Commentaire sur Ma'aser Sheni 5:9
מִי שֶׁהָיוּ פֵרוֹתָיו רְחוֹקִים מִמֶּנּוּ, צָרִיךְ לִקְרוֹא לָהֶם שֵׁם. מַעֲשֶׂה בְרַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל וְהַזְּקֵנִים שֶׁהָיוּ בָאִין בִּסְפִינָה, אָמַר רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, עִשּׂוּר שֶׁאֲנִי עָתִיד לָמוֹד, נָתוּן לִיהוֹשֻׁעַ, וּמְקוֹמוֹ מֻשְׂכָּר לוֹ. עִשּׂוּר אַחֵר שֶׁאֲנִי עָתִיד לָמֹד, נָתוּן לַעֲקִיבָא בֶן יוֹסֵף שֶׁיִּזְכֶּה בוֹ לָעֲנִיִּים, וּמְקוֹמוֹ מֻשְׂכָּר לוֹ. אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, עִשּׂוּר שֶׁאֲנִי עָתִיד לָמוֹד נָתוּן לְאֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה, וּמְקוֹמוֹ מֻשְׂכָּר לוֹ. וְנִתְקַבְּלוּ זֶה מִזֶּה שָׂכָר:
Quelqu'un dont le produit était loin de lui, doit leur annoncer une désignation. Il est arrivé que Rabban Gamliel et les anciens voyageaient en bateau. Rabban Gamliel a dit: le dixième que je mesurerai dans le futur est donné à Yehoshua et son emplacement lui est loué. Un autre dixième que je mesurerai dans le futur est donné à Akiva ben Yosef pour qu'il le reçoive au nom des pauvres et que son emplacement lui soit loué. Le rabbin Yehoshua a dit: Le dixième que je mesurerai à l'avenir est donné à Elazar ben Azaria et son emplacement lui est loué. Et ils ont chacun reçu un paiement de l'autre.
Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
מי שהיו פירותיו רחוקים ממנו – they were already ritually prepared (i.e., tithed), and the time had arrived for removal.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Maaser Sheni
Introduction
This mishnah deals with how a person can set aside his tithes and give them to the rightful owners if his produce is at a distance from him. This would be necessary if the time for removal was drawing near and he needed to separate the tithes and give them away before that time passed.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
צריך לקרות להם שם – (see also, Mishnah Ma’aser Sheni, Chapter 4, Mishnah 7) to make assignment of them to their owners, according to the precedent of Rabban Gamaliel and the Elders.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Maaser Sheni
One whose produce was far away from him, he must call it by name. A person can separate his tithes even if he is not near his produce. He doesn’t need to be in close, physical contact with his produce in order to set aside the tithes and to transfer them to their proper owners. The mishnah now brings in the story of Rabban Gamaliel to illustrate exactly how this is done.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
עשור שאני עתיד למוד – First Tithe that I will, in the future, give from the produce that I have in my house.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Maaser Sheni
Once it happened that Rabban Gamaliel and the elders were traveling by ship, and Rabban Gamaliel said: “The tithe which I shall measure out in the future is given to Joshua, and the place which it is in is leased to him. The other tithe which I shall measure out in the future is given to Akiva ben Joseph that he may hold it for the poor, and the place which it is in is leased to him.” Rabban Gamaliel is traveling on a boat when the time to remove the tithes comes. He obviously can’t get to the produce to physically set it aside, so what he does is declare that the tithe that he has in such and such a place is given to Rabbi Joshua, a Levi who was traveling with him. To Akiva ben Joseph, known to you and me as Rabbi Akiva, he gave the poor tithe, not because R. Akiva himself was poor, but because R. Akiva was the charity collector who gave out tithes to the poor. Just allotting the tithes to Rabbi Joshua and Akiva was not sufficient. He also had to lease them the space where the tithes were located. This was a technique that he used so that they could acquire the tithes without actually taking them into their hands. Transactions involving produce cannot be done with mere statements, so in order to transfer to them the produce he also had to transfer to them, at least temporarily, the land on which the tithes were currently being stored. Rabbi Joshua and Akiva would then pay Rabban Gamaliel for the rental of the land (this is stated explicitly at the end of section three) and in this way, their land could acquire the produce found on it.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
נתון ליהושע – He was a Levite. But he did not give the “Great Tithe” now (i.e., the two-percent portion that was to given at the outset to a Kohen), because the Terumah/heave-offering is separated at the granary, [as is taught in a Baraitha], for it is impossible for the granary to be uprooted other than if the “Great Tithe” was already given, and it had already been separated in the granary.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Maaser Sheni
Rabbi Joshua said: “The tithe [taken from terumah] which I shall measure out is given to Elazar ben Azariah, and the place which it is in is leased to him,” and they each received rent one from another. Now that Rabbi Joshua had received tithe from Rabban Gamaliel, he needed to transfer the terumat maaser (the terumah that the Levite gives to the priest) to Elazar ben Azariah, who is a priest. As above, he also rented him the place where the tithe was being held and then Elazar paid him the rent. In this way, everyone successfully separated their tithes and they could keep sailing on their ship, without worrying about their tithes.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
ומקומו מושכר לו – and the place of the [First] Tithe was already leased to him, and he will purchase the Tithe on account of the land.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
עשור אחר – the Poor Tithe (which is separated in the third and sixth years of the seven-year agricultural cycle).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
נתון לעקיבא בן יוסף – He was the treasurer/manager of the Poor.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
עשור שאני עתיד למוד – the tithe of a tithe – which I have to give to a Kohen from the [First] Tithe that Rabban Gamaliel gave me.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
נתון לאלעזר בן עזריה – He was a Kohen and tenth [generation] to Ezra [the Scribe].
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Maaser Sheni
ונתקבלו שכר זה מזה – Rabban Gamaliel received from Rabbi Yehoshua the payment of his place (i.e., rental) of the First Tithe and the payment of his place (i.e., rental) of the Poor Tithe from Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Yehoshua received the payment of his place (i.e., rental) – “the tithe of the tithe” from Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah, and each one acquired a place of the Tithe that was appropriate for him with the money that he gave to the renter, for the renting of land is acquired through money.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy