Comentário sobre Sheviit 1:1

עד מתי חורשין בשדה האילן – further on (i.e., in Mishnah 2), it explains what is a שדה אילן /a field containing at least three trees within a distance of a Se’ah (i.e., a cultivated field in which trees grow; an orchard).

Introduction As with many mishnayot, our mishnah begins with the first chronological point of the sabbatical laws, the sixth year which proceeds the sabbatical year. According to the rabbis, some of the sabbatical year prohibitions begin in the sixth year. This concept is called “tosefet sheviit” the additional time of sheviit. There is somewhat of a debate in talmudic literature over whether this additional time is from the Torah or is a long-standing tradition. Our mishnah discusses “tosefet sheviit” for an orchard.

ערב שביעית – that it is necessary to add from the sixth year on to the seventh year in the prohibition of working the land, and further on (i.e., Mishnah 4), we will derive it from Biblical verses.

Until when may they plow an orchard in the sixth year? Bet Shammai say: as long as such work will benefit the fruit. And Bet Hillel says: till Atzeret (. According to Bet Shammai, as long as the plowing that one does to an orchard is beneficial for that years’ fruit, then it is allowed. Once the plowing starts to be in preparation for the seventh year, it is already prohibited. Instead of giving a time that is somewhat subjective, Bet Hillel gives a set date Shavuot. Until Shavuot it is permitted to plow, and after Shavuot it is forbidden.

כל שמן שהוא יפה לפרי – that is to say that the ploughing is auspicious for the produce, as he would prepare the ground for the needs of the sixth year and not for the needs of the seventh [year].

The views of this [school] are close to those of the other. The anonymous voice in the Mishnah notes that the dates of the two schools are not that far apart from one another. This might cause us to ask why they disagree. There are a few answers that I could think of. The first is that although there is only a small amount of time difference, it is still significant. This is not a particularly satisfactory answer because then we would have to ask why the mishnah says that the two are indeed so close to one another. A different answer is that Bet Hillel wants an objective, hard and fast date, whereas Bet Shammai is more willing to live with a more subjective criterion. The answer that I prefer is that Bet Shammai prefers to attach the prohibition to nature, or physical reality. At a certain point plowing stops being for this year’s fruit and then it becomes prohibited. Bet Hillel on the other hand wants to tie the prohibition into a legally determined date, a date set by a court and not by nature.

עד העצרת – for until Atzeret/Shavuot, it is auspicious for the produce and not for more than that. And from Atzeret and onward, it appears that he is preparing for the needs of the seventh year. But in a bright, shade-less field (vegetable or grain field) where there is no tree, until Passover. But this Mishnah is the “earliest collection of Mishnah/משנה ראשונה and is not the Halakha, for Rabban Gamaliel and his Jewish court counted on these two periods of time, which are Passover for a bright shade-less field and Atzeret/Shavuot for a cultivated field in which trees grow, and permitted them [to work the fields beyond these established times] [so that] it is permitted to plough until Rosh Hashanah of the seventh year.