Chi ha assunto un lavoratore per asciugare i fichi con lui, e [il lavoratore] gli ha detto: "A condizione che io possa mangiare i fichi", può mangiarli ed è esente [dalla decima]. [Se dicesse,] "A condizione che io e mio figlio mangiamo", o "che mio figlio possa mangiare al posto di ricevere un salario", mangia ed è esente [dalla decima di ciò che mangia], ma il suo il figlio mangia ed è richiesto [alla decima]. [Se dicesse,] "A condizione che io possa mangiarne durante il tempo del raccolto e dopo il tempo del raccolto", durante il tempo del raccolto mangia ed è esente [dalla decima], ma dopo il tempo del raccolto mangia e sta richiesto [alla decima], dal momento che non ne mangia in un modo ordinato dalla Torah. Questa è la regola generale: chi mangia in modo ordinato dalla Torah è esente [dalla decima], e chi non mangia nel modo prescritto dalla Torah [è richiesto].
Bartenura on Mishnah Maasrot
לקצות בתאנים – to make a fig-harvest (by cutting and packing figs). There are those who interpret to spread them out to dry and there are those interpret to cut them with a tool to cut fig-cakes (i.e., a knife or a saw) for they regularly cut the figs.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maasrot
Introduction
According to the rabbinic interpretation of Deuteronomy 23:25-26, the Torah allows a worker in a field to eat from the owner’s produce while he is working in the field (see also Bava Metzia 7:2). The produce that he eats is not considered a wage and hence it can be eaten without having been tithed. Our mishnah deals with several ramifications of this law.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maasrot
ואמר לו ע"מ שאוכל תאנים – but there was no need for this condition for without that , he eats according to the law of the Torah, as it is written (Deuteronomy 23:25): “When you enter another man’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes [as you want, until you are full, but you must not put any in your vessel].” But the Biblical verse speaks about the worker, therefore, it is not like a purchase and it doesn’t establish [for requiring] tithing.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maasrot
One who has hired a worker to help him harvest figs, and he [the worker] said to him “On condition that I may eat the figs,” he may eat them and he is exempt [from tithing]. As I explained in the introduction, the worker is allowed to eat while harvesting the grapes, even if he doesn’t stipulate that he may do so. Therefore, the fact that he says, “On condition that I may eat the figs” does not make the figs part of the contract and thereby like wages; rather he is allowed to eat the figs because of the Torah’s laws. Since the figs are not considered part of his wages, he may eat them without tithing.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maasrot
ע"מ שאוכל אני ובני – the eating of my children is a purchase and establishes [requiring] tithing.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maasrot
[If he said,] “On condition that I and my son may eat,” or “that my son may eat of them in lieu of my receiving a wage,” he may eat and he is exempt [from tithing], but his son may eat but he is liable [for tithes]. The Torah does not mandate that a worker’s son can eat of the produce while his father is working in the field. Therefore, if the worker makes this stipulation the figs that his son eats are considered wages and must be tithed before the son eats them.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maasrot
ולאחר הקציעה – for his work was already complete, he does not eat according to the law of the Torah, but he comes to eat on the strength of the condition and it is like a purchase.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maasrot
[If he said,] “On condition that I may eat of them during the time of the fig harvest, and after the fig harvest,” during the time of the fig harvest he may eat and he is exempt [from tithing], but if he eats after the fig harvest he is liable, since he does not eat of them in the manner mandated by the Torah. The Torah mandates that he is allowed to eat while he is harvesting but not after the harvest has been completed. Thus, while still harvesting he can eat the figs without tithing them. However, if he eats figs after the harvest has been completed, these are considered to be wages and he must tithe them before he eats.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Maasrot
האוכל מן התורה פטור – And in the chapter (Chapter 7 of Tractate Bava Metzia, Mishnah 2), “He who hires workers” [87a-b], it explains: Which are those who eat from the law of the Torah? He who works on that which is attached to the ground at the time when the work is completed and [that which is] detached [from the ground] until the work has not yet been completed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Maasrot
This is the general rule: one who eats in a manner mandated by the Torah is exempt [from tithes], and one who does not eat in the manner mandated by the Torah is liable. The general rule here is the basis of all the previous section. It is interesting to note that what the Torah mandates that the employer give his employee is not considered a wage, but a right.
