Commentaire sur Arakhin 8:4
מַחֲרִים אָדָם מִצֹּאנוֹ וּמִבְּקָרוֹ, מֵעֲבָדָיו וּמִשִּׁפְחוֹתָיו הַכְּנַעֲנִים, וּמִשְּׂדֵה אֲחֻזָּתוֹ. וְאִם הֶחֱרִים אֶת כֻּלָּן, אֵינָן מֻחְרָמִין, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר. אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה, מָה אִם לַגָּבֹהַּ, אֵין אָדָם רַשַּׁאי לְהַחֲרִים אֶת כָּל נְכָסָיו, עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה שֶׁיְּהֵא אָדָם חַיָּב לִהְיוֹת חָס עַל נְכָסָיו:
Un homme peut proscrire [une partie] de son troupeau ou de son troupeau, de ses esclaves cananéens ou esclaves femelles ou de son champ héréditaire. Mais s'il les a tous proscrits, ils ne sont pas considérés [valablement] proscrits - [ce sont] les paroles de Rabbi Elazer. Le rabbin Elazar ben Azaryah a dit: tout comme en ce qui concerne [proscrire sa propriété] pour des affaires saintes, on n'est pas autorisé à proscrire tous ses biens, combien plus faut-il être prudent avec ses biens.
Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
מחרים אדם מצאנו – from part of his sheep. He says: Behold, they are property set apart for the priest’s use,” and he gives them to the Kohen.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Introduction
The remainder of chapter eight deals with Leviticus 27:28: “But of all that anyone owns, be it man or beast or land of his holding, nothing that he has proscribed for the Lord may be sold or redeemed; every proscribed thing is totally consecrated to the Lord.” From this verse we see that a person can devote part of his property to God. The word for “proscribed” is “herem.” According to the Torah, when a person “proscribes” any of his property to God it cannot be sold or redeemed. Rather it permanently becomes the property of the priests (see below in mishnah six).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
ואם החרים את כולן – that he did not leave for himself anything.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
A man may proscribe [part] of his flock or of his herd, of his Canaanite slaves or female slaves or of his field of possession. But if he proscribed all of them, they are not considered [validly] proscribed, the words of Rabbi Eliezer. A person can proscribe some of a certain type of possession. For instance, he can proscribe some of his flock, herd or slaves. But he cannot proscribe all of them, and if he tries to do so, they are not considered to be sacred. This halakhah may come from a midrash on the words “of all that anyone owns” and not “all that anyone owns.” The implication is that one cannot proscribe all of his property and not even all of any one type of property.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
אינן מוחרמין – as it states in Scripture (Leviticus 27:28): “But of all that anyone owns, [be it man or beast or land of his holding, nothing that he has proscribed for the LORD may be sold or redeemed],” and from his ancestral land. "מכל אשר לו"/"but of all [that anyone] owns", these are the movable properties, but not all the movables." "מאדם/anyone – these are the his slaves and Canaanite maidservants, but not all of them. "משדה אחוזתו"/”from land of his holding” – but not all of it. But the Halakah is not according to Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah, but rather, ab initio, one should not dedicate all of it for priest’s or sacred use, but if he did dedicate it, the are considered dedicated for priestly and/or sacred use.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah said: just as when it comes to the Highest One, one is not permitted to proscribe all of his possessions, how much more so should one be careful with his property. Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah learns a moral lesson from the previous halakhah. One is not allowed to dedicate all of a certain type of property to the Temple, because that would be too great of a loss to his estate. The Torah prevents a person from acting so rashly when it comes to his own property even though the designee of this proscription is God what could be better than that! From here we can draw the lesson that people should be careful not to lose their property, a lesson that we might heartily agree with, even after two thousand years. Indeed, to this day, when a person gives a large percentage of his property to charity, he is praised, but if he gives all of it away, leaving himself with nothing to live on, he is probably considered foolish.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
להיות חס על מכסיו – that he will not squander/give them away to a non-Kohen.
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