Sheviis 1:4 — Trees that fall short — and the extra pasuk

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Mesechta Sheviis
Mishnah 4 of 89
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ZeraimSederסדרזְרָעִים
SheviisMesechtaמסכתשביעית
1Perekפרקא׳
4Mishnahמשנהד׳
נושא · Topicאִילָנוֹת שֶׁאֵינָן עוֹשִׂין — וּבֶחָרִישׁ וּבַקָּצִיר תִּשְׁבֹּתTrees that fall short — and the extra pasuk
This Mishnah is:drawing the boundary, then a rulewhat does that mean?
Mishnah שביעית א׳:ד׳ · Sheviis 1:4
הָיָה אֶחָד עוֹשֶׂה כִּכַּר דְּבֵלָה וּשְׁנַיִם אֵין עוֹשִׂין,
אוֹ שְׁנַיִם עוֹשִׂין וְאֶחָד אֵינוֹ עוֹשֶׂה,
אֵין חוֹרְשִׁין לָהֶם אֶלָּא לְצָרְכָּן, עַד שֶׁיִּהְיוּ מִשְּׁלֹשָׁה וְעַד תִּשְׁעָה.
הָיוּ עֲשָׂרָה, מֵעֲשָׂרָה וּלְמַעְלָה,
בֵּין עוֹשִׂין בֵּין שֶׁאֵינָן עוֹשִׂין, חוֹרְשִׁין כָּל בֵּית סְאָה בִּשְׁבִילָן.
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות לד) בֶּחָרִישׁ וּבַקָּצִיר תִּשְׁבֹּת,
אֵין צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר חָרִישׁ וְקָצִיר שֶׁל שְׁבִיעִית,
אֶלָּא חָרִישׁ שֶׁל עֶרֶב שְׁבִיעִית שֶׁהוּא נִכְנָס בַּשְּׁבִיעִית,
וְקָצִיר שֶׁל שְׁבִיעִית שֶׁהוּא יוֹצֵא לְמוֹצָאֵי שְׁבִיעִית.
רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר, מָה חָרִישׁ רְשׁוּת, אַף קָצִיר רְשׁוּת, יָצָא קְצִיר הָעֹמֶר:
If one [tree] was producing a kikar develah and two were not producing,
or two were producing and one was not producing,
one may plow for them only according to their need, as long as they number from three to nine.
If there were ten, or from ten and above -
whether producing or not producing, one may plow the whole beis se'ah for their sake.
As it is stated (Shemos 34): "In plowing and in harvest you shall rest" -
there is no need to state the plowing and harvest of Sheviis itself;
rather, [it means] the plowing of erev Sheviis that carries into Sheviis,
and the harvest of Sheviis that carries out past the close of Sheviis.
Rabbi Yishmael says: just as this plowing is a reshus, so too this harvest is a reshus - this excludes the harvesting of the Omer:
A reading aid, not an exact translation.

This English is a clause-by-clause rendering to help you follow the Hebrew. It is not word-for-word literal, and it is not a transcript of the recorded shiur — the audio carries explanation and context the translation deliberately leaves out.

case/objectrestrictive rulingpermissive rulingTannareasonpasuk/proof textcondition
Structure
The Mishnah's Structure▾
מִשְּׁלֹשָׁה וְעַד תִּשְׁעָה — אוֹ מֵעֲשָׂרָה וּלְמַעְלָה הַיְּבוּל מַכְרִיעַ 3–9: the yield must qualify, tree by tree בֵּין עוֹשִׂין בֵּין שֶׁאֵינָן עוֹשִׂין ten trees: an orchard automatically חוֹרְשִׁין כָּל בֵּית סְאָה בִּשְׁבִילָן
Summary Chart
Trees that fall short — and the extra pasuk▾
CaseRulingReason
What if only one of the three yields the fig-cake — or only two?Only their needs are plowed—
Through how many trees does this yield-test run?From three through nine—
What if there are ten trees or more?The whole beis se'ah is plowed — בֵּין עוֹשִׂין בֵּין שֶׁאֵינָן עוֹשִׂין, whether they yield or not—
What do we use the seemingly extra pasuk for? — שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר בֶּחָרִישׁ וּבַקָּצִיר תִּשְׁבֹּת (Shemos 34)Tanna Kamma: The plowing of erev Sheviis that enters Sheviis, and the harvest of Sheviis that goes out to motzaei Sheviisאֵין צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר חָרִישׁ וְקָצִיר שֶׁל שְׁבִיעִית — it is not needed for Sheviis itself
Rabbi Yishmael: To exclude the Omer harvestמָה חָרִישׁ רְשׁוּת אַף קָצִיר רְשׁוּת — just as the plowing is optional, the harvest meant is optional
Transcript
A machine transcript of the recorded shiur.

This is the shiur as spoken, transcribed automatically and left unedited — the wording is Ephraim's, and occasional transcription errors remain. It follows the audio word by word.

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Mishnah Insights
An amalgam of commentaries, including original insights.

These insights draw on the commentaries to this Mishnah and on the recorded shiur. Those commentaries often rest on earlier sources — the Gemara, the Yerushalmi, the Rishonim, and one another — without always saying so; where they do, we generally cite the one we read. Every commentary consulted is kept, verbatim, with this card.

A verse held to the end, and two tannaim arguing about more than a verse▾

שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר — as it is stated

The perek has already given three mishnayos of rules about plowing before Sheviis, and only now produces the verse those rules rest on. Bartenura reads the verse as supporting the clause immediately before it, that one plows only what the trees need. R' Yehosef Ashkenazi, quoted in Melechet Shlomo, holds it reaches back to the opening of the perek, since it proves that there is any prohibition before Sheviis at all. Mishnat Eretz Yisrael notes that the Yerushalmi places this derivation at the head of the mesechta.

בֶּחָרִישׁ וּבַקָּצִיר תִּשְׁבֹּת — in plowing and in harvest you shall rest

Hon Ashir explains why the mesechta does not open with this verse, even though everything in the perek rests on it. R' Yishmael disputes the derivation, and one does not begin a mesechta on a fundamental machlokes about its own subject. He applies the rule of Berachos 19a, that a person should not phrase things in a way that invites trouble.

עַד שֶׁיִּהְיוּ מִשְּׁלֹשָׁה וְעַד תִּשְׁעָה — as long as they number from three to nine

The mishnah requires a yield of sixty maneh from three trees up to nine. Whose yield it measures is read three ways. Rash MiShantz and Bartenura: each tree must be able to produce the full sixty on its own. Rambam: the three together need only reach sixty, even if one of them produces nothing. Raavad objects from the Yerushalmi, which wants each tree to carry an equal share, a third of the sixty where there are three and a ninth where there are nine.

אֵין צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר — there is no need to state

The mishnah reads the verse as teaching about the eve of Sheviis, on the grounds that it cannot be teaching about Shabbos or about Sheviis itself. Melechet Shlomo identifies the anonymous tanna who says this as R' Akiva. Rash MiShantz shows that he and R' Yishmael derive the whole idea of adding onto a holy time from opposite places. R' Akiva learns it from Sheviis, from this verse. R' Yishmael learns it from Yom Kippur, from b'tishah lachodesh, which leaves this verse free for the omer.

מָה חָרִישׁ רְשׁוּת, אַף קָצִיר רְשׁוּת — just as plowing is a reshus, so too harvest

R' Yishmael reads the verse as speaking about Shabbos, and as forbidding only the optional kind of plowing and reaping, which excludes the reaping of the omer, a reaping that is a mitzvah and overrides Shabbos. Bartenura and Rash MiShantz explain why plowing is the word that makes the argument work. There is no such thing as a commanded plowing, and the omer shows the contrast: a man who finds the omer already reaped reaps it again, because it must be reaped for its own sake, while a man who finds his ground already plowed does not plow it again.

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