabbis stated that the one who bought the land from the Gentile must bring first fruits. Note that according to this interpretation something done because of tikkun olam is also a “toraitic” law (deoraita). This is unusual and hence makes this interpretation tentative. The Talmud adds further complicated wrinkles to this mishnah to solve this problem. Rashi’s version reads, “If one sells his land to a Gentile, he must buy the first fruits and bring them.” This is easier to understand. The Gentile will obviously not do so himself and therefore if the Jew doesn’t go back and buy the first fruits, they will not be brought. Furthermore, this is a penalty on the person for selling his land to a Gentile.
