פירוש על שביעית 2:6

מבריכין (bending a vine by drawing it into the ground and make it grow forth as an independent plant) – bend the vine-shoot of the vine in the ground and covering it with dust.

Introduction This mishnah teaches that planting and grafting plants is prohibited some time before Rosh Hashanah. The sages debate exactly how much before Rosh Hashanah it is prohibited.

מרכיבים – bringing a branch of a tree and engrafting it upon another tree that is of its species.

They may not plant or sink [vine-shoots], or graft in the sixth year within thirty days of Rosh Hashanah. According to the first opinion, it is forbidden to plant or graft one plant on to another thirty days before Rosh Hashanah. Sinking vine shoots refers to the practice of putting a vine shoot into the ground in one place and bringing it up again another in order to start a new vine. These activities are prohibited thirty days before Rosh Hashanah because it will take thirty days for the plant to strike roots, or to be successfully grafted.

פחות ל' יום – In the Gemara of Tractate Rosh Hashanah [10b] , it proves that these thirty days of [a graft] taking root, according to the first Tanna/teacher and three days, according to Rabbi Yehuda, and two weeks according to Rabbi Yossi and Rabbi Shimon, that we need prior to thirty days of the addition/supplement of the Seventh Year, that we require that the sapling should take root prior to the supplement/addition to the Seventh Year, and all of them hold that the supplement/addition to the Seventh Year is thirty days, therefore, according to the first Tanna/teacher who stated that there is no taking root less than thirty days, it needs thirty days of taking root and thirty [days] of supplement/addition; according to Rabbi Yehuda who stated that taking root is three days, one needs three days of taking root and another thirty of supplement; to the words of Rabbi Yossi and Rabbi Shimon who stated two weeks, one requires two weeks for taking root and thirty for supplement. And the explanation of taking root is that the sapling takes root and its roots take hold in the ground. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yossi and Rabbi Shimon.

If he has planted or sank or grafted, he must uproot. If he does not observe this prohibition and he does plant, graft or sink a vine shoot less than thirty days before Rosh Hashanah of the sabbatical year he must uproot the plant because this is considered to be a tree that was planted on the sabbatical year. Such a tree is prohibited.

Rabbi Judah says: any grafting that has not taken root within three days will never do so. Rabbi Judah says that the plant or the graft takes roots within three days. If it does not, it won’t survive. Hence, it is permitted to plant, graft or sink up until three days before Rosh Hashanah.

Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Shimon say: two weeks. Rabbis Yose and Shimon hold that the plant strikes roots within two weeks, hence it is permitted to plant, graft or sink vine-shoots up until two weeks before Rosh Hashanah.