Comentario sobre Sheviit 6:10

שלש ארצות לשביעית – they are divided for the matter of the law of the Seventh Year.

Introduction Our mishnah defines the territorial boundaries of the land of Israel with regard to the status of the produce grown in the sabbatical year. As we shall see, the Mishnah divides the land into three parts.

כל שהחזיקו עולי בבל (all-of the land- that was occupied by those who returned from Babylonia)- Ezra and his followers when they came up from Babylonia.

[The land of Israel is divided into] three territories with regard to the sabbatical law.
[Any produce grown in land] that was occupied by those who came up from Babylon, namely from Eretz Israel as far as Chezib, may not be eaten, nor [may its soil] be cultivated. The laws of the sabbatical year apply fully to any land occupied by the Israelites when they returned from the exile in Babylon. The southern border is called “Eretz Israel” and would seem to include all of the southern part of Israel. Chezib is north of Acco (my favorite beach in Israel is there it’s now called Achziv). The produce grown in this area cannot be eaten, which means that it must be eaten with the “sanctity of sabbatical produce.” One cannot store it once it can no longer be found in the fields.

לא נאכל ולא נעבד (may not be eaten, nor the land cultivated) – for the working of this land is forbidden in the Seventh Year, and if it is worked and it grows, it is prohibited to eat from those things that grow. Another explanation, and this is the essence, it is not eaten after the Seventh Year without removal and is not cultivated in the Seventh Year.

[Any produce grown in land] that was occupied by those who came up from Egypt, namely from Chezib to the river, and until Amonah, may be eaten, but [its soil] may not be cultivated. The laws of sheviit apply less fully to the land conquered by Joshua and those who came up from Egypt. This would include the land from Chezib to “the river.” Unfortunately, the mishnah does not answer what river it is talking about, and there are many different opinions as to the interpretation of this clause. According to Albeck, Amonah is the name of a mountain (see II Kings 5:12) which is opposite of Lebanon. There is a river that comes from the Amonah mountain and descends to Damascus. So “the river” and Amonah are actually the same place. The produce grown in this area may be eaten and it does not have the sanctity of sheviit produce. However, the land may not be cultivated. It is interesting that the Joshua’s conquering of this land did not bequeath permanent holiness to it. Once the Israelites were exiled, this land descended in holiness and since it was not reoccupied, it never recovered.

מכזיב ועד הנהר ועד אננום – Kezib is in a continuous line/stretched towards the north to the side of the east, and a strip goes out from Acre/Akko that sits/dwells on a square of the Land of Israel on the northeastern angle and that strip is drawn/stretched towards the north and goes until Kezib, and another strip is stretched from Acre/Akko towards the east and in it is the river mentioned here, and these two strips were conquered by those who came up from Egypt, and were not conquered by those who came up from Babylonia (following the first Exile in 586-516 BCE).

From the river till Amonah and inwards, [produce] may be eaten and [the soil] cultivated. This section is also somewhat difficult to explain because the word, “inwards” is not clear. Albeck explains that this refers to the land between Amonah and the sea. This would include Tyre and Sidon, which are today on the coast of Lebanon. This land was never conquered by the Israelites and therefore the laws of sheviit do not apply there at all, even though many Jews may have been living there during the mishnaic period.

ועד אמנום – this is Mount Hor that is written in the boundaries of the Land [of Israel] in the Torah portion אלה מסעי/”These were the marches [of the Israelites],” (Numbers 34:8): “From Mount Hor draw a line [to Lebo-Hamath, and let the boundary reach Zedad],” we translate in Aramaic in the Jerusalem [Talmud] the Mount of Amamum, and it is in the north of Land of Israel to the western side near the Great Sea (i.e., the Mediterranean Sea), and this also, those who came up from Babylonia did not conquer, therefore, it is eaten after the removal, and regarding the other language, if it (i.e., that land) was cultivated in the Seventh Year, it can be eaten, for the first holiness was sanctified only for that particular time, but was not sanctified for the future [days] to come , and is not worked, and regarding working [the land]/cultivation, they were more stringent to prohibit than the Rabbis.

מנהר ומאמנום ולפנים – such is written in all the books, and more, would be pleasant if we had had the reading "ולחוץ"/gong to outside [the Land]/ But it is possible to interpret in a forced manner “from the river and beyond – to the side of the river outward to the Land, and similarly, from the beginning of Mount Amanum and beyond to the side of the Mount is called “beyond/inside.”

עושים בתלוש – even with those who are suspected [of violating the Seventh Year by working the land], whereas in the Land of Israel, it is taught in the Mishnah (Tractate Sheviit, Chapter 5, Mishnah 9), that “she may not sift or grind [flour] with her [since the grain was gathered in violation of the law].”

Introduction Our mishnah refers to territory called “Syria”(not to be confused with modern Syria). This is land that was conquered by King David but was not conquered by Joshua. For many halakhot it has a semi-status, being in some ways treated like the land of Israel, but in other ways treated differently. We should note one other background law required to understand this mishnah. During the sabbatical year a farmer may not keep the produce that he grows in his field for himself. He is obligated to make it ownerless, such that anyone can come and take it. If he doesn’t make it ownerless then it is prohibited to work the field, as it is said in Leviticus 25:5, “You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untrimmed vines.” Our mishnah, according to most commentators, refers to a person who has not made his field ownerless, and therefore, may not work the field.

סוריא – Aram Naharayim and Aram Tzovah that David conquered, and it is not like the Land of Israel for all matters because it was conquered before he (i.e., David) conquered the entire land of Israel, and in some of the laws, it was made to be like the Land of Israel and in some of them, like the Diaspora/outside the Land of Israel.

In Syria, one may perform work on produce that has been detached, but not on produced attached [to the soil]. They may thresh, winnow, and tread [the grapes], or make [the grain] into sheaves, but they may not harvest [the crops], nor cut the grapes, nor harvest the olives. In Syria some types of work are permitted and some are prohibited. Any work done with produce that has already been detached from the ground may be performed. The mishnah explains that this refers to threshing or winnowing grain, treading on grapes or making sheaves. However, they may not harvest anything. Since Syria is not actually the land of Israel, harvesting is not prohibited biblically, and is only prohibited by decree of the rabbis. The Yerushalmi explains that the rabbis carved out a middle status for Syria. They did not allow one to harvest there, so that Jews wouldn’t abandon the land of Israel and go live in Syria. However, when it came to working with produce detached from the land, the rabbis were not so strict, thereby enabling people who couldn’t earn a living in Israel, to go to Syria for the year and earn some money there.

אבל לא במחובר – as for example, harvesting olives, harvesting [grain] and harvesting grapes, and especially that which is guarded, but that which is declared ownerless, even in the Land [of Israel], it is permitted, as it is taught in Torat Kohanim (the Halakhic Midrash on the Book of Leviticus), from that which is guarded/preserved, you cannot harvest grapes, but you may harvest grapes from that which is declared ownerless, and the reason that they decreed in Syria regarding that which is attached, in order that they should not leave the Land of Israel and reside in Syria, and regarding that which is detached, they permitted in order that the poor people that are in the land of Israel will find a bit of room/space in Syria which is close by to them, and they won’t have to leave from the Land of Israel to the Diaspora/outside the Land of Israel.

Rabbi Akiva said this principle: the kind of work that is permitted in Eretz Israel may also be done in Syria. Rabbi Akiva disagrees with the previous opinion and formulates a general rule that he applies to this situation. Anything that is permitted to do in Eretz Yisrael as long as it is done in an unusual manner, may be done in Syria in a usual manner (this is how Albeck understands Rabbi Akiva’s statement). For instance in Eretz Yisrael one cannot harvest grapes in a normal manner, but one can do so in an abnormal manner. Therefore, in Syria one can harvest even in a normal manner. Other commentators explain that Rabbi Akiva is formulating a general principle to explain the previous section. In Eretz Yisrael it is only forbidden derabanan (rabbinically) to work with detached produce, and therefore in Syria it is completely permitted.

כל שכיוצא בו מותר בא"י – according to the Torah, such as for example, something detached, even though from the Rabbis, it is prohibited without a change of form we perform it in Syria just as we normally do and we don’t need to change anything. Alternatively, this is what he said: All that is in a similar manner is permitted in the Land [of Israel] with something declared ownerless, they perform it in Syria, even with something guarded/preserved, but that which is attached is prohibited from the Rabbis in the Land [of Israel] even when it is declared ownerless.

בצלים שירדו עליהם גשמים – onions of the Sixth [Year] which entered into the Seventh [Year, and rain fell upon them and they grew, if the leaves blackened with the knowledge that they grew and added, and the growth of the Seventh Year came and nullified the essence, even though it is a lot. But if the leaves became green, they we go and they wither and it is not from the Land [of Israel] that they increased.

Introduction This mishnah deals with onions that were harvested in the sixth year and then left stored in the ground until the seventh year. In the seventh year rain falls on them and they sprout new leaves. The question is: are these onions considered to be seventh year produce because their sprouts grew in the seventh year?

אם יכולין ליתלש בעלין – it is the manner of onions when they are compee that leave on their own from the land and are easy to detach, and if the leaves are strong, and when you grab hold of them, you are able to detach the onions from the ground, then they have certainly grown during the Seventh Year.

Onions on which rain fell and which had sprouted, if their leaves had turned black, they are forbidden; if they had become green they are permitted. If the leaves of the onions sprouted and turned black, which Albeck explains to mean that they turned dark green, then they are considered to be sabbatical year produce, and they must be treated as such. However, if they become green and wilted (again, according to Albeck) then the sprouts do not count as if they grew from the land, but rather as if they grew from the onions. Hence, they are not treated as sabbatical year produce and they are permitted.

כנגד כן למוצאי שביעית מותרים – we are not speaking about onions of the Seventh Year that went out to the aftermath of the Seventh Year, fo we ae not lenient with them all that much, for the permitted growth of a little bit will raise the prohibition, but the ending clause [of the Mishnah] also speaks regarding onions of the Sixth Year that were uprooted in the Sixth Year and then return and were replanted in the Seventh Year, and after they grew a little bit in the Seventh Year, he uprooted them and replanted them in the Eighth Year, and because they had grown already in the Sixth Year, they did n’t add even a little bit in the Seventh Year, and they were prohibited, as when they returned and added a little bit in the Eighth Year, he retracted that permission and nullified the minute prohibition, for also that of the Sixth Year assisted to nullify it the end of permitted growh. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Hanina ben Antigonos.

Rabbi Hanina ben Antigonus says: if they can be plucked out by their leaves, they are forbidden. Rabbi Hanina says that the status of the onions depends on how strong the leaves are. If one can pull the onions out of the ground by the leaves, then the leaves are considered to have grown enough in the seventh year to prohibit the onions. But if one cannot pull the onions out by the leaves, then the leaves are insignificant and the onions are not prohibited.

In the year after the sabbatical year, the like of these are permitted. The same rules will apply in the opposite manner with regard to onions that were grown in the seventh year and rain fell on them in the eighth year. If one can pull them up by their leaves, then the leaves are treated as eight year produce, but if not they are treated as seventh year produce and are forbidden.

משיעשה כיוצא בו – from what is sown on the aftermath of the Seventh Year there is growth in a similar manner that we suspend concerning it; alternatively, because the permit is greaterthan the prohibition and it was abolished.

Introduction Our mishnah discusses when one can begin to trust that the vegetables he buys in eighth year, the year that follows the sabbatical year are not sabbatical year produce and therefore forbidden but rather actually are from the eighth year.

הבכיר – a place that its fruit ripens more quickly than in the rest of the places.

When may one buy vegetables at the outgoing of the sabbatical year [without fear that they are sabbatical produce]?
When enough time has passed for similar [vegetables] to grow. Once enough time has passed in the new year for similar vegetables to ripen, one can trust that a vegetable that he comes across in the market is from the eighth year and not the seventh year.

הותר האפל – for we assign it that he brought them from the place of those that ripen early.

Where produce ripens quickly, even that which is late in ripening is also permissible. Some vegetables grow quicker in some areas than in others. The mishnah is lenient and allows one who is in a place where the vegetables take longer to grow and have not yet ripened to buy a vegetable that may have come from a place where that vegetable has already ripened. In other words, since the vegetable might have come from that place, we assume that it did.

מוצאי שביעית מיד – because they would thing vegetables from outside the Land [of Israel] and it was greater than the vegetation of the Land of Israel. But I heard the reason since that in two or three days, [the new crop] of the same vegetable has become ripe.

Rabbi used to allow the buying of vegetables immediately after the sabbatical year was over. There are two reasons that Rabbi [Judah Hanasi] may have been so lenient and allowed one to buy vegetables immediately. First of all, he may have held that vegetables ripen quickly. If so, then “immediately” must mean after a minimum of a few days. Alternatively, he may have permitted the vegetable under the assumption that it came from outside the land of Israel, and such produce is always permitted. If this is the correct interpretation then “immediately” can be taken literally.

שמן שריפה – impure oil of heave-offering since it is fit for burning, they call it “burning oil,” and hey made an preference in the Land [of Israel] for burning, as we find in the ritually unfit holy things that are burned in their places, and similarly, the fruit/produce of the Seventh Year requires removal in the Land [of Israel] as it is written (Leviticus 25:7): “[and your cattle and the bests] in your land may eat all its yield. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

Introduction There are certain cases in which halakhah demands that certain types of produce be destroyed. Our mishnah teaches that such produce must be destroyed in the land of Israel and cannot be brought outside of the land.

One may not take oil [of terumah] that had to be burned, nor produce of the seventh year, from the land [of Israel] to other countries. There are two items mentioned here. The first is terumah oil that has become impure. Such oil must be burned and one can derive no benefit from it. The second is sabbatical year produce after the time when it must be destroyed (we shall learn more about this in the next chapter). It is forbidden to export either of these two things because they must be destroyed in the land of Israel. It would seem to me that there may also have been a suspicion that a person might take them out of the land of Israel and not destroy them at all.

Rabbi Shimon said: I have heard it expressly stated that they may be exported to Syria, but not to any other country outside the land. Rabbi Shimon says that he has heard a tradition whereby one can bring these things to Syria and destroy them there. Evidently in this matter Syria is treated as if it was part of the land of Israel. Compare this with mishnah two above.

אין מביאין תרומה מחוצה לארץ לארץ – since the heave-offering/Terumah, which Kohanim search after it to the granaries/threshing floors, the Rabis wee concerned that the Kohanim would pursue after it and they would go outside the Land [of Israel] to bring the Terumah. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

Introduction This mishnah deals with bringing terumah from outside of the land of Israel into Israel.

They may not import terumah from outside the land of Israel into Israel. The rabbis forbade importing terumah lest this encourage priests to go outside of the land of Israel and bring terumah back with them. This prohibition was created in order to discourage people from moving out of the land. It seems that they were not concerned lest a kohen move outside of Israel permanently because the terumah he received there could not be brought back with him.

Rabbi Shimon said: I have heard it expressly stated that they may be bring from Syria, but not from any other country outside the land. As he did with regard to yesterday’s mishnah, Rabbi Shimon says that Syria is exceptional and that a kohen who goes to Syria to get terumah can bring it back with him. Assumedly, he was not concerned lest the kohen travel too much to Syria to get terumah, because Syria is almost a part of the land of Israel.