Commentaire sur Ma'aserot 1:9

כלל אמרו במעשרות כל שהוא אוכל – to exclude woad/a plant producing a deep blue dye, which they call “NEEL” in Arabic and madder/a plant used in dying red which they call ALETZPUR in Arabic for these do not consume. Even though they are eaten in distress, but they are not liable for tithes.

Introduction Our mishnah teaches two general principles with regard to what foods cannot be eaten before they are tithed.

ונשמר – to exclude that which is ownerless, which have no owners to guard/watch it.

They said a general principle concerning tithes: whatever is food, and is looked after, and grows from the land, is liable for tithes. This is the same principle we saw with regard to peah in Peah 1:4. Only plants that are food for humans, and are worthy of storing (looking after) and grow from the land (according to the rabbis this excludes mushrooms) are liable for tithes. Foods that don’t fit all three of these categories need not be tithed before they are eaten.

וגידולו מן הארץ – to exclude morils/a kind of mushroom, and truffles and all of these we derive from Scripture, as it is written (Deuteronomy 14:22): “You shall set aside every year a tenth part of all of the yield of your sowing,” – “all the yield”– similar to produce that he eats, - “your sowing” – that which is unique to you, excluding that which is ownerless that have no specific/special owners; “your seed” – that which you sow it and it grows, excluding morils and truffles which are not sown.

And they have further stated another general principle [concerning tithes]: whatever is considered food both at the beginning and at the conclusion [of its growth] even though he holds on to it in order to increase the quantity of food, is liable [to tithe] whether [it is harvested] in its earlier or later stages. If there is a plant that is generally eaten in its early stage of ripening and in a later stage, it must be tithed no matter when it was harvested. Even though he might generally leave it in the ground in order to give it time to grow bigger, since it is also eaten at the earlier stage, it must be tithed when it is picked earlier. We shall see examples of this below in mishnah four.

כל שתחלתו אוכל וסופו אוכל – such as vegetables that immediately when they grow are appropriate for food and we guard them until they grow and add food.

But whatever is not considered food in the earlier stages [of its growth] but only in its later stages, is not liable [to tithe] until it can be considered food. However, if the produce is not considered edible at its earlier stage of growth, if it is nevertheless harvested at this earlier stage, it can be eaten without being tithed. An example might be a banana. A banana harvested at an earlier stage is not considered food and therefore one who does eat such a banana need not tithe it. It would only need to be tithed if harvested when ripe.

חייב קטן וגדול – for they are appropriate for food, whether for adults or minors.

וכל שאין תחלתו אוכל – such as kinds of fruits.

אינו חייב עד שיעשה אוכל – as it is written (Leviticus 27:30): “whether from the ground or fruit from the tree” until it grows and makes fruit.

מאימתי הפירות חייבין במעשרות – for at their beginning, they are not food and it is necessary to give a measurement for each fruit when its time arrives to be appropriate for eating.

When do fruits become liable for tithes?
Figs from the time they begin to ripe.
Grapes and wild grapes in the early stages of ripening.
Sumac and mulberries after they become red; [similarly] all red fruits, after they become red.
Pomegranates, when the insides become soft.
Dates when they begin to swell.
Peaches when [red] veins begin to show.
Walnuts when the nuts are separate from the shell.
Rabbi Judah says: walnuts and almonds, after their inner skins have been formed.
This mishnah lists various fruits of the tree and teaches when each of them becomes liable for tithes. The general principle seems to be that they are liable at the earliest point at which they are edible.
Since the words are self-explanatory I do not offer any explanation below.

שיבחינו – the beginning of their ripening is called “BOHAL”/a certain stage in the growth of the fig (intermediate between פנה / and צמל/the last stage in the growth of a fig – when its head becomes white, and an example of this is the beginning of the days of female puberty – [between childhood and full womanhood] in a woman is called “BOHAL”, and it explains in the Gemara (Talmud Niddah 47a) when their heads whiten is the beginning of their ripening.

האבשים (a species of inferior grapes) – a species from the kinds of bad grapes like (Isaiah 5:4): “Instead, it yielded wild grapes.”

משהבאישו – that they ripened so much that the pomace of kernels/shells of grapes that are inside can be seen from the outside from within the husk and a cluster that has within it one berry that reached this measurement, it is entirely joined to tithing.

והאוג (red berry of the Venus summachtree) – a tree whose fruits are red and they call them KORNEOLI in the foreign language.

והתותים (mulberries) – In Arabic it is TUT, and in the foreign language it is MORAS.

שימסו – when the eatable portion (core) can be mashed from under his hand and if even a single slice of pomegranate reached this measurement, it is liable for tithing.

משיטילו שאור – if it were to open like leaven which has in it fissures.

משיטילו גידים – when they begin to ripen, there appears in them a kind of red veins.

משיעשו מגורה – when they separate the food from the outer husk/skin, and the food would be like it is placed in store room/bin which is a storehouse.

מישיעשו קליפה – the lower husk nearest the food which is not made until the completion of the ripening of the fruit. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

משינקדו – from when they will have on them black dots, for at the completion of their ripening they begin to blacken.

Carobs [are liable to] tithes after they form dark spots; similarly all black fruits after they form dark spots.
Pears and crustumenian pears, quinces, and medlars [are liable to tithes] after their surface begins to grow smooth; similarly all white fruits, after their surface begins to grow smooth.
Fenugreek [is liable to tithe] when the seeds [can be planted and] will grow.
Grain and olives after they are one-third ripe.
This mishnah continues to teach when various types of produce become liable for tithes. Again, since it is self-explanatory, there are no comments below.

וכל השחורים – such as the berries of myrtle and the berries of thorn-bushes.

האגסים – in Arabic AGGAS and in the foreign language PEARS.

קרוסטמלין (Crustumenian pear – red on one side) – small apples that are similar to gall-nut that they call a species of oak from which the gall-nut are collected.

פרישין (name of a fruit/quince) – is called KONDUNISH in the foreign tongue and in Arabic SPERGEL.

עוזרדין (medlar/crabapple/sorb-apple) – in Arabic ZAROD and in the foreign tongue SURBASH.

משיקריחו – these fruits in their small size are covered with thin hairs, like a sort of down/feathers, and when they begin to ripen , they gradually become bald/smooth and at the completion of their ripening , everything falls out.

תלתן משיצמח (fenugree)-when it will be completed in its ripening until that if they would seed it, it would grow, and a sign to know when it reached to this measurement is when one places it into the water and every single berry that most of it sinks into the water, it is with the knowledge that if one sews it, it will grow, and we expound upon it as it is written (Deuteronomy 14:22): “You shall set aside every year a tenth part of all the yield of your sowing,” something that is sown and grows.

משיכניסו שליש – when they have grown one-third from what they will eventually grow; alternatively, when one comes to store away and to press them out, one removes from them now one-third from what they will produce when they ripen well.

ובירק הקשואים והאבטיחים - that is to say that these four species of vegetation which are cucumbers, melons, gourds and squash/cucumber-melon. But with the fruits of the tree, apples and citrons are obligated/liable [for tithing] whether large or small because they are food at their beginning and at the end, and they are consumed whether they are big or small.

Introduction Our mishnah begins to discuss when vegetables and other fruits that are eaten in early stages of ripening begin to become liable for tithes.

רבי שמעון פוטר את ה אתרוגי בקטנן- because he holds that they are not consumed when small, and they are not food at their beginning, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

With regard to when vegetables [are liable to tithes]:
Cucumbers, gourds, water-melons, cucumber-melons, apples and etrogs are liable [for tithes], whether gathered in the earlier or later stages of ripening. All of these vegetables/fruits are eaten at both an early stage in their ripening and a later stage. Hence, even if they are harvested at their earlier stage, they are still liable for tithes.

שקדים המרים – are eaten when they are small, but are not eaten when they are large. But the opposite is the case with sweet almonds.

Rabbi Shimon exempts the etrog in the earlier stages. Rabbi Shimon holds that etrogs are only eaten at their later stage of ripening and therefore if they are picked at an earlier stage, they are exempt from tithes.

The condition in which bitter almonds are liable [to tithes] is exempt in the case of sweet almonds, and the condition in which sweet almonds are liable [to tithe] is exempt in the case of bitter almonds. Bitter almonds are eaten in the early stage of their ripening and sweet almonds are eaten in the later stage of their ripening. Therefore, the opposite rules apply to them. If bitter almonds are harvested at the later stage, they are exempt, because this is not when they are typically eaten, and if sweet almonds are harvested in their early stage, they are exempt because that is not when they are typically eaten.

איזהו גרנן למעשרות (what is their harvesting time for making them liable for tithes) – when are the fruits appointed for tithing and it is forbidden to eat of them as an incidental meal like the grain in the threshing floor for even though the produce arrived at the season of tithing, it is still permitted to eat from them an incidental meal until it would be their harvesting time.

What is considered a “threshing floor” for tithes [i.e. when does produce become liable for tithes]?
Cucumbers and gourds [are liable for tithes] once he removes their fuzz. And if he doesn’t remove it, once he makes a pile.
Melons once he removes the fuzz with hot water. And if they he does not remove the fuzz, once he stores them in the muktzeh.
Vegetables which are tied in bundles, from the time he ties them up in bundles. If he does not tie them up in bundles, until he fills the vessel with them. And if he does not fill the vessel, after he has gathered all that he wishes to gather.
[Produce which is packed in] a basket [is liable for tithes] after he has covered it. If he is not going to cover it, until he fills the vessel with them. And if he does not fill the vessel, after he has gathered all that he wishes to gather.
When does this apply? When one brings [the produce] to the market. But when he brings it to his own house, he may make a chance meal of it, until he reaches his house.
This mishnah begins dealing with the issue of when produce become liable for tithes (see introduction). The mishnah calls this a “threshing floor” because at the threshing floor grain becomes liable for tithes. By extension, all produce is liable for tithes once its processing has been completed. After this point it is prohibited to eat even a chance meal from this produce without tithing it. Before this point one can eat a “chance meal” without tithing, but not a “fixed meal,” one which is more formal.
Sections one and two: The processing of cucumbers, gourds and melons is completed once the owner removes the “fuzz”, some very fine hair, that is on them. After that point, they are liable for tithes. If he doesn’t intend to remove the fuzz, then the processing is complete once he has made them into a pile, or once he has stored them in the “muktzeh” a storage area behind the house.
Sections three and four: Vegetables which are usually tied up in bundles in order to be brought to market, are liable for tithes as soon as they are tied up in bundles. Similarly, produce which is usually stored in baskets is liable to be tithed once it is put in a basket. In both cases, these are the final stages in their preparation. If he doesn’t intend to do this stage, either tying up in bundles or covering them in a basket, then they are liable for tithes once he has filled up a vessel with them, a vessel which he will use to bring the vegetables to the market. Finally, if he isn’t going to even put them in a vessel at all, then they are liable for tithes as soon as he has gathered a sufficient amount that it is worth it for him to bring the produce to the market. Note that if the last normal stage is not going to happen, then the previous stage becomes the completing stage.
Section five: The rules in the above sections apply only when he is going to take the produce to the market. In such a situation, this processing is relevant. However, if he is intending to take the produce home, then the produce is not liable for tithes until he brings it into his house. He may make a “chance meal” from the produce until he brings it home.

משיפקסו – as soon as their blossoms are removed and this is the hair that grows on them when they are small and when they ripen sufficiently, it falls out.

משיעמיד ערימה – when he makes of them a heap/pile.

משישלק (as soon as the gardener trims them) – trimming for a melon is like blossoms falling out for gourds.

מוקצה (until the melon is stored away) – because we don’t make piles from the melons, but rather spread them out and the place where we spread out the fruit is called a storage.

ירק הנאגד (vegetables put up in bunches when they are tied) – for it is the manner to sell it in bunches.

ואם אינו ממלא את הכלי – such as the case when he wants to fill two or three utensils, he eats an incidental meal from each one until he fills up the concluding one.

כלכלה (basket containing chosen fruits designated for use) – He who harvests/gathers vegetables into the basket containing chosen fruits, which is a basket.

עד שיחפה – the vegetation with the long and thin foliage of a palm-branch spreading from the stem or with leaves that are used to cover it.

בד"א – that this is their harvesting time for making them liable for tithes.

במוליך לשוק – to sell [in the marketplace] for it was not dependent upon his intention lest he find buyers and the produce will be subject to sacred gifts being set aside (and as such forbidden to be consumed until such time), that the sale will establish it for tithing.

אבל במוליך לביתו אוכל עראי עד שמגיע לביתו – since the matter was dependent upon his intention and the produce would not be subject to sacred gifts being set aside until he arrives home for the eatables forbidden pending the separation of sacred gifts are not liable for tithing until he sees the house, as it is written (Deuteronomy 26:13): “I have cleared out the consecrated portion from the house; [and I have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, just as You commanded me.”

הפרד (dried pomegranates) – it was the practice to spread/separate the pomegranates and to dry them and those dried berries are called פרד/split and dried pomegranates on account that we separate them in order that the [(heat of the) sun] can enter into from every side.

Dried pomegranate seeds, raisins and carobs, [are liable for tithes] after he has made a pile. These dried fruits are liable for tithes once he has made them into a pile in order to bring them to market. [As an aside, I am eating a delicious pomegranate, fresh not dried, while I write this yummy and healthy! It doesn’t get any better than this.]

משיפקל (to strip them) – like to peel/husk them, that is to say when he removes from upon them the bad husks.

Onions, once he removes the onion seeds. If he does not remove the onion seeds, after he makes a pile. Albeck explains that the mishnah refers to removing the “mothers of the onion,” the parts of the onion used to grow new onions. Other interpreters make a slight modification in the spelling of the Hebrew, and interpret the mishnah to read “once he has peeled” the onion, which would refer to the very outer skin. The default point for onions and for other types of produce is “when he has made a pile” which is the first point when it comes to the dried fruits in the previous section.

משימרח – after we clean the grain from its chaff, we collect/heap them in one place in the threshing floor/granary and beautify the face of the pile and we divide it and it is called giving the pile of grain an even shape.

Grain, once he smoothes out the pile. If he does not smooth the pile, after he makes a pile. Grain is liable for tithes once he smoothes out the pile, but if he doesn’t smooth out the pile, then it is liable from the time he makes a pile.

משיכבור – for it was the practice to uproot the peas with the dust, one must sift them in a basket used as a sieve/a large round vessel.

Pulse, after he has sifted it. If he does not sift, after he smoothes out a pile. Pulse, or legumes, is liable for tithes once it has been sifted in order to remove the “shmutz,” the dirt and pebbles. But if he does not intend to remove the shmutz, then pulse too is liable for tithes once he has smoothed out a pile.

Even after he has smoothed out the pile, he may [without tithing] take from the broken ears, from the sides of the piles, and from that which is mixed in with the chaff, and eat. This section refers to the grain mentioned in section three. Although grain is liable for tithes once he has smoothed out a pile, he may nevertheless continue to “nibble” from certain parts of the grain, such as ears of grain that have not been successfully threshed, without tithing them. He can also eat ears of grain that are on the sides of the pile and not in the pile itself, and he can eat ears of grain that are still mixed in with straw. In other words, he can’t eat from the ears of grain that have been successfully processed and placed in the pile, but he can continue to eat, without tithing, from ears of grain that were not successfully processed.

מן הצדדים – the sides of the pile that were not shaped into an even pile.

וממה שמתוך התבן – that was not winnowed from the chaff.

משיקפה (from when he skims) – when he will remove the shells of grapes (i.e., the exterior) and the pomace of grapes (i.e., the interior) that cause the wine to rise in the wine pit at the time of its foaming.

Introduction This mishnah deals with when wine and oil become liable for tithes.

מן הגת העליונה – for it still had not gone down into the pit.

Wine [is liable for tithes] after it has been skimmed [in the lower part of the winepress]. Even though it has been skimmed, he may take from the upper winepress, or from the duct, and drink [without taking out tithe]. The wine that is found in the lower part of the winepress must be tithed once the stuff (skins and seeds) has been skimmed off the top. However, even after the wine in the lower part of the winepress has been skimmed, he can still drink from the wine remaining in the upper parts of the winepress because its processing has not yet been completed.

ומן הצינור (and from the duct/water-pipe) – that is made at the mouth of the vat used for wine-pressing, and the wine splashes from the duct to the pit, but the wine that is in the vat used for wine pressing or in the duct are not completed in its work.

Oil [is liable for tithes] after it has gone down into the trough. But even after it has gone down into the trough he may still take oil from the pressing bale, or from the press beam, or from the boards between the press [without tithing,] Oil is liable for tithes once it has drained down into the trough, the lowest part of the olive press.

לעוקה (trough) – an indentation/hole that is before the building containing the tank and all implements for pressing olives, that the oil goes down into it.

And he may put such oil on a cake, or large plate. Similar to the case of wine, although some of the oil has drained off into the trough, he may still take oil from other parts of the olive press and use it without tithing.

עקל (a bale of loose texture containing the olive pulp to be pressed) – a utensil made from ropes that collects the olives into it when they sweep the beam on them.

But he should not put the oil in a dish or stewpot, while they are boiling. There are certain rules as to how he can use oil that didn’t need to be tithed. He can use this oil to put on cakes and he can put it directly on a plate and eat it without tithing it.

ממל (crushing tool/press-beam) – the upper millstone that crushes the olives with it.

Rabbi Judah says: he may put it into anything except that which contains vinegar or brine. However, he cannot put it into a boiling dish because anything cooked cannot be eaten without being first tithed. Cooking, which by definition is a more formal way of eating, makes things liable for tithes, and therefore he can’t put the oil into a boiling dish. It seems like the mishnah would allow him to put the oil into a dish that has already been cooked because in such a case the oil itself is not being cooked, rather it is just being consumed with cooked food.

מבין הפצים (oil from between the boards of the press) - - oil that comes out between the boards.

Rabbi Judah holds that regular cooking, at least of oil, does not make the oil liable with tithes, and therefore he can put the oil into a boiling dish. The only thing he cannot put the oil in is a boiling dish that includes vinegar or brine, because by their sharpness these will hurry the cooking process.

המיטה- a thin cake that and when they remove it from the oven, they customarily smooth its face with oil and it comes to tell us that it is not considered as cooked, for the fire establishes it for [its liability for] tithing and it is prohibited to eat an incidental meal from all the grain and fruit and vegetables that had been cooked by fire, but this is not considered cooking

וכן לתמחוי (a plate for various dishes) – it is a secondary utensil and it doesn’t cook.

אבל לא יתן – oil for the boiling pot or the tightly covered stew-pot when they are foaming/growing hot, even though that he removed them from the flame and would eat an incidental meal, for all the while that when the hand is put into them it is immediately withdrawn (feeling the scald), it is considered like cooking and establishes it [as liable] for tithing.

לכל הוא נותן – for all the boiling pots that are boiling or the tightly covered stew-pots that are bubbling, he places [his hand] after he has removed them from the fire, it does not establish it [as liable] for tithing.

חוץ מדבר שיש בו חומץ וציר – for the sharpness of the vinegar and juice aids in cooking. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

העגול של דבילה – it was customary to smoothen its face with liquids and that is the completion of work [to make it liable] for tithing.

Introduction The final mishnah of our chapter deals with figs.

בתאנים ובענבים של טבל - with liquids that come out from the figs and grapes of eatables forbidden pending the separation of sacred gifts. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda in the entire Mishnah.

A cake of pressed figs [is liable for tithes] from the moment it has been smoothed out [with fruit juice]. The final step in processing a cake of pressed figs was to smooth it out using fruit juice. Once this step has occurred, one cannot eat the figs without tithing them.

They may smooth them out with [the juice of] untithed figs or grapes. Rabbi Judah forbids this. As an aside, the mishnah now discusses several halakhot connected to the smoothing out of fig cakes. First of all, there is the issue of whether the fruit juice itself must come from tithed produce. According to the first opinion, it need not because the juice that comes out from the grapes or figs is not treated like the grapes or figs itself. Since the untithed figs or grapes do not directly come into contact with the fig cake, using juice from them before they are tithed is not a problem. Rabbi Judah disagrees and holds that that the juice that flows from the grapes or figs is treated like the grapes or figs themselves and therefore it must be tithed.

המחליק בענבים – he rubs the grapes on the cake of pressed figs.

If one smoothed with grapes, it is not susceptible to uncleanness. Rabbi Judah says it is susceptible. A correlated dispute is with regard to whether juice from grapes or figs causes other produce to be susceptible to uncleanness. According to the first opinion, there are only seven liquids that cause other produce to be susceptible to uncleanness (dew, water, wine, oil, blood, milk, and bee honey) and juice is not among them (see Terumot 11:2). Rabbi Judah adds fruit juice to this list.

לא הוכשר – the cake [is not fit for Levitical uncleanness] to become susceptible to ritual uncleanness and that which comes forth from the grapes is not considered liquid, but the first Tanna/teacher and Rabbi Yehuda dispute regarding liquid that stands to become clear whether it is considered a liquid or not.

Dried figs [are liable to tithe] after they have been pressed [into a jar]. And [figs] stored in a bin [are liable to tithe] after they have been pressed. Dried figs are liable once they have been pressed into a jar and if they are going to be pressed into a storage bin, then once they have been pressed there into the bin.

משידוש – we dry the figs and afterwards thresh them with staffs into the arched, pouched vessel/jug or press it with hands into the store-house, and threshing the jug and making the molds for pressed cakes of figs in the store-room is the completion of labor [to make it liable for tithing].

If one was pressing [the figs] into a jar, or pressing them in a storage bin, and the jar was broken or the storage bin opened, he may not make a chance meal of them. Rabbi Yose permits this. The issue at stake here is whether something that has already become liable for tithes can go back to a state where one can eat from it without tithing. Once the figs were pressed into the jar or storage bin they became liable for tithes. When the jar or bin breaks, he is going to have to put them in another jar or bin they are now in a state of uncompleted processing. According to the first opinion in the mishnah, once they have become liable for tithes, one cannot go back to eating them without tithing them, no matter what happens. Rabbi Yose holds that they do revert to their previous status because at this point, their processing is no longer completed.

לא יאכל מהן עראי – for he holds that the upper layer does not need the lower layer, and the lower layer does not need the upper layer and their work had already been completed. But Rabbi Yosi holds that each still needs the other and their work was not completed. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yosi.