Commentaire sur Shevi'it 1:4
הָיָה אֶחָד עוֹשֶׂה כִּכַּר דְּבֵלָה וּשְׁנַיִם אֵין עוֹשִׂין, אוֹ שְׁנַיִם עוֹשִׂין וְאֶחָד אֵינוֹ עוֹשֶׂה, אֵין חוֹרְשִׁין לָהֶם אֶלָּא לְצָרְכָּן, עַד שֶׁיִּהְיוּ מִשְּׁלֹשָׁה וְעַד תִּשְׁעָה. הָיוּ עֲשָׂרָה, מֵעֲשָׂרָה וּלְמַעְלָה, בֵּין עוֹשִׂין בֵּין שֶׁאֵינָן עוֹשִׂין, חוֹרְשִׁין כָּל בֵּית סְאָה בִּשְׁבִילָן. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות לד) בֶּחָרִישׁ וּבַקָּצִיר תִּשְׁבֹּת, אֵין צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר חָרִישׁ וְקָצִיר שֶׁל שְׁבִיעִית, אֶלָּא חָרִישׁ שֶׁל עֶרֶב שְׁבִיעִית שֶׁהוּא נִכְנָס בַּשְּׁבִיעִית, וְקָצִיר שֶׁל שְׁבִיעִית שֶׁהוּא יוֹצֵא לְמוֹצָאֵי שְׁבִיעִית. רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר, מָה חָרִישׁ רְשׁוּת, אַף קָצִיר רְשׁוּת, יָצָא קְצִיר הָעֹמֶר:
Si un [arbre] fait un bloc de figues pressées et que deux ne le font pas, ou deux font et un ne fait pas, on ne peut les labourer que pour leurs besoins, tant qu'il y a entre trois et neuf [arbres]. S'il y en a au moins dix, à partir de dix et plus, [indépendamment du fait] qu'ils produisent ou non, la Beit Se'ah entière peut être labourée à cause de leur présence. Comme il est dit (Exode 34:12), "Vous vous reposerez du labour et de la moisson"; [ce verset] n'est pas nécessaire pour discuter du labour et de la récolte de l'année sabbatique, mais plutôt du labour de l'année pré-sabbatique qui entre dans l'année sabbatique, et de la récolte de l'année post-sabbatique qui quitte l'année sabbatique. Le rabbin Yishmael dit, [ce verset est nécessaire pour dire que] tout comme [l'interdiction ne s'étend qu'au] labour facultatif, il en va de même pour la récolte facultative, à l'exclusion de la récolte de l' Omer [offrande d'orge].
Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
עד שיהיו מג' ועד ט' – meaning to say, this law that we stated, meaning from three until nine [trees], but if there were ten [trees] or more, even though they don’t produce [fruit], we plough [the entire Bet Seah].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
Introduction The first half of this mishnah continues to deal with the same subject with which we have been dealing with since the beginning of Sheviit--when may one plow an entire field of trees and when one may plow only the individual trees? The second half of the mishnah deals with Exodus 34:21, which states, that plowing and harvesting are forbidden on the Sabbath. The sages wondered why the verse would specify a prohibition of plowing and harvesting on the Sabbath when all work is prohibited. Hence they took the verse out of context and applied it to the Sabbatical year, instead of Shabbat (the sabbatical day).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
שנאמר בחריש ובקציר תשבות – it refers to the first clause, as it is taught [at the conclusion of Mishnah 3 of this chapter): “We plow them only according to their need.” And from where do we learn that we don’t plough the entire Bet Seah, as it states (Exodus 34:21): “ you shall cease from labor even at plowing time and harvest time,” and if it has no connection with the Sabbath of Creation, as it is already stated (Exodus 20:9): “Six days you shall labor and do all your work,” and not for Shemittah/the Sabbatical Year , for it already states (Leviticus 25:3): “Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard [and gather in the yield],” teach it in connection with the two periods of the Eve of the Seventh (i.e., Sabbatical) year – from Passover for a grain or vegetable field/a bright field without shade, and from Shavuot for an orchard (see Tractate Sheviit, Chapter 2, Mishnah 1). And this is what the Biblical verse said: “at plowing time” when its harvesting is forbidden. And which is this? The plowing of the Eve of the Seventh year [which enters into the Seventh year] you should cease/rest, and in the harvesting, where plowing is forbidden. And which is this? This is the harvesting of the Seventh year that extends into the year following the Sabbatical year, you should alsorest/cease, and the after-growth/spontaneous growth (see Tractate Sheviit, Chapter 9, Mishnah 1) that grew during the Sabbatical year or that if he transgressed and sowed on the Sabbatical year is forbidden to harvest them in the eighth year.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
If one of the trees was capable of bearing a cake of dried figs [weighing sixty manehs], and the other two unable; or, if two could do so, but one cannot, then they may plow them only for their own needs. If one or even two of the trees was large enough but the others were not, they still may only plow the individual trees and not the whole field.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sheviit
ר' ישמעאל אומר – the Biblical verse always talks about the Sabbath as its plain meaning, and it comes to inform us: just as plowing [which] is a voluntary act [is prohibited on the Sabbath], for you do not have a commanded form of plowing, so [only] harvesting, which the All-Merciful stated “you shall rest/cease,” [which likewise] is voluntary [is prohibited on the Sabbath] but excludes the harvesting of the Omer/the first sheaf [and is therefore permitted on the Sabbath – see Tractate Menahot, Chapter 10, Mishnah 9], that is a Mitzvah and that we require harvesting for its sake which supersedes the [observance of] the Sabbath.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
[This is the rule if the number of trees is] from three to nine, but if there were ten trees or more, whether they produce [the requisite amount of fruit or not] the whole bet seah may be plowed on their account. However, if there were more than ten trees, then they can plow the entire field, even if those ten trees don’t produce the requisite amount of fruit.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
As it says: “In plowing and in harvesting, you shall rest” (Ex 34:21). It was unnecessary to state plowing and harvesting in the seventh year, rather [what it means is] the plowing of the year preceding which encroaches on the sabbatical year, and the harvest of the seventh year which extends into the year after. This midrash is the basis of the entire first three and a half mishnayot of the tractate. According to the rabbinic way of reading the Torah, this verse is seemingly superfluous, since we already know that one must rest on the Sabbath. Their answer is twofold. First of all, this verse applies to the sabbatical year, and not to the Shabbat. Second, it would also be unnecessary for this verse to prohibit plowing and harvesting in the sabbatical year itself because Leviticus 25:4-5 has already prohibited similar activities. Therefore, the mishnah interprets this verse as referring to the plowing that precedes the Sabbatical year and to harvesting that occurs after the Sabbatical year. As we have learned throughout the chapter, it is forbidden to plow a field for the benefit of produce that will grow in the sabbatical year. Here we learn that in the year following the Sabbatical year it is forbidden to harvest produce which mostly grew during the Sabbatical year, or that was illegally sown during the Sabbatical year.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sheviit
Rabbi Ishmael says: just as plowing is an optional act, so harvesting [referred to in the verse] is optional, thus excluding the harvesting of the omer [which is obligatory]. R. Yishmael gives an entirely different interpretation of the verse. He interprets the verse to refer to the Shabbat and not to the Sabbatical year. As to why this verse is necessary, after we have learned elsewhere that work is prohibited on Shabbat, Rabbi Ishmael explains that this verse comes to teach us that only “optional” harvesting is prohibited and not “obligatory” harvesting, the only example of which is the harvesting of the Omer on the second day of Pesah. If the second day of Pesah should fall on Shabbat, which it can according to the rabbinic calendar (but not according to the Sadducean calendar, where it always falls on Sat. night) then the harvesting of the Omer (the first barley) supersedes the Shabbat prohibition. Just as plowing is optional and therefore prohibited, so too the only type of harvesting that is prohibited is that which is optional.
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