Commento su 'Arakhin 8:1

המקדיש. בשעה שאינה יובל – at the time when the Jubilee [year] is not in force/being observed.

Introduction Our mishnah begins to deal with the laws of consecrating one’s inherited field at a time when the Jubilee was no longer observed. The mishnah describes a time when the Temple is still standing, meaning that the law of the Jubilee was not observed during the Second Temple period.

פתח אתה ראשון – with how much [money] do you want to redeem it. And because of ample provision/ gain [for redemption of the field when Jubilee is not in force] for something dedicated/sanctified to the Temple, they ask him first and the owners add an additional fifth. And for this reason, it (i.e., the Mishnah) took the language of: “when the Jubilee is not in force,” for at the time when the Jubilee is in force, there is no need to ask him for how much he will redeem it, for its monetary values are determined: a Bet Kor (i.e., an area requiring a Kor of seed) for fifty shekel. But at the time when the Jubilee is not in force, such as after the tribe(s) of Reuven and Gad were exiled, they eliminated the Jubilee years as it is written (Leviticus 25:10): “you shall proclaim release throughout the land for all of its inhabitants,” at a time when all of its inhabitants are upon it (i.e., the land), but not at a time when they were exiled from its midst, for then it is redeemed at its worth.

If one consecrated his field at a time when the [law of the] Jubilee was no longer observed, they say to him: “You open [the bidding]!” because the owner must pay an added fifth, whereas others do not pay an additional fifth. When the Jubilee was no longer observed, a consecrated field was redeemed through an auction. The first bidder was always the original owner and if he did not want to redeem the Temple officials would force him to make at least a minimum bid. The preference for redeeming the field goes to the owner because when he redeems the field he adds an extra fifth. In contrast, when the Jubilee year was still observed, they didn’t force the owner to redeem his field because an unredeemed field eventually would belong to the priests.

שהבעלים נותנים את החומש – all the monies of its worth and one-fourth more. And Similarly, every “added fifth” that is mentioned in the Torah, it would be the principal and its added fifth part. But because of three things, we state to the owners: “You open/declare first,” one of them is that the owners add the fifth, as is taught in our Mishnah. And the second is that the commandment of redemption is with the master, as it is written (Leviticus 27:27): “if it is not redeemed, [it shall be sold at its assessment],” so we see that the commandment of redemption precedes that of selling (see Tractate Arakhin 27a). And the third is that he adds and gives for its redemption more than other people, for a person desires his measure of capacity, one sixth of a Se’ah.

It happened that one consecrated his field because it was bad. They said to him: “You open the bidding.” He said: “I will acquire it for an issar.” Rabbi Yose said: he did say that, but rather “for an egg,” because consecrated objects may be redeemed by either money or money's equivalent. He [the Temple treasurer] said to him: It’s yours. It turns out he lost an issar and the field was his again. In this somewhat amusing story, an owner of a field consecrates a field because due to its poor quality. They then force him to at least put forth a bid. His bid is extremely low, an issar, which is 1/24 of a dinar. Rabbi Yose says that he offered an egg for the field, an object probably worth about an issar, if not more. In any case, with this tiny bid, he has acquired his field. He loses the issar to the Temple, but the field is restored to his possession.

איסר – eight pennies.

לא אמר זה אלא כביצה – that is to say, this was not what actually happened, for he didn’t say, “for an Issar,” but rather, “with an egg.” And the treasurer said to him: “It’s yours; it is yours for an egg.” But there is a dispute of the first Tanna/teacher and Rabbi Yossi, as the Rabbis hold that we don’t redeem something dedicated [to the Temple] for less than four pennies, in order that the added fifth will [also] be a penny. But Rabbi Yossi holds, we redeem something dedicated [to the Temple] for anything, and even though its added fifth is not worth the equivalent of a penny. But the Halakha is according to the first Tanna/teacher.