Comentario sobre Kilayim 5:10

Introduction This mishnah deals with two vineyards that potentially do not count as vineyards. The first is a vineyard that has been partly ruined, and the second is a vineyard that was not planted in the way in which vineyards are normally planted.

A vineyard that has been [partly] ruined: if it is still possible to harvest ten vines within a bet seah, and they are planted according to halakhah, behold this is called a “poor vineyard.” If the vineyard was ruined but there are still ten usable vines within a field the size of a bet seah (2500 square cubits, about 25 meters by 25 meters), then these vines constitute a vineyard and all of the rules regarding a vineyard apply. The one caveat is that the vineyard has to have been planted according to halakhah, meaning two vines opposite two vines with a fifth vine forming a tail (see illustrations in 4:6). If there are less than ten vines or they were not planted according to the normal way then they don’t constitute a vineyard.

A vineyard planted in a mixed-up manner, if there remains an alignment of [one line of] two parallel [vines] opposite [a line of] three [vines], it constitutes a vineyard, but if not it is not a vineyard. Rabbi Meir says: since it is in appearance like a vineyard [in general], it is a vineyard. If a vineyard was planted in a mixed up manner, meaning not in the normal way (which the Mishnah terms “according to halakhah”) then these vines still constitute a vineyard if there is one section where the proper alignment (2 x 2, with a tail) remains. If no such alignment is found anywhere within this vineyard then it just doesn’t count as a vineyard. Rabbi Meir says that since there are a lot of vines here and it looks like a vineyard, it still counts as a vineyard even if the proper or normal alignment of vines doesn’t exist anywhere. Rabbi Meir might be concerned that if the sages did not treat this mixed up vineyard as a real vineyard people would become mixed up and treat real vineyards as if they too were not really vineyards (you might have to read that sentence a few times unless you too want to get mixed up!)

Introduction This mishnah deals with a vineyard where the vines have been planted less than four cubits one from the other, which is less than appropriate for a properly structured vineyard.

A vineyard that has been planted with less than four cubits [in between rows of vines]: Rabbi Shimon says: this is not a vineyard. But the sages say: it is a vineyard, and we look at the middle [rows] as if they were not there. According to Rabbi Shimon since there are not four cubits between each vine, they don’t constitute a vineyard. The sages say that we can treat the rows in between the outer rows as if they don’t exist and just look at the larger distance separating the outer rows. In this way, if there are more than two rows they will constitute a vineyard because there will be more than four cubits separating them. However, the sages would agree with Rabbi Shimon that if there are only two rows separated by less than four cubits, then there is no vineyard.

This mishnah deals with either a trench, a winepress or a mound that is found in a vineyard. The question asked is whether this space can be considered a separate domain such that it would be permitted to sow seeds there.

A trench passing through a vineyard, ten [handbreadths] deep and four wide: Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says: if it runs right through from the beginning of the vineyard to the end, it looks like it is in between two [separately owned] vineyards, and it is permitted to sow in it. But if it is not, it is [regarded] as [if it were part of] a winepress.
According to Rabbi Eliezer if the trench is ten handbreadths deep and four wide it is considered to be its own domain and not part of the vineyard. The depth causes the sides to be treated as if they were walls, and the width gives the trench significance. Furthermore, the trench must go all the way through the property from one end to the other, causing the two sides of the vineyard to look as if they were owned by different people. If the trench does not go all the way through the property, then he regards it in the same way that the sages in the next section regard a winepress and it will be forbidden to sow seeds there.

And as for a winepress in a vineyard, and [the winepress] is ten [handbreadths] deep and four wide: Rabbi Eliezer says: it is permitted to sow in it. But the sages prohibit.
Rabbi Eliezer permits one to sow seeds in a winepress (assumedly one no longer used) as long as it is ten handbreadths deep and four wide. Evidently, Rabbi Eliezer is more lenient than the other rabbis and doesn't require the winepress to pass through the entire length of the property. The other sages, however, disagree and hold like Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob that this is prohibited unless the trench/winepress runs from one end of the vineyard to the other.

A watchman’s mound in a vineyard, ten handbreadths high and four wide: it is permitted to sow in it. But if the ends of the vine-branches become intertwined over it, it is forbidden.
A watchman's mound is an elevated space upon which they would build a hut for the watchman to sit in while guarding the vineyard. If this mound is ten handbreadths high and four wide then they may sow seeds on it. However, if the ends of vines are entangled in the air over the mound then the mound is considered to be part of the vineyard and one cannot sow there. It seems that the trench, however, would be permitted even if the vines are entangled in the air over the trench. The reason would be that these vines do not come into the ten handbreadths of the depth of the trench, whereas they do come in the ten handbreadths of the height of the mound.

Introduction In yesterday’s mishnah we discussed a case where of a winepress or a trench going through a vineyard. In today’s mishnah we learn of an opposite situation, where a vine is found in the winepress.

A vine planted in a winepress or in a depression [in the ground], they leave it room to work on it, and one may sow on the rest. Rabbi Yose says: if there are not four cubits there, one may not bring seed there. If there is a vine found inside the winepress or in another depression in the ground, then all one has to do is leave space to work the vine (six handbreadths around the entire vine) and then he may plant the rest of the area. Rabbi Yose holds that if the winepress or depression is not four cubits by four cubits, then there can’t be enough space in it to work the vine and plant seeds. He can only plant seeds there if the winepress is more than four cubits by four cubits.

As for a house that is within a vineyard, it is permitted to sow there. A house is considered to be its own domain. Therefore, if there is a house within a vineyard, he can plant seeds inside the house, even if the vines above the house are intertwined. A house is different from a wall or a trench in that the house creates inner space.

Introduction Our mishnah begins to discuss what happens if seeds are planted in a vineyard. Deuteronomy 22:9 reads, “You shall not sow your vineyard with a second kind of seed (kilayim), else the crop from the seed you have sown and the yield of the vineyard may not be used (pen tikdash).” The rabbis understand the words “pen tikdash” to mean that one cannot derive any benefit at all from these crops. Furthermore, this prohibition is not just for one who plants kilayim, but also from one who allows kilayim that have already grown to remain in a vineyard. Our mishnah teaches how much of the vineyard becomes forbidden if kilayim are planted or even found there. The general principle is that the seeds cause all vines within a eight cubit radius (half of what the mishnah refers to as a 16 cubit diameter) to become prohibited.

One who plants a vegetable or leaves it to remain in a vineyard, he renders prohibited [as kilayim] forty-five vines. When is this so? When they were planted with either four or five [cubits between rows]. Picture a vineyard where the rows are separated by four cubits. If there are seeds in the middle of such rows and you draw a circle whose radius is 8 cubits around this point, it will turn out that 45 vines are within this radius (I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can draw this one). Therefore, all 45 vines are prohibited. If there are five cubits between each row, then only 37 vines will be within the circle. However, the mishnah still rules that 45 vines are prohibited because a person might make an error between four and five cubits.

If they were planted with either six or seven [cubits between rows] he renders prohibited as kilayim [the vines within an area of] sixteen cubits in every direction, in the form of a circle, not of a square. However, if there are more than four or five cubits between the rows, let’s say that there are six or seven cubits, then we simply draw a circle whose radius is 8 cubits around the seeds and any vine which falls in this radius is prohibited.

Introduction As we learned in yesterday’s mishnah, kilayim is caused not just when a person plants seeds in a vineyard, but also when one sees seeds and allows them to continue to grow. Our mishnah discusses how immediately a person must uproot the seeds that he sees growing in his vineyard.

One who sees a vegetable in a vineyard, and said: “When I reach it I will pluck it,” it is permitted. If while tending to the vineyard he sees the vegetable growing in the vineyard and says that he will pluck it when he gets to it, the vines have not become prohibited. This is true even if the vegetables grow in the meantime. Since he was not actually lazy and only said that he would pluck the vegetables when he got to them in his rounds through the vineyard, he is not penalized.

[But if he says:] “When I come back I will pluck it,” if [the vegetable] has [in the meantime] increased by a two-hundredth, it is forbidden. However, if he was near the vegetable and then said that he will pluck it when he gets back to it, then the vines will become prohibited if the vegetable grows 1/200 in the meantime. In other words, for the vines to become prohibited the vegetable has to grow a minimum amount of time after the moment that he first noticed it. Since he could have plucked them when he was there, he was lazy and the kilayim prohibition goes into effect. Interestingly, the amount it grew before he even noticed it does not cause the vines to become prohibited. We see here that the mere existence of kilayim doesn’t cause a prohibition. Rather there must be human involvement, either by planting the seeds in the vineyard or noticing them and allowing them to stay there. This will become even more obvious when we learn tomorrow’s mishnah.

Introduction This mishnah deals with various situations where seeds get into a vineyard without a person having intentionally planted them there.

If he was passing through a vineyard, and seeds fell from him, or [seeds] went [into the field] with manure, or with [irrigation] water, or if he was [in a grain field] scattering seed and the wind blew some behind him [into a vineyard], everything is permitted. Since he didn’t plant the seeds in the vineyard, rather they got there in ways that were unanticipated and perhaps even out of his control, they don’t create kilayim in the vineyard. The vineyard will only become prohibited if he subsequently sees them there and doesn’t uproot them.

If the wind blew the seed in front of him [into a vineyard], Rabbi Akiba says: If it has produced small shoots, he must turn the soil. If it has reached the stage of green ears, he must beat them out. If it has grown into grain, it must be burnt. In the previous section we learned that if the wind blew the seeds behind him into a vineyard, they don’t cause the vineyard to become prohibited. Here we learn that if the wind was blowing in front of him, he will have to uproot the seeds and destroy them. If only small shoots, then all he needs to do is turn the soil in order to uproot them. If it has made green ears of grain, then he must uproot the ears and beat them out so that it will be unusable. Finally, if it ripened and produced grain then the grain must be burnt. The Rambam adds that if he noticed the grain growing there and didn’t do anything about it, then the vines must be burnt as well, as we learned in yesterday’s mishnah.

Introduction Our mishnah returns to discuss what types of species are considered to be kilayim in a vineyard.

One who allows thorns to remain growing in a vineyard: Rabbi Eliezer says: he [thereby] prohibits [the vineyard]. But the sages say: he does not prohibit except if it something that is generally allowed to grow. According to Rabbi Eliezer, thorns are considered to be kilayim in a vineyard because in certain regions, according to the Talmud in Arabia, they grow thorns in the fields as camel fodder. Therefore, one who sees thorns growing in his vineyard and doesn’t remove them has caused the vineyard to become prohibited. The sages disagree and hold that unless that species is generally allowed to grow, then it cannot be considered kilayim in a vineyard. Since most people do not allow thorns to grow, they are not considered kilayim in a vineyard.

Iris, ivy, and the king’s lily, and all manner of seeds are not kilayim in a vineyard. This section further illustrates this principle. Iris, ivy and king’s lily are not generally grown for food, even for animal food, and hence they are not kilayim in a vineyard. Neither are any other types of seeds only grain and vegetables count as kilayim in a vineyard.

[As for] hemp: Rabbi Tarfon said: it is not kilayim, But the sages say it is kilayim. Hemp is not kilayim in a vineyard according to Rabbi Tarfon but it is according to the sages. Assumedly the sages think that it does count as food and that most people would grow it, and therefore it can be kilayim in a vineyard.

Artichokes are kilayim in a vineyard. Artichokes count as a vegetable and are therefore kilayim in a vineyard. They are also one of my favorite Friday night appetizers, but that is not why they are kilayim.