משנה: מְזַבְּלִין וּמְעַדְּרִין בְּמִקְשָׁאוֹת וּבְמִדְלָעוֹת עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה. וְכֵן בְּבֵית הַשַּׁלְּחִין. מְיַבְּלִין וּמְפָֽרְקִים וּמְאַבְּקִין וּמְעַשְּׁנִין עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה. רִבִּי שִמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר אַף נוֹטֵל הוּא אֶת הֶעָלֶה מִן הָאֶשְׁכּוֹל בַּשְּׁבִעִית. מְסַקְּלִין עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה. מְקָֽרְסְמִין מְזָֽרְדִין וּמְפַסְּלִין עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה. רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר כְּזֵירוּדָהּ וּכְפִיסּוּלָהּ שֶׁל חֲמִישִׁית כֵּן שֶׁל שִׁשִּׁית. רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר כָּל זְמָן שֶׁאֲנִי רַשַּׁאי בַּעֲבוֹדַת הָאִילָן אֲנִי רַשַּׁאי בְּפִיסּוּלוֹ. MISHNAH: One fertilizes and hoes in melon and gourd fields until the New Year; the same applies to irrigated fields. One trims, removes12The leaves, as explained in the Halakhah. According to Maimonides, R. Simeon permits this particular activity also in the Sabbatical year. However, it seems that R. Simeon permits only the removal of leaves from bunches of grapes if otherwise the grapes would rot; see the Halakhah., dusts, and smokes until the New Year. Rebbi Simeon said, one may even remove a leaf from a bunch in the Sabbatical year.
One may remove stones25From his field. until the New Year. One cuts26Really “nibbles”, in an unsystematic way. “Pruning” means eliminating unwanted new shoots, “shaping” means eliminating dead wood., prunes, and shapes until the New Year. Rebbi Joshua says, like the pruning and shaping of the fifth year27When there are no time limits on any agricultural work., so is that of the sixth. Rebbi Simeon says, any time that I may work the tree I may shape it.
הלכה: מְזַבְּלִין וּמְעַדְּרִין בְּמִקְשָׁאוֹת כו׳. מַהוּ לַחֲרוֹשׁ לָהֶם. תַּנֵּי כָּל־זְמָן שֶׁאַתְּ מוּתָּר לַחֲרוֹשׁ אַתְּ מוּתָּר לְזַבֵּל וּלְעַדֵּר אִם אֵין אַתְּ מוּתָּר לַחֲרוֹשׁ אֵין אַתְּ מוּתָּר לֹא לְזַבֵּל וְלֹא לְעַדֵּר. אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹסָה וּמַתְנִיתָא אָֽמְרָה כֵן מְזַבְּלִין וּמְעַדְּרִין בְּמִקְשִׁיּוֹת וּבְמִדְלָעוֹת עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה וְכֵן בֵּית הַשַּׁלְּחִין. וְתַנֵּי עֲלָהּ חוֹרְשִׁין בֵּית הַשַּׁלְּחִין עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה. רִבִּי אוֹמֵר עַד לִפְנֵי רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּזְרַע וְיַשְׁרִשׁ וְיִטַּע וְיַשְׁרִשׁ. וְאִלּוּ עוֹשֶׂה שָׁרָשִׁים לִשְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים. רִבִּי אוֹמֵר עַד לִפְנֵי רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה שְׁלֹשָׁה חֳדָשִׁים כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּזְרַע אוֹרֶז וְיַשְׁרִישׁ וְיִטַּע אוֹרֶז וְיַשְׁרִישׁ. HALAKHAH: “One gives manure and one hoes in melon fields”, etc. May one plough for these13Plough the manure under; otherwise the fertilizer would not be effective.? It was stated: “As long as one may plough one may fertilize and hoe; if one may not plough then one may neither fertilize nor hoe.” Rebbi Yose said, the Mishnah implies this: “One fertilizes and hoes in melon and gourd fields until the New Year; the same applies to irrigated fields,” and we have stated on this14Tosephta 1:12: “One ploughs an irrigated field and irrigates them [the plants growing there] 30 days before the New Year. Rebbi says, until [Vienna ms. thirty days] [Erfurt ms. and printed text: three days] before the New Year, so that one may sow and it starts to form roots, or one plants and it starts to form roots.” The first hand of the Leyden ms. has only the quote of the Mishnah and the reformulated statement of Rebbi. R. S. Lieberman (Tosefta ki-fshutah Zeraïm p. 494) wants to prove from this that the reading “three days” is found only in the corrector’s text, but this is contradicted by the majority of the Tosephta sources. The “30 days” reading in the Tosephta is unsubstantiated.: “One ploughs irrigated fields until the New Year; Rebbi says until three days before the New Year so that one may sow and it starts to form roots, or one plants and it starts to form roots.” If it would grow roots in three days! “Rebbi says, until three months before the New Year so that one may sow rice, have it form roots, transplant it and have the roots take hold.15Since rice usually is transplanted, this corrected version makes more sense.”
מְיַבְּלִין מַעֲבִירִין אֶת הַיְּבוֹלֶת. מְפָֽרְקִין בֶּעָלִין. מְאַבְּקִין עוֹשֶׂה לָהּ אָבָק. מְעַשְּׁנִין מַתְנִינָן לָהּ תַּנֵּי מְכַװְנִין מְצַדְּדִין מְכַװְנִין לָהּ מִצְּדָדִין. חֲבֵרַייָא אָֽמְרֵי עוֹשֶׂה לָהּ דִּיקְרָן. רִבִּי יוֹסָה אוֹמֵר תּוֹלֶה לָהּ אֶבֶן. One trims to remove outgrowths16The technical terms used in the Mishnah are explained. All the terms refer to trees, not to sown plants.. One removes leaves. One dusts, puts dust over it. One smokes, one makes smoke under it. It was stated17A Tosephta (1:11) also uses the term מצדדין. It seems that מכוונין refers to training fruit trees on an espalier. The translation of מצדדין as “make it grow sidewise” is adequate only for the explanation of R. Yose, that one weighs the branches down so they cannot grow upwards. In the interpretation of the colleagues, one supports branches growing sideways by putting forked supports (cf. Kilaim Chapter 4, Note 60) under branches heavy with fruit. The disagreement shows that the expression was no longer in use in Amoraic times.: “One straightens them, one makes them grow sidewise.” One straightens for it. One makes it grow sidewise: The colleagues say, one makes a forked support for it; Rebbi Yose says, one weighs it down by a stone.
תַּנֵּי מְװַתְּרִין וּמְשַׁמְּטִין כֵּינִי מַתְנִיתָא מְװַתְּרִין בִּגְפָנִים וּמְשַׁמְּטִין בְּקָנִים. מָקוֹם שֶׁנָּהֲגוּ לְװַתֵּר וּלְשַׁמֵּט קוֹדֶם לְחָג מְװַתְּרִין וּמְשַׁמְּטִין קוֹדֶם לְחָג. לְאַחַר הֶחָג מְװַתְּרִין וּמְשַׁמְּטִין לְאַחַר הֶחָג. רִבִּי שִמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר וּבִלְבַד מִן הַבִּקְעָה וּלְמַעֲלָה. It was stated18Tosephta 1:7. Since the text deals with the care of trees, it is impossible to derive the verbs from Rabbinic Hebrew ותר “to be indulgent, forgo one’s rights”, שמט “to loosen, cause release” or Biblical Hebrew שמט “to renounce”. One has to derive the first term from Arabic ותר (Hebrew יתר) “to string, stretch, draw tight” (the branches of the vine on the espaliers) which somehow may be connected with יתר “to increase, make more bountiful” (also found in Accadic). The verb שמט in classical Arabic means “to spread out the foliage (of a tree)”. There is an Arabic technical term מסמט “vine prop” fitting the context. [R. S. Lieberman (Tosefta ki-fshutah p. 490) wants to explain (from rabbinic Hebrew) that one slips the vines off the supporting poles. The derivation from the Arabic technical term seems preferable.]: “One strings and spreads.” So is the baraita: One strings vines and spreads them on the poles. “At a place where one usually19In non-Sabbatical years. Any work belonging to the produce of the sixth year is permitted if it is customary. strings and spreads before Sukkot one strings and spreads before Sukkot; after Sukkot, one strings and spreads after Sukkot. Rebbi Simeon says, only higher than the notch20It is difficult to see what kind of stringing or propping up could be done lower than the first notch from which the stem branches out..”
רִבִּי יִרְמְיָה בְשֵׁם רִבִּי הוֹשַׁעְיָא רִבִּי יַעֲקֹב בַּר אָחָא רִבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר חֲנִינָא בְשֵׁם רִבִּי חָמָא אָבוֹי דְּרִבִּי הוֹשַׁעְיָה נוֹטֵל אֶת הַקְּבוּצִין עִמָּהּ. רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר אַף נוֹטֵל הוּא אֶת הֶעָלִין מִן הָאֶשְׁכּוֹל בַּשְּׁבִיעִית. מָחְלְפָה שִׁיטָּתֵיהּ דְּרִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן תַּנִּינָן תַּמָּן מְמָֽרְסִין אֶת הָאוֹרֶז בַּשְּׁבִיעִית דִּבְרֵי רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אֲבָל לֹא מְכַסְּחִין. וָכָא הוּא אָמַר אָכֵין. שַׁנְייָא הִיא הָכָא שֶׁהוּא כְמַצִּיל מִן הַדְּלֵיקָה. Rebbi Jeremiah in the name of Rebbi Hoshaia, Rebbi Jacob bar Aḥa, Rebbi Yose bar Ḥanina in the name of Rebbi Ḥama, father of Rebbi Hoshaia: He takes all accumulations with it21This refers to the statement of R. Simeon in the Mishnah, quoted in the next sentence. When one removes leaves to expose the grape bunches, he may also remove anything needed to be removed, even other bunches, and is not guilty of harvesting for his own use in the Sabbatical year.. “Rebbi Simeon said, one may even remove a leaf from a bunch in the Sabbatical year.” The position of Rebbi Simeon is inverted: We have stated there (Mishnah 2:10): “One may tear off22This follows R. Y. Qafeḥ in his translation of Maimonides’s Mishnah Commentary; he notes that Maimonides’s Arabic expression מדס may mean (1) “to macerate in water” and (2) “to tear off in irregular fashion, mutilate”; in the dictionaries (2) is given as translation of מדש. All halakhic commentaries (R. Simson, R. Isaac Simponti, and the commentators to Maimonides’s Šemiṭṭah weYovel 1:15) give the root the meaning “to water”; this does not fit the sense of Rabbinic ממרס which elsewhere means either (1) “to stir” or (2) “to crush, quash”. Arabic and Hebrew meanings (2) may be supported by Accadic marašu “to get into bad shape”. rice in the Sabbatical year; the words of Rebbi Simeon are that one may not trim23In his translation of Maimonides’s Mishnah Commentary, Alḥarizi translates כסח as “to hoe”..” And here, he says so? There is a difference here, he is like one who saves from a fire24He is only permitted to remove the leaves if otherwise the bunches would be ruined, not as regular tending..
מְסַקְּלִין עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה כו׳. תַּמָּן תַּנִינָן הַמְּסַקֵּל אֶת שָׂדֵהוּ נוֹטֵל אֶת הָעֶלְיוֹנוֹת וּמֵנִיחַ אֶת הַנּוֹגְעוֹת בָּאָרֶץ. וָכָא אַתְּ אָמַר הָכֵין. אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹנָה כָּאן בְּתָלוּשׁ כָּאן בִּמְחוּבָּר. “One may remove stones until the New Year”, etc. There, we have stated28Mishnah 3:7, dealing with work permitted during the Sabbatical year. If one may remove stones during the Sabbatical year, there seems to be no reason why removing the stones should be restricted to the time before the New Year.: “He who removes stones takes the upper ones and leaves those lying on the ground.” And here you say so? Rebbi Jonah said, there when they are loose, here when they are connected to the ground.
אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹסֵי הֲוֵינָן סָֽבְרִין מֵימַר דְּרִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן כְּרִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בְּקִירְסוּם דְּאִינּוּן תְּרֵין תַּנָּאִין מְסַקְּלִין עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה מְקָֽרְסְמִין מִזָֽרְדִין מְפַסְּלִין עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה כְּרַבָּנָן. רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר כְּזֵירוּדָהּ וּכְפִיסּוּלָהּ שֶׁל חֲמִישִׁית וְכֵן שֶׁל שִׁשִּׁית. הֲוֵי תְּלָתָה תַּנָּאִין אִינּוּן. מְסַקְּלִין עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה מְקָֽרְסְמִין מְזָֽרְדִין מְפַסְּלִין עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה כְּרַבָּנָן. רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר כְּזֵירוּדָהּ וּכְפִיסּוּלָהּ שֶׁל חֲמִישִׁית וְכֵן שֶׁל שִׁשִּׁית אֲפִילוּ יוֹתֵר מִיכֵּן. רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר כָּל־זְמָן שֶׁאֲנִי רַשַּׁאי בַּעֲבוֹדַת הָאִילָן רַשַּׁאי אֲנִי בְּפִיסּוּלוֹ עַד הָעַצֶּרֶת. Rebbi Yose said, we were of the opinion to say that Rebbi Simeon holds with Rebbi Joshua in cutting, that there are two tannaїtic positions: “One may remove stones until the New Year, one cuts, prunes, and shapes until the New Year” following the rabbis. “Rebbi Joshua says, like the pruning and shaping of the fifth year, so is that of the sixth.” But there are three Tannaïm. “One may remove stones until the New Year, one cuts, prunes, and shapes until the New Year” following the rabbis. “Rebbi Joshua says, like the pruning and shaping of the fifth year, so is that of the sixth,” even after that. “Rebbi Simeon says, any time that I may work the tree I may shape it,” until Pentecost.