פירוש על שביעית 3:3

יתר מכאן – from three [dung-heaps] it is permitted, which is Rabbi Shimon’s [opinion] in the opening clause, and not it comes to inform us that Rabbi Shimon permits it, even if there aren’t ten wicker baskets, as long as there will not be in it less than three, and even though there is a little manure in the dung-heap, and you might think that I would say that Rabbi Shimon admits that if he adds dung-heaps, it appears like manuring, it comes to tell us that it does not appear like manuring since he does not disperse it.

Introduction This mishnah continues to deal with the topic of what to do with the accumulating dung during the sabbatical year.

עד שיעמיק שלשה – that he will deepening the place of the manure or raise it up from the rest of the land b three handbreadths, so that it will be recognized that he is doing this in order to bring in the manure into one place, and not to manure the field.

A man may deposit in his field three dung-heaps for every bet seah [and even] more, the words of Rabbi Shimon. The sages forbid unless he [deposits them] three [handbreadths] below or thee handbreadths above. The beginning of today’s mishnah seems to be nearly the same as the last clause of yesterday’s mishnah, where Rabbi Shimon stated that one may make more than three dung-heaps in the field, without this looking like he was fertilizing. Here we seem to learn the same thing over again. According to some commentators, this repetition serves to introduce the statement of the sages found below. I should note that I have translated this mishnah according to the version found in all good manuscripts. The version preserved in the printed edition of the mishnah differs. The other sages forbid more than three dung-heaps unless he lowers them three handbreadths into a pit, or raises them three handbreadths and puts them on top of a mound. If he does this, it will be clear to all that his intention is not to fertilize his field. While we had learned in yesterday’s mishnah that the sages prohibit, we had not learned that they do allow this if one raises or lowers the mounds.

עושה אדם את זבלו אוצר – those three dung-heaps of thirty wicker backets, he can make of them one dung-heap and can add to them as he wishes, and that is not to say that just as it is forbidden to have more than three dung-heaps for a Bet Seah (i.e., fifty cubits by fifty cubits), that is also forbidden to have more than the measurement of three dung-heaps in one place.

A man may pile up all the manure into one [large] store. Rabbi Meir forbids unless he [deposits them] three [handbreadths] below or thee handbreadths above. Most sages allow one to pile the dung that would have filled three dung-heaps into one large pile. However, Rabbi Meir forbids this unless he either raises the heap three handbreadths or lowers it. According to the Yerushalmi, Rabbi Meir forbids this only if there is more than the allowed measure of dung, that is more than the measure of three dung heaps, each of 150 seah of dung. Since he couldn’t make three separate heaps of a larger size without having to raise or lower the heaps, Rabbi Meir holds that he must also raise or lower one large heap.

ר"מ אוסר – in the Jerusalem Talmud it is found that Rabbi Meir forbade more than the measurement alone, but with the merasurement, now that there are three places, it is it is permitted in one place, is it not obvious? But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Meir.

If he had just a little, he may constantly add to it. Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah forbids unless he [deposits them] three [handbreadths] below or thee handbreadths above. If he does not have enough dung to make such large heaps, he may take out the small amount that he does have and then add to it little by little. He need not wait until such a large volume accumulates. Rabbi Elazar forbids this because it looks as if he is planning to fertilize the field. This would only be permitted if he first lowered the pile or made it higher. Only through such a method is it clear that his intention is not to fertilize but rather just to remove the dung from his courtyard.

היה לו דבר מועט – he doesn’t have to remove at one time according to the explained measurement of above, but removes a bit of it an/or adds to it and continues.

ר"א בן עזריה אוסר – lest he will not have more manure and it appears like he is manuring his field until he removes ten wicker baskets at once, or,

עד שיעמיק ג' או יגביה ג' – for since he same place is different from the rest of the field, it does not appear like manuring, and similarly, if he placed it on a rocky place which is not appropriate for sowing.