משנה: מֵאֵימָתַי אוֹכְלִין פֵּירוֹת הָאִילָן בַּשְּׁבִיעִית. הַפַּגִּים מִשְּׁהִזְרִיחוּ אוֹכֶל בָּהֶן פִּיתּוֹ בַּשָּׂדֶה. בִּיחִילוּ כּוֹנֵס לְתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ. וְכֵן כְּיוֹצֵא בָּהֶן בִּשְׁאָר שְׁנֵי שָׁבוּעַ חַיָיבִין בְּמַעְשְׂרוֹת. הַבּוֹסֶר מִשֶׁהֵבִיא מַיִם אוֹכֶל בּוֹ פִּיתּוֹ בַּשָּׂדֶה הִבְאִישׁ כּוֹנֵס לְתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ וְכֵן כְּיוֹצֵא בּוֹ בִּשְׁאָר שְׁנֵי שָׁבוּעַ חַיָיבִין בְּמַעְשְׂרוֹת. MISHNAH: When does one start to eat tree fruits in the Sabbatical year? Unripe figs when they started to be radiant81When their skin becomes smooth enough to reflect sunlight. These unripe figs might be eaten as food acting as a laxative. one eats with his bread in the field; when they became large one takes them into his house and in this state in other years of the Sabbatical cycle they must be tithed82In this state, they are potential commercial product.. Unripe grapes when they contain fluid one eats them with his bread on the field; when their skin became transparent one takes them into his house and in this state in other years of the Sabbatical cycle they must be tithed.
הלכה: הַמְּזַנֵּב בַּגְּפָנִים כו׳. מַהוּ בִּיחִילוּ רִבִּי חִיָיא בַּר בָּא אָמַר חַיָיתָה כְּמַה דְּתֵימַר וְגַם נַפְשָׁם בָּחֲלָה בִי. HALAKHAH: 83In the Venice print, Halakhah 6. The quote from Mishnah 6 is induced by this error in numeration.: “If somebody cuts shoots of vines,” etc. What means ביחילו? Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said, if it comes alive, as you say (Zach.11:8): “And their souls were too much for me84This incomprehensible Biblical verse is also quoted in Babli Niddah47a by Rabba bar bar Ḥana for the etymology given here [and in Ma‘serot1:2 (fol. 48d)] by R. Ḥiyya bar Abba. {From the Arabic بخل “to be stingy” one might translate in the Mishnah “If they are barely ripe”.}.”
כְּתִיב וְלִבְהֶמְתְּךָ וְלַחַיָּה אֲשֶׁר בְּאַרְצֶךָ תִּהְיֶה כָל תְּבוּאָתָהּ לֶאֱכֹל. רִבִּי חִיָיא בַּר בָּא אָמַר שְׁתֵּי תְּבוּאוֹת אַחַת מִן הַבַּיִת וְאַחַת מִן הַשָּׂדֶה וּכְתִיב מִן הַשָּׂדֶה תֹאכְלוּ אֶת תְּבוּאָתָהּ. It is written (Lev. 25:7): “For your domestic animals and the wild animals of your Land shall all its yield be food.” Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said, two kinds of yield, one from the house and one from the field, and it is written (Lev. 25:12): “From the field you shall eat its yield.85This explains why the Mishnah has to give two terms for each kind of produce. As will be explained in the following paragraph, the edible produce of the Sabbatical year may be used only as unaltered food to be eaten.”
רִבִּי יוֹסֵה בֶּן חֲנִינָה בָּעֵי פַּגִּין מַהוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת מֵהֶן מָלוּגְמָא מֵאַחַר שֶׁהוּא אוֹכֵל בָּהֶן פִּיתּוֹ בַּשָּׂדֶה יְהֵא אָסוּר. אוֹ מֵאַחַר שֶׁהוּא מַכְנִיסָן לְתוֹךְ הַבַּיִת יְהֵא מוּתָּר. 86 Rebbi Yose ben Ḥanina asked: May one make a plaster (emollient)86Greek μάλαγμα, cf. Berakhot p. 385. Once growth of the Sabbatical year is food, it cannot be used for anything else as stated in Mishnah 8:1. of unripe figs? After he can eat his bread with them in the field it will be forbidden. Or since he may bring them into his house it might be permitted87Since unripe figs are not food in the usual sense; it might be permitted to treat unripe figs like, e. g., mint leaves, and use them for medical purposes..
תַּמָּן תַּנִּינָן הַפַּגִּין וְהַבּוֹסֶר רִבִּי עֲקִיבָה אוֹמֵר מִטָּמֵא טוּמְאַת אוֹכְלִין. רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן בֶּן נוּרִי אוֹמֵר מִשֶּׁיָּבוֹאוּ לְעוֹנַת הַמַּעְשְׂרוֹת. תַּנֵי כָּאן מִיַּד וְלֵית כָּאן מִיַּד. רִבִּי חֲנַנְיָה בְשֵׁם רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ בְּפַגֵּי תְאֵינִים הִיא מַתְנִיתָא הָא בִשְׁאָר כָּל הַפַּגִּין אֵינָן מִטַּמְּאִין טוּמְאַת אוֹכְלִין עַד שֶׁיָּבוֹאוּ לְעוֹנַת הַמַּעְשְׂרוֹת. אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹסֵה מַתְנִיתִין אָמְרָה כֵן הַפַּגִּין מִשְּׁיַּזְרִיחוּ אוֹכֶל בָּהֶן פִּיתּוֹ בַּשָּׂדֶה. רִבִּי פְדָת בְּשֵׁם רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן הַכֹּל מוֹדִין בַּשְּׁבִיעִית. הַכֹּל מוֹדִין חֲבֵרַיָיא אָמְרִין שֶׁאֵינָן מִטַּמְּאִין טוּמְאַת אוֹכְלִין. There, we have stated (Mishnah ‘Uqeẓin 3:6): “Unripe figs and grapes, Rebbi Aqiba said they may become impure by the impurity of food; Rebbi Joḥanan ben Nuri said only after they come to the period of tithing88Earlier, they are considered as pieces of wood that cannot become impure..” We have stated here “immediately” but is it “not immediately”89R. Aqiba assumes that anything edible under circumstances of need is food; does he hold this as a general principle or only in this special case?? Rebbi Ḥananiah in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish: The Mishnah speaks only about unripe figs, but unripe fruit of any other kind may not become impure by the impurity of food until it reaches the period of tithing. Rebbi Yose said, our Mishnah implies this: “Unripe figs90פג without qualifier means only “unripe fig.” Since the Mishnah gives no qualifier, it can apply only to figs. when they started to be radiant one eats them with his bread in the field.” Rebbi Pedat91Son of the Amora R. Eleazar (ben Pedat). in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: Everybody agrees about the Sabbatical year. “Everybody agrees,” the colleagues said that the figs do not become impure by the impurity of food92Even R. Aqiba will agree that unripe figs and grapes in the Sabbatical year are not yet food since legal restrictions prevent their being used as food except by the worker on the field..
הַקּוּר כְּעֵץ לְכָל דָּבָר אֶלָּא שֶׁהוּא נִלְקָח בְּכֶסֶף מַעֲשֵׂר וְכַפּוֹנִיּוֹת לְאוֹכְלִין נִפְטָרוֹת מִן הַמַּעְשְׂרוֹת. דָּרַשּׁ רִבִּי יוּדָה בַּר פָּזִי בְּבֵית מִדְּרָשָׁא הַקּוּר אֵין קְדוּשַׁת שְׁבִיעִית חָלָה עָלַיו. וְרִבִּי יוֹסֵה מְפַקְּדִין עַל שׁוֹאֲלַיָיה וְאָמְרִין לוֹן מִן לְכוֹן מֵימַר כֵּן. וַהֲווֹן אָמְרִין הוּא אָמַר לָן רִבִּי יוֹסֵה מַתְנִיתָא פְלִיגָא עַל רִבִּי יוּדָה בֶּן פָּזִי וּמְסַיְיעָה לָן דְּתַנֵי הַפַּגִּין שֶׁל שְׁבִיעִית אֵין שׁוֹלְקִין אוֹתָן וּבִמְסוּיָיפוֹת מוּתָּר מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהִיא מְלָאכְתָן. “93Mishnah ‘Uqeẓin 3:7. The paragraph is a follow-up to the Mishnah ‘Uqeẓin quoted earlier. The palm pith94The new growth on top of the date palm in the spring which may be eaten as a vegetable as long as it is soft. If not removed, it becomes wood. is wood in every respect except that it may be bought with tithe money95Money from the Second Tithe that, in the times of the Temple, must be used for food in Jerusalem.. Palm spathe96Explanation of the Gaonic commentary to Tahorot and Maimonides. Arukh and Rashi explain: Dates which never ripen. I. Löw: The male flower of the date palm. {The Arabic word used by the Gaonim and Maimonides, טַלע, means mainly “spathe” in classical Arabic, but also “palm frond” (meaning chosen by Al-Ḥarizi), and “pollen”; as טִלַּע the latter is the only meaning in Iraqi dialect. It does not seem reasonable to replace “pollen” by “male flower.”} used as food is free from tithes.” Rebbi Judah ben Pazi explained in the study house: Palm pith is not subject to the holiness of the Sabbatical year97Since it is a kind of wood, it may be used otherwise than as food.. But Rebbi Yose commanded about those who were asking98They were checking with him whether the statement of R. Judah ben Pazi was true. He had them reveal the source of their statement.; they said that it was said from his part. He made them say that Rebbi Yose told them, a baraita disagrees with Rebbi Judah ben Pazi and supports us, as it was stated99Tosephta 3:21, and there the language is: “One may not split (?) unripe figs of the Sabbatical year but it is permitted for the late ones because that is their treatment; it is permitted for palm pith and palm spathe.” Late figs do not ripen on the tree; if one wants to use them as food one makes them into preserves. Similarly, palm pith and palm spathe are food only if cooked. Since everybody will agree that late figs are food, one also has to agree that palm pith and spathe are food under the rules of the Sabbatical. The argument is valid only if one assumes that R. Yose was quoting the entire Tosephta or an equivalent text. {The commentators of the Tosephta replace “split” by “cook” on the basis of the Yerushalmi but this reading has no support in the Tosephta mss.}: “One may not cook unripe figs of the Sabbatical year but it is permitted for the late ones because that is their treatment.”
מֵאֵימָתַי אוֹכְלִין פֵּירוֹת כו׳. קוּר וכִפָּנִיּוֹת הֲרֵי הֵן כְּעֵץ וְכֵן אָנוּ אוֹמְרִים וְעֵץ אָסוּר לְשׁוֹלְקוֹ אֶלָּא בְּגִין דִּקְדוּשַׁת שְׁבִיעִית חָלָה עָלָיו לְפוּם כֵּן צָרַךְ מֵימַר אָסוּר. 100Here, in the middle of R. Yose’s argument, starts Halakhah 7 in the Venice print. The quote from the Mishnah has to be disregarded.“When does one start to eat fruits”, etc. Since we say that palm pith and spathe are like wood, is wood forbidden to be cooked? But because the holiness of the Sabbatical falls on them one has to say that it is forbidden101Because of the Tosephta quoted in Note 99, the commentators want to change “forbidden” into “permitted” without any manuscript evidence.
However, since this paragraph still belongs to R. Yose’s argument against R. Jehudah ben Pazi, “forbidden” here is appropriate since it implies that even for palm pith and spathe, once they have been taken from the tree any use conflicting with the holiness of the Sabbatical is forbidden..
הַבּוֹסֶר מִשֶּׁהֵבִיא מַיִם כו׳. גַּבֵּי בּוֹסֵר מַה אִית לָךְ אָמַר. אָמַר רִבִּי אָבוּן שֶׁכֵּן דֶּרֶךְ הַקִּיהוֹת אוֹכְלוֹת אוֹתוֹ. “Unripe grapes when they contain fluid”, etc. What argument can you give for unripe grapes? Rebbi Abun said, because at that stage usually the owls eat it102By Lev. 25:7, food for wild animals is legal food in the Sabbatical year; cf. Mishnah 8:1..