Comentário sobre Peah 8:3

נאמנים על החיטים – [they are believed] to say that they are of the Poor Man’s tithe that was given to me, but they are not believed to say that flour and this bread is of the Poor Man’s tithe, that flour and bread were given to me, for it is not the manner to distribute [processed] Poor Man’s tithe of flour and bread.

Introduction This mishnah is a direct continuation of yesterday’s mishnah, which taught that amei haaretz, people who don’t tithe, are trusted to say that their produce is from the agricultural gifts to the poor and exempt from tithes. However, they are trusted only if the produce is in the state in which it is customary to give such gifts.

שעורה של אורז – there are those who explain spike of rice, for it was not their manner to distributer rice of the Poor Man’s Tithe other than spike/ears of corn. And there are those who explain barley of of rice prior to its being crushed in a mortar and the remove of its shell [it is called barley] and after threshing while its hide is on it, it is the practice to distribute it to the poor.

They are trusted concerning wheat, but they are not trusted when it is flour or bread. It is customary for the field owner to give wheat to the poor before it has been processed into bread or flour. Therefore, the poor are trusted to say that the wheat is from an agricultural gift and hence not liable to tithes. However, the poor are not trusted when it comes to flour or bread.

גריסין – that they are ground in a millstone of grist-grinder’s mills.

They are trusted concerning rice in its husk, but they are not trusted when it is either raw or cooked. Rice is given to the poor before it is removed from its husk.

נאמנים על השמן – it is the manner to distribute the Poor Man’s Tithe in oil.

They are trusted concerning beans but they are not trusted when they have been pounded, neither raw nor cooked. Beans are given to the poor before they are pounded into half-beans.

ואין נאמנים לומר של זיתי נקוף הוא – the olives left on the tree for the poor/the gleanings are from the gifts of the poor, that we beat and knock the olive to empty the olives that remained from the harvesting. And this striking is the language like pounding an olive. But the poor person is not believed to state that this oil I removed from pounded olives and he is exempt from tithes, because it is not customary to make oil from pounded olives. But the poor person who states that this flour or bread is from the gleanings, forgotten sheaf and corner of the field that I gleaned and that I grinded the flour and baked the bread, is believed for it is the manner of the poor person to make bread from gleanings, forgotten sheaves and the corner of the field.

They are trusted when concerning oil, to declare that it is from the poor person’s tithe, but they are not trusted over [oil] when they claim that it is from the olives [left on the] top [of the tree.] Oil is given as poor person’s tithe, therefore a poor am haaretz is believed to say that his oil is exempt from tithes. However, if the am haaretz claims that his oil comes from the olives left over on top of the tree, then he is not believed because these olives would have been given to the poor person unprocessed. The olives on the top of the tree refers to the olives that the field owner gives to the poor because it is just too much trouble to get them down. In other words, people do give their poor person’s tithe in oil, and hence they are believed if they say that the oil came from this tithe. However, people do not take down the olives that were hard to get off the tree during the olive harvest and process them into oil and then give them to the poor. Since they are not given when they are oil, the poor person is not trusted to say that they are from the agricultural gifts.