Commentaire sur Démaï 1:3
הַלּוֹקֵחַ לְזֶרַע וְלִבְהֵמָה, קֶמַח לְעוֹרוֹת, שֶׁמֶן לְנֵר, שֶׁמֶן לָסוּךְ בּוֹ אֶת הַכֵּלִים, פָּטוּר מִן הַדְּמַאי. מִכְּזִיב וּלְהַלָּן, פָּטוּר מִן הַדְּמַאי. חַלַּת עַם הָאָרֶץ, וְהַמְדֻמָּע, וְהַלָּקוּחַ בְּכֶסֶף מַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי, וּשְׁיָרֵי הַמְּנָחוֹת, פְּטוּרִין מִן הַדְּמַאי. שֶׁמֶן עָרֵב, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי מְחַיְּבִין, וּבֵית הִלֵּל פּוֹטְרִין:
Celui qui achète pour les semences ou pour les animaux domestiques, de la farine pour la peau, de l'huile pour l'éclairage ou de l'huile pour la graisse d'ustensiles; [ceux-ci sont] exemptés de Demai . [Zones situées] de K'ziv et au-delà sont exemptés de Demai . La Challah [pâte qui doit être mise de côté pour le prêtre] d'un Am HaAretz , et un mélange de produits réguliers avec Terumah [produits consacrés pour la consommation sacerdotale], et celui qui a été acheté avec l'argent de la deuxième dîme, et le reste de l'offrande de repas, sont exemptés de Demai . L'huile parfumée est obligatoire par l'école de Shammai, et l'école de Hillel en exempte.
Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
הלוקח לזרע – he purchased grain to sow it, he is exempt [from tithes] with doubtfully tithed produce, whereas eatables which ae forbidden pending the separation of sacred gifts, is definitely prohibited to sow [with them].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Demai
Introduction
This mishnah teaches that the rules of demai apply only to cases where a person bought produce from an am haaretz in order to use it for food. If he bought the produce for another purpose, such as to feed his animals, then he need not separate out tithes.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
ולבהמה – he purchased from the beginning to feed his cattle he is exempt [from tithing] that which is doubtfully tithed. But if he purchased from the beginning for humans and changed his mind regarding it [and gave it] to his cattle, he is liable to tithe that which is doubtfully tithed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Demai
If a man bought [grain from an am haaretz] to be used for seed or for animal [feed], flour for hides, oil for a lamp, or oil for greasing utensils, it is exempt from [the rules of] demai. In these scenarios a person buys produce from an am haaretz but does not intend to use it as food. The mishnah rules that he need not separate tithes because even in cases of produce that has definitely not been tithed but is to be used for non-food, there is only a rabbinic law mandating that tithes be separated. From the Torah, such produce is exempt from tithes.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
וקמח לעורות – to tan the hides.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Demai
[Produce grown] beyond Cheziv and north is exempt from [the rules of] demai. Cheziv, or Achziv (Joshua 19:29), is in the northern part of Israel and is not considered to be part of the land of Israel. Produce from Cheziv and north is exempt from tithes, and certainly the laws of demai do not apply.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
מכזיב ולהלן – Keziv is the end of the place where those who came up from Babylonia conquered and from there and onwards, those who came up from Egypt conquered, but those who came up from Babylonia did not conquer, but they were not liable for [tithing] doubtfully tithed produce other than from those lands that those who came up from Babylonia conquered alone, therefore from Keziv and onwards is exempt from [tithing] that which is doubtfully tithed, and we don’t worry that perhaps from the produce of the Land [of Israel] that those who came up from Babylonia brought there, for the presumption of that which is outside the Land [of Israel] is exempt until it is known to you that it is liable, and the presumption of the Land of Israel is that it is obligatory until it is known to you that it is exempt.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Demai
The hallah of an am haaretz, produce mixed with terumah, produce bought with second tithe money, and the leftovers of minhah offerings are exempt from [the rules of] demai. There are four things listed in this section each of which is exempt from the rules of demai. 1. Hallah is a part of the dough separated and given to the priest (we shall have an entire tractate on this subject). The mishnah refers to the hallah of an am haaretz that he separated and gave to a priest. 2. Produce mixed with terumah refers to non-sanctified produce of an am haaretz that becomes mixed up with terumah. This mixture can only be eaten by priests. 3. Produce bought from an am haaretz with second tithe money. 4. The left-over minhah offerings of an am haaretz. In the Talmud Yerushalmi there is a debate over why these things are exempt from demai. According to one opinion, when the rabbis decreed that one must separate tithes from produce bought from an am haaretz, they did not include these things in the decree. The other opinion is that because these things have some extra holiness, we can assume that the am haaretz would have tithed them.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
חלת עם הארץ – that the kneader/baker who is a member of the order for the observance of Levitical laws in daily intercourse prepared for him and wants to give to it to a Kohen who is a member of the order of Levitical laws in daily intercourse is exempt from tithing.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Demai
Oil spiced [with spices from an am haaretz]: Bet Shammai makes it liable [to the rules of demai]. But Bet Hillel exempts it. According to Bet Shammai, although spiced oil is meant for anointing and not for food, it is still subject to the laws of demai. According to Bet Hillel, it is exempt.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
והמדומע – a person who does not observe certain religious customs concerning tithes that fell to him a Seah of heave-offering in less than one-hundred Seah of unconsecrated produce, that everything became mixed in proportions sufficient to make the whole prohibited to non-priests, that is to say, a mixture of heave-offering and he gives everything to a Kohen, he is exempt from tithing that which is doubtfully tithed.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
והלקוח בכסף מעשר – that he acquired doubtfully tithed produce with the monies of Second Tithe, whether they are the monies of Second Tithe of produce doubtfully tithed or with the monies of Second Tithe that are definitely [tithed], he is exempt from tithing.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
ושירי מנחות – that the person who takes a handful of the meal offering which the priest takes to be put on the altar and the left-overs are eaten by the Kohen and we don’t worry that perhaps a person who does not observe certain religious customs concerning tithes (i.e., an עם הארץ) brings something that is not legally fit for use by giving the priestly dues.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Demai
שמן ערב (spiced oil) – balsamum oil, and there are those who interpret olive coil that is combined with myrrh and aloe and spices.
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