Jerusalem Bikkurim

Mishnah

1 Some people bring First Fruits and make the declaration, some bring and do not make the declaration, and some do not bring. The following do not bring: Someone who plants on his own property but layers a branch into a private or a public plot; and likewise someone who layers a branch from a private or a public plot into his own property. If someone plants on his own property and layers a branch into his own property but a private or public road is in the middle he cannot bring; Rabbi Judah says he brings.

Halakhah

“Some people bring First Fruits and make the declaration,” etc. Someone who plants on his own property but layers a branch into a private or a public plot cannot bring even from the old tree; someone who layers a branch from a private or a public plot into his own property cannot bring even from the new tree. That means that just as the new lives off the old, so the old lives off the new.

Rabbi Yohanan said, in all cases they applied the rules concerning robbers. Rabbi Yose said, that is what the Mishnah means: “Why can he not bring? Because it was said: ‘the beginning of the First Fruits of your land.’Deuteronomy 26:2”

It was stated: If he layered a branch with permission, he brings and makes the declaration. Rabbi Yose in the name of Rabbi Ammi: Only if the permission was permanent, not temporary. Rabbi Jonah in the name of Rabbi Ammi: Even temporary. The strength of Rabbi Jonah comes from the following: “If somebody digs a cistern, a ditch, or a cave, he may cut down as he works and the wood is his.” Is the right to the wood not temporary? How does Rabbi Yose explain this? Roots always regrow; since roots do regrow the permission is considered permanent. Rabbi Mana said, the statement of Rabbi Yohanan supports my father, as Rabbi Yohanan said in all cases they applied the rules concerning robbers. In our case, if he gave permission to layer a branch even temporarily, the person who layers the branch is not a robber.

Rabbi Zeriqan asked Rabbi Zeira: Is the Mishnah Rabbi’s since Rabbi said, all roots live off one another? He said to him, it is everybody’s opinion. Here, the Torah said: “the beginning of the First Fruits of your land,”Deuteronomy 26:2 so that all growth comes from your land.

In the opinion of Rabbi Judah, what is the difference between someone who plants on his own property and layers a branch into a private person’s and someone who plants on his own property and layers a branch into his own property and a private road is in between? Rabbi Aḥa in the name of Rabbi Miasha, when he layered a branch through a gourd or a pipe. If he layered a branch through a gourd or a pipe he should bring and make the declaration! Even according to the rabbis he should bring and make the declaration! Rabbi Jonah said, Rabbi Judah had a problem. If somebody sells a path to another person, does he sell him the surface where people walk or does he sell him down to the abyss? If you say, he sold the surface where people walk, he brings and makes the declaration. If you say, he sold down to the abyss, he should not bring at all. Because of the doubt he brings but does not make the declaration. For the rabbis it is obvious that he sold down to the abyss. Where do they differ? When he sells a path to another person. But if he sold him a field and reserved a path for himself, everybody agrees that he reserved for himself down to the abyss.

In the opinion of Rabbi Judah, what is the difference between someone who plants on his own property and layers a branch into the public domain and someone who plants on his own property and layers a branch into his own property and a public road is in between? Rabbi Ammi said, Rabbi Judah holds with Rabbi Eliezer, as we have stated there: “One may not make a cavity under the public domain, cisterns, ditches, or caverns. Rabbi Eliezer permits it if a truck loaded with stones can pass over it.” As Rabbi Eliezer said there, under the public domain, it is his, so Rabbi Judah said here, under the public domain, it is his. Rabbi Samuel ben Rav Isaac asked, if it follows Rabbi Eliezer, he should bring and make the declaration. Rabbi Yose said, Rabbi Samuel ben Rav Isaac thought that Rabbi Eliezer permits doing that and it remains his permanent property, but Rabbi Eliezer permits doing that but whoever acts first to acquire it acquires it.

Mishnah

2 Why can he not bring? Because it was said: “You shall bring the beginning of the First Fruits of your land,”Deuteronomy 26:2 so that all the growth comes from your land. For the same reason sharecroppers, tenant farmers, sicarii, and robbers cannot bring, since it is said: “The beginning of the First Fruits of your land.”

Halakhah

This applies when he seized the land. If he stole a vine and planted it, does he not owe money? But the rabbis have a problem: do commandments follow the rules of Temple sacrifices or not? If you say they are like Temple sacrifices he may not bring; if you say they are not like Temple sacrifices he may bring. Everybody agrees that from a worshiped tree which was damaged one cannot bring logs for the altar fire. Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish asked, may he take a lulav from it? Do commandments follow the rules of Temple sacrifices or not? If you say they are like Temple sacrifices he may not take; if you say they are not like Temple sacrifices he may take. It is obvious that he may take a lulav from it and commandments are not like Temple sacrifices. May he bring First Fruits? According to Rabbi Judah who compares them to sacred food outside the Temple he may bring; according to the rabbis who compare them to Temple sacrifices he may not bring.

This applies to a robbery when the owners did not give up hope. Does it also apply to a robbery when the owners did give up hope? They thought to say that we can hear it from the following: “This applies to heave and tithe but not to First Fruits.” What case requires this teaching? Not for a robbery when the owners did not give up hope, but for a robbery when the owners did give up hope? Even for heave he did not do anything, as we stated: “A strongman, a thief, or a robber, as long as the owners pursue them, their heave is no heave, their tithes are not tithes, and their dedications no dedications. If the owners do not pursue them, their heave is heave, their tithes are tithes, and their dedications are dedications.” Rabbi Yose in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Neither of them can give heave. Rabbi Ammi in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Even if the owners declare heave, it is no heave. Rabbi Yose said, so far we are discussing a robbery when the owners did not give up hope. Then why did we state: “This applies to heave and tithe but not to First Fruits”? It is possible for fruits to be usable without First Fruits. It is impossible for fruits to be usable without heave and tithes! But a robbery when the owners did give up hope remains a question.

Mishnah

3 One does not bring First Fruits except from the Seven Kinds, nor from mountain dates, nor from valley fruits, nor from oil olives which are not best quality. One may not bring First Fruits before Pentecost. The people from Hyena Mountain brought their First Fruits before Pentecost but their offerings were not accepted because of the verse in the Torah: “The pilgrimage holiday of harvest, the First Fruits of your work from sowing the field.”Exodus 23:16

Halakhah

“One does not bring First Fruits,” etc. If it were written: “You shall take the First Fruits of your land,”Deuteronomy 26:2 I would have said that all kinds require First Fruits. The verse says, “from the First Fruits,” not all first fruits. If “from the first” and not all first fruits, then you have only wheat and barley. The verse says “fruits of your land”; this is inclusive. Does it include everything? Here “your land” has been said; at another place “the Land of wheat and barley” has been said. Since “land” mentioned there deals with the Seven Kinds, so also “land” mentioned in this verse must refer to the Seven Kinds.

“Oil olives” that is agory. Rabbi Ammi in the name of Rabbi Yohanan, that is the Avaritic. Why is it called agory? Because it stores its oil inside. Do all other olives lose their oil? Rabbi Ḥanina said, all other olives will leach their oil if rains fall on them but this one stores its oil inside.

“And honey.” This refers to dates. Rabbi Tanḥuma in the name of Rabbi Isaac ben Rabbi Eleazar: It is written “When the thing expanded, the Israelites increased the first gifts of grain, cider, oil, and honey.”2 Chronicles 31:5 Is honey subject to tithes? But this refers to dates which are subject to tithes.

Rabbi Berekhiah in the name of Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥman: Why is “Land, Land” written twice? To tell you that a house stands only on these two things. Why are the others included? Rabbi Judah ben Rabbi and Rabbi Samuel ben Naḥman, one says for blessings, the other says for measures. The one who says for blessings is understandable. The one who says for measures, did we not state: “A shiny mark the size of half a bean”? That is not reliable. “The size of a lentil from a crawling thing”? That is not reliable.

The following is obvious: If somebody dedicated First Fruits not from the Seven Kinds it was not sanctified. Where is there a disagreement? About mountain dates and valley fruits. Rabbi Zeira, Rabbi Assi in the name of Rabbi Eleazar: They were not sanctified. Rabbi Hila in the name of Rabbi Immi: Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish disagree. Rabbi Yohanan said they were not sanctified, Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish said they were sanctified. Rabbi Jonah said, the reason of Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish is that if somebody violated the rule and gave heave from poor produce for good produce, his heave is heave. Rabbi Yose said, we have heard that bad produce is subject to tithes; have we heard that bad produce is subject to First Fruits? A baraita supports Rabbi Yose: “One does not bring fruits from Sepphoris and Bet Shean, and if he brought them, they are not sanctified.” Rabbi Zeira said, but there it is stated: “Figs pierced on the branch and grapes dusted and smoked one does not bring. But one brings bat šeba figs and white grapes.” The latter are of the highest quality. What can you say? But Rabbi Abba Mari said, one should not say that one should not bring these because they are late.

It was stated: Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel says, one brings dates only from Jericho and one makes the declaration only for dry ones. Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar says, one may bring valley pomegranates and make the declaration.

Mishnah

4 The following bring but do not make the declaration. The convert brings but does not make the declaration since he cannot say: “That the Eternal had sworn to our ancestors to give us.”Deuteronomy 26:3 But if his mother was Jewish he brings and makes the declaration. When he prays in private, he says “God of the ancestors of Israel.” When he is in the synagogue, he says “God of your ancestors.” But if his mother was Jewish he says “God of our ancestors.”

Halakhah

“The following bring but do not make the declaration.” Rabbi Jonah and Rabbi Yose, both in the name of Rabbi Samuel bar Rav Isaac: The Mishnah speaks of a convert of the descendants of the Kenite, the relative of Moses by marriage, since the descendants of the Kenite, the relative of Moses by marriage, bring and make the declaration, as it is written: “Go with us and we shall treat you well.”Numbers 10:29 Rabbi Ḥizkiyah in the name of Rabbi Eleazar did not say so but: Why did they say “the guardians, the slave, the agent, the woman, the sexless and the hermaphrodite can bring but do not make the declaration,” is not the convert mentioned here? Rabbi Samuel ben Rav Isaac said, explain it by the convert mentioned here, by the descendants of the Kenite, the relative of Moses by marriage, since the descendants of the Kenite, the relative of Moses by marriage, bring and make the declaration.

Rabbi Yose said, Benjamin bar Astor explained it before Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: The Mishnah deals with a Gentile who had forbidden intercourse with a Jewish woman. Rabbi Jonah did not say so, but: Rabbi heard those of the family bar Astor, who were converts, children of converts, say “God of our ancestors.” But did we not state: “If his mother was Jewish he says ‘God of our ancestors’”? That means, not converts children of converts! Rabbi Yose said, Benjamin bar Astor explained it before Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba. Rabbi Ḥizkiyah in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: Benjamin bar Astor explained it before us: The Mishnah deals with a Gentile who had forbidden intercourse with a Jewish woman.

Rabbi Zeriqan said, Rabbi Zeira asked: Do they not refer to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob their ancestors? Did not the Holy One, praise to Him, swear to the males but not to the females?

It was stated in the name of Rabbi Judah: The convert himself brings and makes the declaration. What is the reason? “For I made you the father of the multitude of Gentiles.”Genesis 17:5 In the past you were the father of Aram, from now on you will be father of all Gentiles. Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said, practice follows Rabbi Judah. A case came before Rabbi Abbahu and he ruled according to Rabbi Judah.

Mishnah

5 Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says, a woman, daughter of converts, should not marry a Cohen unless her mother is from Israel. There is no difference between converts and freed slaves, even up to ten generations, unless their mothers are from Israel. The guardians, the slave, the agent, the woman, the sexless, and the hermaphrodite can bring but not make the declaration, since they cannot say: “Which You gave me, Eternal.”Deuteronomy 26:10

Halakhah

“Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says,” etc. There, we have stated: “Rabbi Judah said, the daughter of a male convert is like the daughter of a male desecrated one.” They all interpret the same verse: “Only virgins from the seed of the House of Israel.”Ezekiel 44:22 Rabbi Judah says, unless his father is from Israel. Rabbi Eliezer says, either her father or her mother. Rabbi Yose says, unless they are born within the holiness of Israel. Rabbi Simeon says, unless they grow the hymen within the holiness of Israel. It was stated in the name of Rabbi Simeon: “A girl who converted before she was three years and one day old is acceptable for the priesthood since it was said: ‘All the female children unfit for sleeping with a male you shall let live for yourselves,’Numbers 31:18 and Phineas was with them.” But the rabbis say, you shall let live as slaves and slave girls for yourselves.

Rabbi Assi in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Practice follows Rabbi Yose but Cohanim customarily maintain their dignity by following Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob. A Cohen married the daughter of converts. The case came before Rabbi Abbahu who let him kneel before the low bench. Rav Bevai said to him, did the Rabbi not teach us that practice follows Rabbi Yose? He answered, but do Cohanim not customarily maintain their dignity by following Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob? He retorted, does one whip because of a customary practice? He said to him, if you look at it that way, you have appeased me and I shall let him get up. After he got up, he said to him, since the lash was withdrawn I am permitted to have her.

Rabbi Jacob bar Idi in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi: It happened that a family in the South had a bad reputation. Rabbi sent Romanus to investigate them. He investigated and found that a grandmother had been converted at less than three years and a day of age, and he declared them fit for the priesthood. Rav Hoshaia said, he declared them fit following Rabbi Simeon. Rabbi Zeira said, here it is everybody’s opinion since Rabbi Zeira said in the name of Rav Ada bar Ahava, Rabbi Yudan brings it in the name of Rabbi Abbahu in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: The child of an adult is fit since it is a prohibition deduced from a positive commandment. “But he shall take a wife in her virginity.”Leviticus 21:13 Any prohibition deduced from a positive commandment is a positive commandment. Analogously, “only a virgin from among his people he shall take as his wife,”Leviticus 21:14 not a convert. Is any prohibition deduced from a positive commandment a positive commandment? Rabbi Hoshaia objected: But the second generation of an Egyptian is a prohibition deduced from a positive commandment! Rabbi Hoshaia turned around and said, a positive commandment for Israel cannot be compared to a positive commandment for Cohanim. A positive commandment for Israel implies a prohibition for everybody. A positive commandment for Cohanim implies a prohibition for Cohanim but permission for Levites and Israel.

“The agent.” Rabbi Yose, Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: When he gathered them intending to send them through a third person; but if he gathered them to bring them himself he cannot send them by a third person. He did not complete this explanation; Rabbi Jonah completed it. Rabbi Zeira, Rabbi Ammi, Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish in the name of Rabbi Hoshaiah: When he gathered them intending to send them through a third person; but if he gathered them to bring them himself he cannot send them by a third person since all First Fruits which could become permitted by making the declaration become permitted only by making the declaration. Rabbi Mana said, even though Rabbi Yose did not say that, he said something similar: Rabbi Zeira said to Rabbi Assi, do you remember that when the statement of Rabbi Hoshaiah was formulated, Rabbi Yose ben Rabbi Ḥanina said that a Mishnah disagrees: “If he designated his First Fruits and then sold his field he brings but does not make the declaration”! We applied this to someone who had already intended to sell. But did we not state: “If the tree dried up or was cut down”; that also applies if it was already almost dry. Does the absence of the declaration prevent their use? Rabbi Samuel ben Rav Isaac said, where making the declaration is possible, failing to make it does not prevent their use. If he gathered to deliver them through a third person, would he be forbidden to deliver them through a third person because maybe he would change his mind to deliver them himself?

Rabbi Abbahu in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: The heir brings and does not make the declaration. What case are we considering? If about an heir during his father’s lifetime, he is his agent. But after his father’s death it is his own! We are considering the case that his father was seriously ill.

“It is written: ‘You shall enjoy all the good things that the Eternal, your God, gave you and your house.’Deuteronomy 26:11 This teaches that a person brings First Fruits from his wife’s property and makes the declaration.” Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish said, after her death but not during her lifetime. Rabbi Yohanan said, there is no difference, during her lifetime and after her death. Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish follows his own opinion since Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish said, a person does not inherit from his wife as a biblical rule.

Rabbi Yohanan in the name of Rabbi Hoshaia: Failing to put them down prevents their use, but failing to make the declaration does not. But did we not state: “He who eats First Fruits before the declaration was made for them”? Rav Hoshaiah, Rav Judah in the name of Samuel: That is Rabbi Akiva’s. Rabbi Yose asked, which statement of Rabbi Akiva? Rabbi Mana said, I heard my father state: Failing to put them down prevents their use, but failing to make the declaration does not; Rabbi Akiva says, failing to make the declaration does prevent their use. Rabbi Jacob bar Aḥa in the name of Rabbi Eleazar: Why did they say that failing to put them down prevents their use? Because it applies to everybody. Rabbi Tanḥuma, Rabbi Huna in the name of Rabbi Eleazar: Because it is repeated. Rabbi Abba Mari said both, one following Rabbi Judah, the other following the rabbis. For Rabbi Judah who said it had to be repeated, because it applies to everybody. For the rabbis who instruct that it did not need to be repeated, because it was repeated.

Mishnah

6 He who buys two trees on another’s property brings but does not make the declaration; Rabbi Meir says he brings and makes the declaration. If the spring dried up or the tree was cut down, one brings but does not make the declaration; Rabbi Judah says he brings and makes the declaration. From Pentecost to Tabernacles one brings and makes the declaration; from Tabernacles to Ḥanukkah one brings but does not make the declaration; Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra says he brings and makes the declaration.

Halakhah

Rabbi Yose ben Ḥanina asked: If one bought a single tree he did not acquire the ground, two he did not acquire the ground. From one he does not bring at all, from two he brings and does not make the declaration? Rabbi Eleazar said to him, you are asking a question to which the rabbis in assembly have no answer.

Rabbi Judah treats trees like straws. There, we have stated: “If he pronounced the blessing ‘Creator of the fruit of the soil’ on fruits of the tree, he has fulfilled his obligation.” Rabbi Ḥizkiyah in the name of Rabbi Jacob bar Aḥa: This is Rabbi Judah’s since Rabbi Judah treats trees like straws. Rabbi Yose said, it is everybody’s opinion since fruits of a tree are also fruits of the soil but fruits of the soil are not fruits of the tree.

Rabbi Abun bar Cahana asked Rabbi Hila: If somebody sold him a field with its standing crop, may the buyer bring First Fruits? He said to him, why not? Does that apply when it is moist, or even when it is dry? He said to him, even dry, even harvested. Then even wheat grain? do we say that the buyer on the market brings First Fruits?

The following is obvious: If somebody sold the harvest and retained the land for himself, the seller cannot bring since he has no harvest. What if he bought it back? Let us hear from the following: “If he gave her dedicated things they are permitted; wines, oils, flour, or anything of a kind admissible near the altar, are prohibited. The latter adds only bundles of vines and rings made of grain stalks.” What case are we considering? If he gave it to her as payment for prostitution, do we say that the buyer on the market brings First Fruits? We must be considering the case where the vines were hers, she sold him the fruits, and he gave them back to her as payment for prostitution. Because they are payment for prostitution. Therefore, if they were not payment for prostitution she might bring. That means, if he bought it back he may bring.

The colleagues in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi: If he dedicated them before Tabernacles and Tabernacles passed, he brings and does not make the declaration. If he dedicated them before Ḥanukkah and Ḥanukkah passed, they will rot. After Ḥanukkah they do not become holy. Rabbi Zeira will not accept this of the colleagues; Rabbi Zeira is of the opinion that all First Fruits which could become permitted by making the declaration become permitted only by making the declaration. Do the colleagues not accept this? They accept it; if he dedicated before Tabernacles intending to bring them after Tabernacles. Did we not state: One may not bring First Fruits from the new crop for the old, nor from the old for the new. What case are we considering? If this concerns produce which was one third ripe before New Year’s Day for produce which was not one third ripe before New Year’s Day, since it was not one third ripe before New Year’s Day it is obvious that it did not form roots before the ʿomer and will be forbidden until the coming ʿomer permits it. But we must deal with fruits from trees which budded before the fifteenth of Shevat for fruits which budded after the fifteenth of Shevat; because that would be from the new crop for the old. Therefore, from the new crop for the new one may bring. We thought that one speaks of the time after Ḥanukkah. Rabbi Ḥinena said, in its time.

Mishnah

7 If he dedicated his First Fruits and then sold his field he brings but does not make the declaration. The other person cannot bring from the same kind, but from another kind he brings and makes the declaration. Rabbi Judah says, he may bring and make the declaration from the same kind. If he dedicated his First Fruits and then they rotted, were robbed, stolen, lost, or became impure, he brings others in their place. One is not liable for a fifth for the replacements. If they became impure in the Temple court, he scatters them and cannot make the declaration. What is the source that he is responsible for them until he delivers them to the Temple Mount? Because it is said: “The beginning of the First Fruits of your land you shall bring to the Temple of the Eternal, your God, etc.”Deuteronomy 26:3 This teaches that he is responsible for them until he delivers them to the Temple Mount. If he brought from one kind and made the declaration, when he comes back and brings from another kind he cannot make the declaration.

Halakhah

What is the reason of the rabbis? “I am declaring today.”Deuteronomy 26:3 He declares once but not twice. Does not Rabbi Judah hold so? He does, referring to one person. But two persons can declare and declare again.

Rabbi Yohanan said, I am stating this as the opinion of a single individual. It was stated thus: “Rabbi Simeon ben Judah says in the name of Rabbi Simeon: For the replacement one is not obligated for a fifth.” Rabbi Samuel ben Rav Isaac in the name of Rav Huna: One may even buy the replacement on the market. How do you treat these? As addition of First Fruits or adornment of First Fruits? If you treat them as addition to First Fruits they are not under the rules of demay. If you treat them as adornment of First Fruits they are under the rules of demay.

“If they became impure in the Temple court, he scatters them and cannot make the declaration.” Rabbi Ḥama bar Uqba in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Ḥanina: If the First Fruits became impure, the baskets are given to the priests since it is said: “The Cohen shall take the basket from your hand.”Deuteronomy 26:4

Whose view requires this teaching? For Rabbi Judah. Even though Rabbi Judah said, he declares and he declares again, if he brought from one kind and made the declaration, when he comes back and brings from another kind he cannot make the declaration. Rabbi Jonathan said, Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai stated this: “You shall say,”Deuteronomy 26:5 “you shall enjoy”Deuteronomy 26:11; you have to say it while you enjoy.

Mishnah

8 For the following one makes the declaration, one brings and makes the declaration between Pentecost and Tabernacles: From the Seven Kinds, from produce of the hills, from dates in the valleys, from oil olives, and from Transjordan. Rabbi Yose the Galilean says, one does not bring from Transjordan since it is not a Land flowing with milk and honey.

Halakhah

Rabbi Yose in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish; Rabbi Jonah, Rabbi Zeira in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: Sixteen mil in a circle around Sepphoris is the Land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jonah said, if one measures as the crow flies, the outskirts of Beth Shean belong to it. If one measures as the crow flies, the valley of Gennesaret belongs to it. One objected to Rabbi Jonah: “I said, I shall bring you out of the misery of Egypt”Exodus 3:17 “into a good and wide land, to a land flowing with milk and honey”Exodus 3:8! He said to them, which contains stretches of milk and honey.

It was stated: “Which You gave me,”Deuteronomy 26:10 not what I took by myself. About what do they differ? Rabbi Abun said, half of the tribe of Manasseh. If one says, “which You gave me, not what I took by myself,” half the tribe of Manasseh did not take by themselves. If one says, “a Land of milk and honey,”Deuteronomy 26:10 nevertheless it is not a land of milk and honey.

Mishnah

9 He who buys three trees in another’s property, brings, and makes the declaration; Rabbi Meir says even for two. He who buys a tree and its ground brings and makes the declaration. Rabbi Judah says, even sharecroppers and tenant farmers bring and make the declaration.

Halakhah

It was stated: Hereditary tenant farmers do not bring; Rabbi Judah says, they themselves bring and make the declaration.

Rabbi Zeira, Rabbi Ḥiyya, in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: The Mishnah speaks of hereditary tenant farmers. Rabbi Hila, Rabbi Assi, in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: The Mishnah speaks of owners of sharecropping or tenant farming rights. They proposed, he who says the Mishnah speaks of owners of sharecropping or tenant farming rights, so it does not refer to ordinary sharecroppers or tenants. If it refers to a temporary sharecropper or tenant farmer, then a permanent sharecropper or tenant farmer might bring. Rabbi Abba, Rabbi Ḥiyya came in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Even a permanent sharecropper or tenant farmer cannot bring. Why? The Mishnah speaks of owners of sharecropping or tenant farming rights.

Mishnah

1 For heave and First Fruits one is subject to the penalty of death or a fine of a fifth; they are forbidden to lay persons, are Cohen’s property, may be neutralized in a mixture of one part in 100, need washing of the hands and sundown. This applies to heave and First Fruits but not to tithe.

Halakhah

“For heave and First Fruits,” etc. It is written: “Look, I gave you responsibility for My heaves.”Numbers 18:8 Two heaves, heave and First Fruits. About heave it is written: “They should not carry sin because of it and die if they desecrate it.”Leviticus 22:9 First fruits as it is written: “There you shall bring your elevation offerings,”Deuteronomy 12:6 these are First Fruits, as it is written: “The Cohen shall take the basket from your hand.”Deuteronomy 26:4 Maybe we should say that the verse refers to sacrifices? Extirpation is already prescribed for sacrifices.

Should sacrifices be subject to death and extirpation? Can somebody die and die again? As we have stated: “If somebody dies at age 50, he dies of extirpation. At 52, the death of the prophet Samuel. At 60, it is the death written in the Torah. At 70, a death of love. At 80, death of old age. After that, a life of suffering.”

What is the source for the ruling that if somebody dies at age 50, he dies of extirpation? It is written: “Do not extirpate the tribe of the families of Levi, etc. Do the following for them so that they live and do not die.”Numbers 4:18-19 Arrange their duties so that they do not enjoy seeing the holiest of holies. And it is written: “They should not come to look, when the holies are wrapped, and die.”Numbers 4:20 And it is written: “At age 50, he should retire from the workforce.”Numbers 8:25 Rabbi Abin, the son of Rabbi Tanḥum ben Rabbi Tryphon, understood it from here: “The days of our lives here are 70 years.”Psalms 90:10 Subtract from these 20 years during which the Heavenly Court neither punishes nor extirpates, and you will find that one who dies at up to 50 years dies in extirpation.

“At 52, the death of the prophet Saul.” Rabbi Abba the son of Rabbi Pappai in the name of Rabbi Levi; Rabbi Joshua from Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi: “All hard work brings profit, but talk alone brings only poverty.”Proverbs 14:23 Hannah, because she prayed too much, shortened Samuel’s life, since she said: “He shall live there forever.”1 Samuel 1:22 But the “forever” of a Levite is only 50 years, as it is written: “At the age of 50 years he shall retire from the workforce.”Numbers 8:25 But this one lived 52 years? Rabbi Yose ben Rabbi Abun said, two years until she weaned him.

“At 60, it is the death written in the Torah.” Rabbi Ḥizkiyah in the name of Rabbi Jacob bar Aḥa: It is written: “If any male among these people, this evil generation, should see.”Deuteronomy 1:35 Think of it, if anybody left Egypt at age 20 and then was in the desert for 40 years when he died, you find that the death written in the Torah is at age 60. And it is written: “You shall enter your grave bklḥ.”Deuteronomy 1:35

At 70, a death of love.: “The days of our lives are then 70 years.”Psalms 90:10 At 80, death of old age, as it is said: “At most, 80 years.” Barzillai also said this to David: “Today I am 80 years old, do I still know good from bad?”2 Samuel 19:36

If he had passed the age of 50 and did something punishable by extirpation, is he truly very happy? If he had passed the age of 60 and did something punishable by death, can he truly be happy? It was stated: Rabbi Ḥanina ben Antigonos said, if an old man ate fat, who will show us that he is subject to extirpation? As we have stated, if he desecrated the Sabbath he dies by extirpation. But it must be the following: He who dies in one day dies by rage, in two by urgency, in three by plague. Rabbi Ḥalafta ben Shaul stated: He who dies in one, two, three days, dies by extirpation. Four or five is a hurried death, six a usual death, seven a death of love, if it takes longer, he dies in pain.

What did you see to assert that he who dies in three days dies from the plague? Hilfai the grandson of Rabbi Abbahu said, I heard the voice of my grandfather who preached: “It was like the ten days that the Eternal struck Nabal and he died.”1 Samuel 25:38 The Holy One, praise to Him, suspended His judgment during the seven days of mourning for Samuel, so that mourning for him and for the righteous person would not overlap; then he lingered another three days and died. Rabbi Ḥaggai in the name of Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥman: It is not written “after ten days” but “like the ten days”; The Holy One, praise to Him, suspended His judgment for ten days, like the Ten Days between New Year’s Day and the Day of Atonement, so that he would repent, but he did not.

Cahana asked Rabbi Zeira: A layman who ate heave? He said to him, it is a deadly sin. After he had prayed, he said to him: “I am the Eternal”Leviticus 22:3 closed the statement. Rabbi Ḥiyya in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: A layman who ate heave committed a deadly sin. A baraita supports Rabbi Yohanan: “Those who eat heave intentionally, whether pure person eating pure heave, or impure eating impure, or pure eating impure, or impure eating pure, have committed a deadly sin. Cohanim eating heave, pure person eating pure heave fulfills its commandment; pure eating impure has violated a positive commandment; impure eating pure or impure eating impure has violated a prohibition.” What leads you to say that a pure person eating impure heave has violated a positive commandment? Rabbi Abba bar Mamal said, “Afterward he shall eat of the sacred food,”Leviticus 22:7 of what is pure but not of what is impure. Any prohibition which is implied by a positive commandment has the status of a positive commandment.

Rabbi Avina said: Would one not understand that, since it is said: “Any creature in the water having fins and scales you shall eat”Leviticus 11:9 we know that you shall not eat any creature having no fins and scales. To give both positive commandment and prohibition on the impure. Because it is written. If it were not written, it would be a positive commandment. Therefore, any prohibition which is implied by a positive commandment has the status of a positive commandment.

Rabbi Assi understood it from the following: “The impure and the pure shall eat it together.”Deuteronomy 12:22 Here, the impure and the pure shall eat it from the same platter, but heave the impure and the pure may not eat from the same platter. About sacrifices? Rabbi Yohanan ben Marius said, if about sacrifices it is already written: “Meat touching anything impure may not be eaten.”Leviticus 7:19

The Mishnah disagrees with Rav: “For heave and First Fruits one is liable to penalty of death.” He explains it, for Cohanim. But did we not state: “fifth”? Is there a fifth for Cohanim? He explains that the Mishnah is case by case. The first clause applies to Cohanim, the last applies to Israel. Does the Mishnah support Rabbi Yohanan: “They are forbidden to lay persons”? He explains it, less than a legal quantity.

“They are the Cohen’s property.” Rabbi Abba, Rabbi Ḥiyya in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: “To you I gave it as mošḥâ.”Numbers 18:8 As mošḥâ, for distinction. As mošḥâ, for anointing. As mošḥâ, as fuel. I would say this applies to both impure and pure produce. Rabbi Abbahu in the name of Rabbi Yohanan, “I did not burn any of it,”Deuteronomy 26:14 but one may consume impure heave as fuel. Rabbi Zeira in the name of Rabbi Eleazar: What is the source that Second Tithe itself, if it becomes impure, may not be used as fuel? The verse says, “I did not burn any of it in impurity.” One may redeem it and you are saying this? It can only be interpreted as referring to what was bought with Second Tithe money. Rabbi Judah said, but for First Fruits which became impure it is the opinion of everybody.

“This applies to heave and First Fruits but not to tithe.” There, we have stated: “One washes his hands for profane, tithe, and heave; but for sacrifices one immerses.” There, you say that tithe does not need washing and here you say, tithe needs washing! Those who say, tithe needs washing, the rabbis; he who says, tithe does not need washing, Rabbi Meir. There, we have stated: “Anything needing immersion in water by rabbinic decree makes sacrifices impure and heave unusable but is permitted for profane food and tithe. But the Sages forbid for tithe.” Is that not explained by what Rabbi Samuel says in the name of Rabbi Zeira, what does it mean that the Sages forbid it for tithe? His body is disqualified from eating tithe. What is that? Could the requirement to wash for tithe refer to eating, and the absence of that requirement refer to touching? No, wanting to touch is the same as wanting to eat. So it must be washing as discipline. But we have stated: “heave”! Is there washing as discipline for heave? But it is about profane food prepared by the rules of sacrifices. Is profane food prepared by the rules of sacrifices not profane? Explain it either following Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar or following Rabbi Eleazar ben Rabbi Ẓadog. Either following Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar as it was stated: Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar says in the name of Rabbi Meir: Hands are impure in the first degree for profane food, in the second for heave. Or following Rabbi Eleazar ben Rabbi Ẓadog as it was stated there: “Profane food prepared by the rules of sacrifices is profane. Rabbi Eleazar ben Rabbi Ẓadog says it is like heave, it may be impure in two degrees and invalidates a third.”

Mishnah

2 Some rules apply to tithe and First Fruits but not to heave since tithe and First Fruits need to be brought to the Place; they need a declaration and are forbidden to the person in acute mourning, but Rabbi Simeon permits. They are subject to removal, but Rabbi Simeon exempts them from the obligation. In Jerusalem, even the smallest amount prohibits eating by unauthorized people and animals; Rabbi Simeon permits. These rules apply to tithe and First Fruits but not to heave.

Halakhah

“They need to be brought to the Place.” Because it is written: “There, you shall bring your elevation offerings, your family sacrifices, your tithes, and your hand’s heave.”Deuteronomy 12:6 “Your hand’s heave” are First Fruits since it is written: “The Cohen shall take the basket from your hand.”Deuteronomy 26:4

This accounts for tithe. What is the source for First Fruits? As Rabbi Jacob bar Ḥama said in the name of Rabbi Eleazar: “The sacred food.”Deuteronomy 26:13 That sacred food is meant which was described in the preceding paragraph.

“They need a declaration.” Since it is written: “You should formally declare before the Eternal, your God.”Deuteronomy 26:5 This accounts for tithe. What is the source for First Fruits? As Rabbi Jacob bar Ḥama said in the name of Rabbi Eleazar: “The sacred food.”Deuteronomy 26:13 That sacred food is meant which was described in the preceding paragraph.

“They are forbidden to the person in acute mourning.” Since it is written: “I did not eat from it in my deep mourning.”Deuteronomy 26:14 This accounts for tithe. What is the source for First Fruits? As Rabbi Jacob bar Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Eleazar: “The sacred food.”Deuteronomy 26:13 That sacred food is meant which was described in the preceding paragraph.

In all these cases we stated that Rabbi Simeon disagrees. For the declaration Rabbi Simeon does not disagree. The declaration is the reading; there, Rabbi Simeon does not disagree since it is written: “You should formally declare.”Deuteronomy 26:5

This is how the Mishnah reads: “They forbid in Jerusalem in the most minute amount; Rabbi Simeon permits. Their growth in Jerusalem is forbidden to be eaten and Rabbi Simeon permits. Rabbi Simeon also permits eating by unauthorized people or animals.” Do not the rabbis agree with him since he asked them: Do you not agree that if they are permitted for the unauthorized, they are permitted as animal feed? Does one need walls for unauthorized eating or for feeding animals? Just as one does not need walls for unauthorized eating, one does not need walls for feeding animals! The rabbis say, they treated Jerusalem as something that cannot become permitted. Anything that cannot become permitted prohibits in the most minute amounts; similarly, Jerusalem prohibits in the most minute amounts.

About what do Rabbi Simeon and the rabbis disagree? About growth. But in mixtures even Rabbi Simeon agrees. What is the difference between growth and mixtures? In mixtures the original substance remains. In growth the original substance has already disappeared. Where Rabbi Simeon agrees with the rabbis is in mixtures of tithe, but mixtures of First Fruits are treated like growth. Rabbi Simeon said the same: “First fruits do not forbid their mixtures or growths to be eaten in Jerusalem.” What is the difference between tithe and First Fruits? Tithe cannot be lifted, First Fruits can be lifted. Rabbi Simeon agrees that the seah lifted for another seah needs walls and needs use. But the rabbis say, all need walls and need use.

Rabbi Yohanan went to a place and said, I am Ben Azzai here. An old man came to ask him. He said, “the growth from heave is heave; the growth from their growth is profane. But the growths from ṭevel, second tithe and first tithe, aftergrowth of the Sabbatical, heave from outside the Land, demaʿ, and First Fruits are profane.” There, you say their growth is permitted, why do you say here, their growth is forbidden? He said to him, where do we say their growth is permitted? For things whose seeds disappear. Where do we say their growth is forbidden? For things whose seeds do not disappear. He said to him, but did we not state: “What is one whose seeds do not disappear? For example arum, garlic, and onions.” Are arum, garlic, and onions obligated for First Fruits? He said, the Ben Azzai from here went away as you say. He asked Rabbi Yannai who told him, for tithe everything was classified as things whose seeds do not disappear.

Rabbi Yohanan’s argument seems inverted. There, Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said, it was quoted for the horns of a cadaver. He said to him, did the teacher not teach: “I saw” the size of two beans? Should he also have said here, “their growths”? In addition, from the following: “You may not eat your grain’s tithe in your gates.”Deuteronomy 12:17 About which tithe has this been said? About pure second tithe which entered Jerusalem and left. Also from the following which Rabbi Simeon stated. It was stated in the name of Rabbi Simeon: “Tithe is special in that tithe forbids its money, mixtures, and vessels; the doubt of an admixture forbids in the most minute amount and one may not use it for lighting.” He should say, the same holds for growth! Rabbi Hila said, he who says growth is permitted, Rabbi Simeon. Those who say growth is forbidden, the rabbis. They said to him, did we not state: “Growths from dedicated seeds and Second Tithe are profane; one redeems them corresponding to the time of sowing.” Why does he have to redeem? Not because of their inherent sanctity? Here also they should require walls because of their inherent sanctity! Rabbi Jeremiah, Rabbi Ammi, in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish: When one says the growth is forbidden, the prohibition of walls. When one says the growth is permitted, the permission for unauthorized persons. “These rules apply to tithe and First Fruits but not to heave.”

There, we have stated: “‘Also I gave it,’ includes heave and heave of the tithe.” There, you say that heave needs declaration but here you say, heave does not need declaration. Rabbi Hila said, there they stated: Heave and First Fruits, both the one who gives and the one who takes need to declare. Rabbi Zeira said, the rabbis there think, and the rabbis here say, if a person has only tithe, he declares; if a person has only heave, he does not declare. Rabbi Yose said, a Mishnah says so: “Rabbi Yose says, they have their cities of refuge.” What case are we considering? If it concerns heave and tithe, they are his. But it must deal with heave. Rabbi Hila said, we did understand that if a person has only tithe, he declares; if a person has only First Fruits, he declares. We now understand that if a person has only heave, he declares.

Mishnah

3 Some rules apply to heave and tithe but not to First Fruits since heave and tithe forbid on the threshing floor, they have a fixed measure, apply to all produce, are due whether the Temple exists or not, and apply to sharecroppers, tenant farmers, sicarii, and robbers. They apply to heave and tithe but not to First Fruits. Some rules apply to First Fruits but not to heave and tithe. For First Fruits acquire sacred status when connected to the ground, a person may dedicate his entire field as First Fruits, he is responsible for them, and they need a sacrifice, song, waving, and staying overnight. Heave of the tithe is similar to First Fruits in two ways and to heave in two ways. It may be taken from pure for impure and from produce not earmarked, like First Fruits. It forbids the threshing floor and it has a measure like heave.

Halakhah

Does heave really make the threshing floor forbidden? Explain it if he gave it early, from ears, as Rabbi Abbahu said in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish: First Tithe given early, from ears, is free from the obligation of great heave.

“They acquire sacred status connected to the ground,” as it is written: “The First Fruits of anything on their land.”Numbers 18:13

“A person may dedicate his entire field as First Fruits.” As it is written: “The first of all First Fruits of everything.”Ezekiel 44:30

“One is responsible for them,” for it is written: “The beginning of the First Fruits of your land.”Exodus 23:19

“And they need a sacrifice.” Joy is mentioned here and elsewhere. Since joy there means a well-being sacrifice, so joy mentioned here means a well-being sacrifice.

“And song.” Song is mentioned here and it is said there: “Look, to them you are like an erotic song.”Ezekiel 33:32

“And waving,” as it is written “The Cohen shall take the basket from your hand and deposit it,”Deuteronomy 26:4 to add that First Fruits require waving, following Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob.

“And staying overnight.” As it is written: “In the morning, you may leave and return to your tent.”Deuteronomy 16:7 That is, you should always leave in the morning. Rabbi Jonah said, that is only said if there is no sacrifice accompanying them. But if there is an accompanying sacrifice, even without that Mishnah he needs to stay overnight because of the sacrifice.

Rabbi Jonah said, Rabbi Maisha and one of the rabbis. One said, this means that impure fruits are subject to First Fruits and the other one said, first tithe given early, from ears, is free from the obligation of great heave.

Mishnah

4 A citron follows the rules of trees in three aspects and those of vegetables in one. It follows the rules of trees in ʿorlah, the fourth year, and the Sabbatical, and those for vegetables in that the moment it is harvested determines its tithe, the words of Rabban Gamliel. Rabbi Eliezer says, it follows the rules of trees in all respects.

Halakhah

If a tree why a vegetable, if a vegetable, why a tree? There, they say that if it grows from the sixth year into the Sabbatical year it belongs to the owners as if from a tree and is free from tithes as if a vegetable. Rav Hamnuna told them, look at the following year! If it grows from the Sabbatical to the eighth year, it should be ownerless as if from a tree and subject to tithes as if a vegetable. Is anything ownerless subject to tithes?

Rabbi Yohanan said, in the remaining years of the Sabbatical cycle you treat it as a vegetable but in the Sabbatical as a tree. How is that? From the fifth to the sixth, sixth. From the sixth to the Sabbatical, sixth. If it stayed from the fifth to the sixth to the Sabbatical, if he harvested it in the Sabbatical it is tithed for the sixth; if he harvested it in the sixth it is tithed for the fifth. If it stayed from the sixth to the Sabbatical to the eighth, if he harvested it in the eighth it is tithed for the eighth. “Our teachers took the problem up a second time and voted that for a citron the moment it is harvested determines its tithe and Sabbatical status.”

Rabbi Jeremiah, Rabbi Ammi, in the name of Rabbi Yohanan. Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi: Everybody agrees that its New Year is the 15th of Shevat. Rabbi Yohanan asked Rabbi Jonathan: According to years or according to seasons? He said to him, according to years and even in an leap year.

“It happened that Rabbi Akiva picked a citron and observed for it the stringencies of the House of Shammai and those of the House of Hillel.” Why about a citron and not about any tree? It was stated “the stringencies of Rabban Gamliel and those of Rabbi Eliezer.” But are Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Eliezer not from the House of Hillel? Rabbi Yose ben Rabbi Abun said, explain it that it budded before the 15th of Shevat of the second year and the third year came. In the opinion of Rabban Gamliel it is subject to tithe of the poor; in the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer it is subject to second tithe. How did he handle this? He gave a name to the second tithe in it, redeemed it, and gave it to the poor.

Mishnah

5 The blood of two-legged beings is similar to the blood of animals in that it prepares plants, but one is not guilty because of the blood of crawling beings.

Halakhah

Rabbi Abba, Rav Huna in the name of Rav: If he was warned, he is whipped. But did we not state: “But one is not guilty because of the blood of crawling beings”? Rabbi Abba said, one is not subject to extirpation for it. But was it not stated: “The blood of two-legged beings which have no minor impurity, the blood of crawling things which have no major impurity”? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Ada said, that is, if they warned him because of blood. But if they warned him because of abomination, he is whipped.

Mishnah

6 The koy in some ways follows the rules for wild animals and in some those for domestic animals, in some the rules for both domestic and wild animals, and in some those for neither domestic nor wild animals. How does it follow the rules of wild animals? Its blood must be covered like the blood of a wild animal; one does not slaughter it on a holiday but if it was slaughtered one does not cover its blood. Its fat can become impure in the impurity of a carcass like a wild animal; that impurity is one of doubt. One may not use it to redeem the firstborn of a donkey. How does it follow the rules of domestic animals? Its fat is forbidden like the fat of domestic animals, but one is not punished for it by extirpation. It cannot be bought with tithe money to be eaten in Jerusalem and it is subject to the foreleg, the lower jaw, and the first stomach to be given to a Cohen. Rabbi Eleazar exempts it since the claimant has to bring proof. How does it differ from both a wild and a domestic animal? It is forbidden as kilaim with wild animals and domestic animals. If somebody transfers ownership of his wild or domestic animals to his son, he did not include the koy. If somebody said, I am a nazir if that is neither a wild nor a domestic animal, he is a nazir. In all other ways it is like wild and domestic animals; it needs slaughtering by cutting its throat like both, and as carcass it is impure like both.

Halakhah

What is a koy? Rabbi Eleazar said, the offspring of a he-goat which mated with a hind or of a stag which mated with a she-goat. But the rabbis say it is a separate kind and the Sages could not determine its nature.

If it was redeemed by a koy, one has to redeem again by a sheep. Therefore, if one of them died, the claimant has to bring proof.

The Mishnah does not follow Rabbi Eleazar, as it was stated: Rabbi Eleazar says one must bring a “hung” sacrifice for the fat of a koy. Is the Mishnah not following Rav? Since Rav said, for anything that can never be ascertained, one is not required for a “hung” sacrifice for this doubt. Explain it, they disagree with the words of Rabbi Eleazar.

And even in the time they were buying animals for meat for ordinary consumption it could not be bought with tithe money to be eaten in Jerusalem.

“It is subject to the foreleg, the lower jaw, and the first stomach to be given to a Cohen. Rabbi Eleazar exempts it.” Since Rabbi Eleazar says that now he is in doubt, he says “exempt.” But the Sages, who teach that it is an original species, say “obligated.”

The Mishnah does not follow Rabbi, as it was stated: If somebody dedicated his wild and domestic animals to the Temple, he did not dedicate the koy. Rabbi said, he dedicated the koy.

“If somebody said, I shall be a nazir if that is a wild animal, he is a nazir. That this is a domestic animal, he is a nazir. That this is not a wild animal, he is a nazir. That this is not a domestic animal, he is a nazir. That this is a wild and a domestic animal, he is a nazir. That this is neither a wild nor a domestic animal, he is a nazir.”

Rabbi Ḥaggai asked Rabbi Yose: Why did we not state that the human having active or passive sex with a koy is guilty? He told him, it was stated: “In all other ways it is like wild and domestic animals.”

Mishnah

1 How does one designate First Fruits? A person comes into his field and there sees an early ripening fig, an early ripening bunch of grapes, an early ripening pomegranate; he ties them with strips of bark and says, “These are First Fruits.” Rabbi Simeon says, nevertheless he repeats and calls them First Fruits after they have been separated from the ground.

Halakhah

“How does one designate First Fruits? Etc.” In the opinion of Rabbi Simeon, if he did not call them when they were picked they are not sanctified, they do not create demaʿ, one is not required to add a fifth, and one is not whipped for them outside the wall. What is the reason of the rabbis? “Now I have brought the first of the fruits of the earth.”Deuteronomy 26:10 At the moment of presentation it must be a fruit, but also at the moment of dedication? Even unripe grapes, even unripe figs! In the opinion of Rabbi Simeon, since at the moment of presentation it must be a fruit, so also at the moment of dedication it must be a fruit.

Rabbi Zeira asked: Do First Fruits of a grafted branch permit what is budding?

It was stated: First Fruits one in sixty. The first of shearings, one in sixty. Impure heave, one in sixty. Rabbi Ishmael stated: First Fruits one in sixty. Peah one in sixty. The first of shearings, one in sixty. Impure heave, one in sixty. Heave that the priests do not want, one in sixty. What is an example? the heave of kelesin, carob, and red barley.

Mishnah

2 How does one bring First Fruits? All villages in the maʿamad district come to its central city. They stay overnight in the city square and do not enter houses. In the morning, the organizer says to them: “Get up and let us go up to Zion, to the Eternal’s, our God’s, House.”Jeremiah 31:5

Halakhah

For example, Jehoiarib and its acquaintances.

Could they not stay in the synagogue overnight? Rabbi Ḥalaphta ben Shaul stated: Because of the tent of impurity.

On the way they were saying: “I was glad when I was told, we shall go to the Eternal’s House.”Psalms 122:2 In Jerusalem, they said: “Our feet were standing in Jerusalem.”Psalms 122:3 On the Temple Mount they said “Hallelujah, praise God in His Sanctuary, etc.”Psalms 150:1 In the Temple courtyard they said: “Praise the Eternal every soul, praise the Eternal.”Psalms 150:6

Mishnah

3 Those who live close by bring figs and grapes but those from far away bring dried figs and raisins. The bull walks before them, his horns covered with gold and he wears an olive crown on his head. The flute plays ahead of them until they approach Jerusalem. When they arrived close to Jerusalem, they sent messengers ahead and they adorned their First Fruits. Civil and Temple administrators and the treasurers came out to meet them; they were leaving according to the standing of those arriving. All artisans in Jerusalem were getting up for them to greet them: “Our brothers, people from place X, welcome.”

Halakhah

How far? So that he can give heave from the best produce. If he wants to bring a fig cake, we shall say that if it was from Keilah he may bring it, from Bostra he cannot bring it.

Is it obvious that it will be sacrificed as a well-being offering? Rabbi Ammi said, it will be sacrificed as a well-being offering. Rav said, it is used for an additional altar offering. Rabbi Zeira asked: Does a private person who was lazy and did not come with the group bring a goat with its horns covered in silver?

“And an olive crown on his head.” Since this is one of the “Seven Kinds.”

It was stated: He whose First Fruits were dried figs adorned them with fresh figs; those whose First Fruits were raisins adorned them with fresh grapes.

Are there lesser and greater people in Jerusalem? This is how the Mishnah reads: According to the size of the groups. According to the number of those arriving they were leaving.

Did we not state: “You shall rise and give respect.”Leviticus 19:32 Just as rising does not cost anything, so giving respect should not cost anything? There is a difference here since it is only once in a long time. Rabbi Yose ben Rabbi Abun in the name of Rabbi Ḥuna bar Ḥiyya: Come and see how strong a claim belongs to those who come to fulfill a commandment! One does not have to stand before an elder, but one does stand before those who come to fulfill a commandment! Rabbi Yose ben Rabbi Abun said, those that stand up before a dead person do not stand up before the dead but before those who serve him in charity.

How often does a person have to rise before an Elder? Simeon bar Abba in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: twice a day. Rabbi Eleazar said, once a day. Was it not stated thus: Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar says, what is the source that an Elder should not impose on people? The verse says: “Elder, but you should fear your God, I am the Eternal.”Leviticus 19:32 According to Rabbi Yohanan, this is understandable. According to Rabbi Eleazar one should not get up at all! Rabbi Jacob bar Aḥa in the name of Rabbi Eleazar: He should not see a group of old men and pass in front of them to make them stand up for him. Just as they disagree here, so they disagree about greeting.

Rabbi Ḥizkiyah, Rabbi Ḥanina the son of Rabbi Abbahu, in the name of Rabbi Eudaimon from Haifa: For an Elder four cubits; once he has passed, one sits down. The High Priest, from the moment one sees him until he disappears from view. What is the reason? “It was, when Moses went to the tent, the entire people rose, etc.”Exodus 33:8 Two Amoraïm, one as praise and one as shame. The one who says, as praise: To see the righteous person and acquire merit. The one who says, as shame: Look at his thighs, look at his feet, he eats from the Jews, he drinks from the Jews, all he has is from the Jews.

The ark is facing the people, the Cohanim are facing the people, and the people face the holy.

Rabbi Eleazar said, the Torah does not get up because of her son. Samuel said, one does not get up because of a fellow. Rabbi Hila and Rabbi Jacob bar Idi were sitting. Samuel bar Abba passed by them and they stood up. He said to them: Two things are wrong with you. The first, that I am not an Elder. The other, that the Torah does not get up because of her son.

Rabbi Zeira said that Rabbi Aḥa interrupted his studies and got up because he took the following statement into account: “The writers of Torah scrolls, tefillin and mezuzot do interrupt for the reading of the Shemaʿ but they do not interrupt for prayer. Rabbi Ḥanania ben Aqabia says, just as they interrupt for the reading of the Shemaʿ so they do interrupt for prayer, tefillin, and all other commandments of the Torah.”

The great Ḥizkiyah, when he had studied Torah as much as he could, used to go and sit before the assembly hall to see old men and stand up for them. Judah bar Ḥiyya used to go and greet his father-in-law Rabbi Yannai every Sabbath eve. He used to sit on a hilly place in order to see him and get up before him. His students said to him, did the teacher not instruct us, “for an Elder four cubits”? He said to them, one does not sit before Sinai. Once he did not come. He said it is impossible that my son Judah should change his habits, it is impossible that suffering should come to this holy body. It seems that we have lost the great Judah.

Rabbi Meir, when he saw even an uneducated old man, rose before him. He said, not for nothing did he live so long. Rabbi Ḥanina slapped a person who did not rise before him and said, do you want to do away with the Torah? Rabbi Simon said, The Holy One, praise to Him, said: “Before a white head you shall rise, give respect to an Elder, and fear your God, I am the Eternal.”Leviticus 19:32 I am the one who first observed standing before an Elder.

“When the patriarch enters, everybody stands and they may not sit down until he tells them: sit! For the chief judge one forms rows; he may choose through which one to enter. For the ḥakham, one person after another stands up and then sits down until he arrives at his place.” Rabbi Meir was accustomed to finding that when he went to the assembly hall, the people saw him and stood up before him. When they heard a Tanna reciting this statement, they wanted to follow its rules. He got angry and left. He said to them, I heard that one increases a person’s dignity but does not reduce it.

They wanted to ordain Rabbi Zeira but he did not want to accept it. When he heard a Tanna stating: “For an ordained person, a bridegroom, a patriarch, the office erases his sins,” he accepted being ordained. An ordained person:: “Before a white head you shall rise, give respect to an Elder, and fear your God, I am the Eternal.”Leviticus 19:32 What is written after that: “If a convert lives in your land, you shall not trick him.”Leviticus 19:33 Just as all his sins are forgiven to the convert, so all sins are forgiven to one being ordained. The bridegroom: “Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath daughter of Ishmael.”Genesis 28:9 But was her name Mahalath, was it not Basemath? But all his sins were forgiven him. The president: “Saul was one year old when he became king.”1 Samuel 13:1 Was he one year old when he became king? But all his sins were forgiven him as to a baby of one year.

Rabbi Mana made light of those ordained for money. Rabbi Ammi read for them: “Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.”Exodus 20:19 Rabbi Yoshia said, their prayer shawl is like a donkey’s saddle cover. Rabbi Ashian said, if somebody is ordained for money, one does not get up before him and one does not address him as Rabbi; his prayer shawl is like a donkey’s saddle cover. Rabbi Zeira and one of the rabbis were sitting together when a person ordained for money was passing by. One of the rabbis said to Rabbi Zeira, let us behave like Tannaïm and not get up before him.

Jacob from Kefar Naburaia interpreted: “Woe to him who tells wood to wake up and silent stone to rise! Can it instruct?”Habakkuk 2:19-20 He who knows should instruct. “Look, he is covered with gold and silver,” is he not ordained by the money chest? “No spirit is in him,” he does not know anything. Woe to him who says, I want to be ordained! “But the Eternal is in His holy hall,” for example, Rabbi Isaac ben Eleazar in the fortified synagogue of Caesarea.

Rabbi Ammi asked Rabbi Simeon: Did you hear that one ordains Elders outside the Land? He answered, I heard that one does not ordain Elders outside the Land. Rabbi Levi said, is that not an explicit verse: “Son of man, the House of Israel are living on their Land;”Ezekiel 36:17 that all your academies shall only be on your Land. The rabbis of Caesarea say, one may ordain Elders outside the Land on condition that they return. Rabbi Isaac bar Naḥman was in Gaza and they ordained him on condition that he returns. Rabbi Zemina was in Tyre and they ordained him on condition that he returns. Also Rabbi Jonah was on the list but he refused to be ordained as long as his teacher was not ordained. They ordained his teacher. Rabbi Ḥama said, Judah ben Titus was in Rome and they ordained him on condition that he returns.

Simeon bar Abba was in Damascus and people of lesser standing than him were ordained but he was not ordained. Simeon bar Abba was an expert in everything concerning pearls but he did not have a loaf to eat. Rabbi Yohanan quoted about him: “Also bread is not for Sages.”Ecclesiastes 9:11 He said, anybody who does not know the good works of Abraham may know them through the good works of this man’s ancestors. Simeon bar Abba was in Damascus when Rabbi Abbahu sent him a letter and enclosed some of his gray hair: “For these gray hairs’ sake, get up and go to the Land of Israel. Who would remove the earth from your eyes, Rabbi Yohanan: Abbahu the shoe-clad was ordained, Simeon the toga-clad was not ordained!”

Mishnah

4 The flute plays ahead of them until they arrive at the Temple Mount. When they arrive at the Temple Mount, even king Agrippas takes the basket on his own shoulder and enters until he arrives at the Temple courtyard. When they arrived at the Temple courtyard, the Levites sang: “I shall praise You, Eternal, for You lifted me up and You did not make my enemies happy because of me.”Psalms 30:2 The pigeons on the baskets were elevation sacrifices and what was in their hands they gave to the Cohanim. As long as the basket is still on his shoulder he reads from “I am declaring today before the Eternal, your God”Deuteronomy 26:3 until he finishes the entire paragraph. Rabbi Judah says, until: “My father was a wandering Aramean.”Deuteronomy 26:5 When he comes to “my father was a wandering Aramean,” he takes the basket down from his shoulder, holds it by its rim, and the Cohen puts his hand under it and waves it. Then he reads from “my father was a wandering Aramean” until he finishes the entire paragraph, he puts it down next to the altar, prostrates himself, and leaves. In earlier times, everybody who knew how to read, read, and everybody who did not know how to read, had someone prompt him. When they refrained from bringing they instituted prompting for both those who knew how to read and those who did not. Rich people bring their First Fruits in bowls of silver and gold but poor people bring them in baskets of stripped willow twigs. Baskets and First Fruits are given to the Cohanim.

Halakhah

Rav Huna said: This is how the Mishnah reads: “The Cohen shall take the basket from your hand.”Deuteronomy 26:4

Some Tannaïm switch statements to combine gift with gift.

Rabbi Yose stated: They did not put the pigeons on top of the baskets in order not to dirty them but one hangs them on the sides of the baskets.

An old man recited before Rabbi Zeira: He returns to “I am declaring today.” But can a person declare and repeat it? We support it: I already declared.

Huna asked: Does depositing it permit its use by those whose required time has not yet elapsed? Rav Mattania said, that means, if he took them up again. But if they stayed in their place they are deposited. Rabbi Jonah asked, what if he deposited them at night?

“One puts them near the southwest corner. ‘Before the Eternal,’Deuteronomy 26:10 that should mean the west. The verse says ‘at the face of the altar.’Deuteronomy 26:4 If it is at the face of the altar that should mean the south. The verse says ‘before the Eternal’! How is that? He presents them at the southwest corner and puts them down south of the corner.”

It was stated: “Answering is only by a single person. Not only that but they found support in the verse: ‘You shall answer and say.’Deuteronomy 26:5”

Rabbi Jonah asked: May one bring in large silver bowls?

Rabbi Jonah and Rabbi Jeremiah. One says, one repeats “vessel.” The other one says, one repeats “unleavened with vegetables” because you have to say “unleavened with bitter herbs.” We do not know who said what. Since Rabbi Jonah said, may one bring in large silver baskets, that shows he must have said that one repeats “vessel.” One must say: “basket.” Rabbi Phineas said, one must repeat: “Fattened and young pigeons”Leviticus 1:14 because one must say “pigeons and young pigeons.”

Mishnah

5 Rabbi Simeon ben Nanas says, one adorns First Fruits with anything except from the Seven Kinds. Rabbi Akiva says, one adorns First Fruits only with the Seven Kinds. Rabbi Simeon says, there are three components of First Fruits. First Fruits, additions to First Fruits, and adornments of First Fruits. Additions to First Fruits are of the same kind, adornments of First Fruits are not of the same kind. Additions to First Fruits are eaten in purity and exempt from the rules of demay, adornments of First Fruits are subject to the rules of demay.

Halakhah

Rabbi Yose said: Everybody agrees that one adorns First Fruits with produce of the Land since nobody mistakenly thinks that one may bring First Fruits from outside the Land. They differ about this, about Ammon and Moab. According to the one who says, one adorns First Fruits with anything except from the Seven Kinds, one may adorn First Fruits with produce from Ammon and Moab. According to the one who says, one adorns First Fruits only with the Seven Kinds, one may not adorn First Fruits with produce from Ammon and Moab. Rabbi Mana said: Everybody agrees that one may not adorn First Fruits with produce of Ammon and Moab since people mistakenly think that one may bring First Fruits from Ammon and Moab. About what do they differ? About outside the Land. According to the one who says, one adorns First Fruits with anything except from the Seven Kinds, one may adorn First Fruits with produce from outside the Land. According to the one who says, one adorns First Fruits only with the Seven Kinds, one may not adorn First Fruits with produce from outside the Land.

Mishnah

6 When did they say that additions to First Fruits follow the rules of First Fruits? If they come from the Land. But if they do not come from the Land, they do not follow the rules of First Fruits. Why did they say, First Fruits are the Cohen’s property? He may use them to buy slaves, real estate, and impure animals. A creditor can take them to settle his claim and a woman for her ketuba, like a Torah scroll. And Rabbi Judah says, one gives them only to a fellow for goodwill, but the Sages say one gives them to the people of the watch and they distribute them among themselves like Temple-hallowed food.

Halakhah

Rabbi Yose in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: They asked Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel, may a person sell a Torah scroll in order to marry? He said to them, yes. To study Torah? Yes. For his livelihood? He did not respond. Rabbi Jonah in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: They asked Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel, may a person sell a Torah scroll in order to marry? He said to them, yes. To study Torah? Yes. For his livelihood they did not ask and he did not respond. According to Rabbi Jonah it is understandable: They did not ask, therefore he did not respond. According to Rabbi Yose, if they asked him, why did he not respond? When Rabbi Ḥanania came, Rabbi Phineas, Rabbi Yohanan in the name of Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel: A person may sell to marry and to study Torah, and all the more so for his livelihood.

It was stated: If somebody vows regarding his son to study Torah, he is permitted to fill an amphora of water for him and light a lamp for him. Rabbi Jacob bar Idi in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: He also can buy things for him on the market. Do they differ? Here for a man, there for a woman. If he was a known personality they treated him as a woman. “It happened that somebody vowed regarding his son to study Torah. The case came before Rabbi Yose ben Ḥalaphta and he permitted him to fill an amphora of water for him and light a lamp for him.”

It was stated: “He who sells his father’s Torah scroll will never do well. But about everybody who keeps a Torah scroll in his house, the verse says: ‘Property and riches in his house, his merit will stand forever.’Psalms 112:3”