פירוש על חלה 1:3

הלקט והשכחה והפאה וההפקר – are exempt from the tithes, as it is written (Deuteronomy 14:29): “Then the Levite, who has no hereditary portion as you have…,” from what you have and what he lacks, you are obligated to give to him, excluding those who have what you have with you.

Introduction This mishnah teaches that although some things are exempt from tithes, they may still be liable for hallah.

ומותר העומר – for the Omer would come from three Seahs, and we remove from it a tenth of fine flour winnowed with thirteen sieves and the remainder is redeemed and eaten by all people, and he is liable for Hallah but exempt from tithes, because at the time of the smoothing of the pile, it was dedicated to the Temple.

The following are subject to hallah, but exempt from tithes: gleanings, from the forgotten sheaf, from peah or from ownerless produce and the first tithe from which terumah has been removed, second tithe and consecrated [produce] which has been redeemed, and that which remains over from the omer, and grain which has not grown one-third [ripe]. Rabbi Eliezer says: grain which has not grown one-third [ripe] is exempt [also] from hallah. Gleanings, the forgotten sheaf, peah and ownerless produce are all exempt from tithes because they are all, in a sense, already given to someone else. If the Levite is poor he can just come and take them for himself. Anyone can take the ownerless produce. Therefore, one need not give tithes from these things. However, all of them are liable for hallah. First tithe from which terumah has been removed is not liable for tithes (it already is tithe!) but the Levite must separate hallah and give it to the priest. Second tithe and consecrated produce are likewise, obviously not subject to tithes, but if they are grain, one must separate hallah before eating them. When they would harvest the omer, beginning on the second night of Pesah, they would harvest three seahs worth of barley. However, they would only use the choicest tenth of a seah. The rest they would redeem in order to make it hullin and then it could be eaten by anyone. This flour is exempt from tithes, because at the time its processing was done (when it was harvested and made it into a pile) it was holy and exempt from tithes. However, liability for hallah is determined by when it was made into dough, and by the time the omer flour was made into dough, it was already hullin, non-sacred. In Maasrot 1:3 we learned that grain that had not yet become one third ripe is exempt from tithes. However, according to the sages, it is still liable for hallah. This is because dough made from this unripe grain is still called bread (I can’t imagine it would have tasted very good, but who knows?). Rabbi Eliezer disagrees and says that such dough is also exempt from hallah. Numbers 15:20 calls hallah “terumah.” Since terumah is not separated from produce that is not one third ripe, so too hallah.

ותבואה שלא הביאה שליש – is liable for Hallah, and even it comes to be leavened, and every thing that comes to be leavened, is called “bread,” and is liable for Hallah, but is exempt from tithing, for regarding tithes, it is written (Deuteronomy 14:22): “[You shall set aside every year a tenth part of all] the yield of your sowing [that is brought from the field];” a thing that we plant it and it grows, and that which if we don’t sow, it does not grow.

תבואה שלא הביאה שליש פטורה מן החלה – as it is written (Numbers 15:20): “…you shall set it aside as a gift like the gift from the threshing floor;” just as priest’s due does not come from grain that did not bring forth [at least] a third [of its growth], so also Hallah does not come from grain that did not bring forth [at least] a third [of its growth]. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer.