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Bartenura on Mishnah Peah
ברטנורא על משנה פאה
Bartenura on Mishnah, trans. by Rabbi Robert Alpert, 2020
http://sefaria.org/

Bartenura on Mishnah Peah



Chapter 1



Mishnah 1

אלו דברים שאין להם שיעור – From the Torah [itself, it (the corner of the field) has no fixed measure], but from [the perspective of] the Rabbis, it has (another) measure, for it is taught at the end of the Mishnah (actually in Mishnah 2), “we don’t [bring any] less than one-sixtieth.
הפאה – that an individual is obligated to leave at the edge of his field for the poor, as it is written (Leviticus 23:22), “[And when you reap the harvest of your land,] you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field,[or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I the LORD am your God.].”
והביכורים – As it is written (Exodus 23:19), “The choice first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God…”(see also the exact same formulation in Exodus 34:26, which is the chapter source for the next Biblical quote), and the Torah did not provide for them a [fixed] measure.
והראיון – That a person is obligated to appear in the Temple court on the three Pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot), as it is written (Exodus 34:23), “Three times a year all your males shall appear [before the Sovereign LORD, the God of Israel,”(see also, Exodus 23:20 and Deuteronomy 16:16) for virtually identical language)” and this appearance in the Temple has no fixed measure, for whenever that he (i.e., that person) wishes to, he goes up and appears and then leaves. Another interpretation: The burnt offerings of “appearing” and the peace offerings [brought] as the festive offering of the visitors of the Temple on the festivals which [a person] is obligated to bring as it is written (Exodus 34:20) “…None shall appear before Me empty-handed” (see also Deuteronomy 16:16 for an identical command)., have no [fixed] measure from the Torah, as it is written (Deuteronomy 16:17), “but each with his own gift, [according to the blessing that the LORD your God has bestowed upon you],” but the Sages gave them a measure (see Mishnah Hagigah 1:2 in a dispute between the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel), the burnt offering is one m’ah silver and the festival offering is two silver pieces.
וגמילות חסדים – [and deeds of lovingkindness] of one’s body, such as visiting the sick and burying the dead and others like them, but deeds of lovingkindness [performed] with one’s money , such as the redemption of captives, the clothing of the naked and the feeding of the hungry and others like them, there is a [fixed] measure that one should give every time such a Mitzvah should come to his hand [to perform which is], one fifth of the profit of one’s possessions, and beyond that, one is not obligated [to give], as we say, a person who wants to be liberal (in his giving of tzedakah on a large scale), should not give more than twenty percent (see Ketubot 50a). Therefore, it is necessary for a person to separate out one fifth of his profit at all times so that it would be [readily] found whenever [an opportunity] to perform an act of lovingkindness comes to his hand, in order that he can sustain him (i.e. the less fortunate), and in that way, he fulfills his obligation.
ותלמוד תורה – [The Study of Torah] has no fixed measure, as it is written (Joshua 1:8), “[Let not this Book of the Teaching cease from your lips,] but recite it day and night, [so that you may faithfully observe all that is written in it…].”
ותלמוד תורה כנגד כולם – it (Torah study) is of equal importance to them all.

Mishnah 2

אין פוחתין לפאה מששים – from according to the Rabbis [no less than 1/60th]
אף על פי שאמרו אין לפאה שיעור – As we have stated (that there is no measure) from the Torah itself.
הכל לפי גודל השדה – If his field was large and the [number of] poor people few, he provides and increases upon the 1/60th measure – according to the size of his field; and if his field is small and the poor are many, he adds upon the 1/60th according to the multitude of the poor [in the midst of the community].
ולפי הענוה – [according to their humility]. There are those who have as their reading of the text ענוה – with a [letter] VAV, that is to say, according to his great measure of humility, he will increase [his gift] to the poor, based upon the language [found in] (Psalms 18:36), “Your care has made me great.” And Maimonides explained the expression as עניה [with a YOD], that is to say, how the earth will “respond” [as in Hosea 2:24 – “And the earth will respond with new grain and wine and oil…”]. And there are those who have as their reading of the text ענבה – with a BET, and its explanation is the large size of the grain and their smallness, for if the ears of corn of the field are in one place are full and good and in another shriveled [and] thin, he should not leave the corner of the field complete from the bad [grain], but he should estimate one-sixtieth for the bad [parts] and for the pleasing [parts].

Mishnah 3

מתחלת השדה ומאמצעה – And one does not need to place down the “corner” at the end of the field, as it is written (Leviticus 19:9): “[When you reap the harvest of your land,] you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field…” said the Torah: Give the “corner” and even though you still have standing grain to reap.
ובלבד שיתן בסוף כשיעור – Even though the Bible extends [the application (of the word פאה ) to include] the beginning and in the middle of the field which have [upon them] the Torah-obligation of [giving] Peah [upon it] to what he had given, nevertheless, he is only exempt if he gives at the end of the field a payment [equivalent to] the measurement of one-sixtieth, together with what he had given in the middle and at the beginning, such is derived in the Jerusalem Talmud. And Maimonides explained that only as long as he gives at the end according to the measure of PEAH that is required for the entire field, that he must set aside at the end of the field one-sixtieth apart from what he had left at the beginning and middle [of the field].
ואם שייר קלח אחד – At the edge of the field and left it for the [obligatory] “corner”, he relies upon it, and everything that he left in the middle and at the beginning, the law of “Peah” is upon it.
ואם לאו – If he did not leave even one stalk at the edge of the field for [the fulfillment of the commandment of] “the corner,” what he had left in the middle and at the beginning [of the field] are not considered “the corner” but it has only the principle of HEFKER/renunciation of ownership and he (Rabbi Yehuda) disagrees with [the opinion of] Rabbi Shimon who says, that nevertheless, it is considered “PEAH/the corner” - but that the owner of the field is not exempted [from his obligation to give PEAH] with this [alone]. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Shimon.

Mishnah 4

כל דבר שהוא אוכל – [Food] that excludes the after-growth of a plant producing a deep blue dye/woad, for even though they are “food” from an emergency perspective, it is not called “food” and one is not liable for [the mitzvah of] Peah/the corner of the field [regarding this product]., as it is written (Leviticus 19:9), “When you reap the harvest [of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest],” there is no “harvest” other than that which is appropriate for eating.
ונשמר – Excluding that which is ownerless/HEFKER which has no guardians, is not liable for [the Mitzvah of] the “corner of the field/PEAH,” as it is written (Leviticus 19:10), “…you shall leave them for the poor and stranger [I the LORD am your God],” excluding that which is ownerless, which has already forsaken.
וגידולו מן הארץ –[something that grows in the ground], excluding morils and truffles lack roots in the land, and their growth is from the air which are not liable for [the Mitzvah of] the corner of the field/PEAH, as it is written (Leviticus 19:9), “[When you reap] the harvest of your land…”
ולקיטתו כאחד – [and such fruits harvested all at once (not singly as they become ripe)] excluding figs and those [fruits] similar to them from the trees when the fruits are harvested first as they ripen , as it is written (Leviticus 19:9), “[When you reap] the harvest [of your land]…,” implying when many of something are harvested together.
ומכניסו לקיום – excluding vegetables which do not endure as they grow moldy immediately, as it is written (Leviticus 23:22), “[And when you reap the harvest of your land], you shall not reap all the way to the edges your field, [or gather the gleanings of your harvest]…” as vegetation is not reaped.
תבואה והקטניות – grain of the five kinds – wheat, barley, spelt, oats and rye. KITNIYOT/pulse beans, beans and lentils and things similar to this.
בכלל הזה – To be obligated in [the Mitzvah of] PEAH/the corner of the field, when they will complete all of these conditions.

Mishnah 5

האוג – [the red berry of the Venus’ summachtree] – a tree whose fruit is red which is called in a foreign language KURNI ULIM. And Maimonides explained that it is a plant that dresses hides and is called in Arabic SIMMAC, and its clusters are appropriate for eating, but not specifically these which the Tanna [of our Mishnah] enumerated are liable for [the Mitzvah of] PEAH/the corner of the field and not other kinds of trees other than these, rather these and anything similar to them are mentioned.

Mishnah 6

לעולם הוא נותן משום פאה – Whomever did not leave the corner of the field with attached produce, is liable to set aside [for the commandment of Peah] from what is detached from the soil. And that corner of the field’s produce that one sets aside from what is detached from the soil is given to the poor and is exempt from tithing.
עד שימרח – He should make a heap and pile of grain. But if one came to separate out the corner [of the field] after giving the pile an even shape, he must first separate out the heave-offering/sacred donation to the Kohen and the tithes and afterwards take the corner, for nothing is exempt from tithes other than the corner that was taken prior to giving the pile an even shape.
ונותן משום הפקר ופטור מן המעשרות – He who makes his grain ownerless and another [person] comes and takes possession of it, the person who benefits from it is not liable for tithes, as it is written (Deuteronomy 14:29): “Then the Levite, who has no hereditary portion as you have…” excluding the situation where it is ownerless, where “your hand” and “his hand” are equivalent. But an individual who declares his grain ownerless after giving the pile an even shape, this [grain being] ownerless does not exempt him from tithing.
ומאכיל לבהמה – And even if he himself is permitted to eat an incidental meal (i.e., snack) prior to giving the pile an even shape, but the cattle eat even a regular meal.
נוטל מן הגורן וזורע וכו' – since from the Torah, one who sows the field is exempt from tithing even after giving the pile an even shape, as it is written (Deuteronomy 14:22-23): “You shall set aside every year a tenth part [of all the yield of your sowing that is brought from the field]. You shall consume [the tithes of your new grain and wine and oil…].” But we do not call one who sows “you shall consume,” but according to the Rabbis, he is liable. Rabbi Akiba thinks that prior to giving the pile an even shape, one is exempt from tithes, even according to the Rabbis. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Akiba.
שלקחו את הגורן – who purchased grain from the threshing floor/granary, and the Sages fined him so that they would be liable to separate out the heave-offerings and tithes and give them to other Kohanim and Levites in order that they would not jump to purchase grain or wine in the wine-presses or granaries. But if they purchased it prior to giving the pile an even shape, this grain was not yet appointed [as ready] to be given as tithes, and the tithes are theirs.
המקדיש ופודה – A person who sanctifies his granary [to the Temple] and redeems it from the hand of the treasurer, and it is a stack of grain or standing corn that was not yet appointed [as ready] to be given as tithes when it was in the hands of the sacred Temple property, the one who redeems it must take out from it the tithes. But if the granary had been shaped into an even pile by the hand of the treasurer, since at the time that it was worthy of being appointed [as ready] to be given as tithes, that is, at the time of when it had been shaped into an even pile, it was in the hand of the Temple, the redeemer is not liable to remove from it the tithes as that which is dedicated to the Temple is exempt from tithing.

Chapter 2



Mishnah 1

אלו מפסיקין – between one field and another and they would be considered like two fields, regarding [the case] that if he left the corner fallow in one of them over its neighbor, he did not fulfill [the Mitzvah] of Peah, as it is written (Leviticus 19:9): “….you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field…,” for he did not leave the corner fallow from one field to its neighbor.
הנחל – river
שלולית – canal that imparts booty (alluvium) to its banks (see Talmud Bava Kamma 61a), that other canals drink from it.
ודרך היחיד – four cubits
ודרך הרבים – sixteen cubits, and because of the concluding section [of the Mishnah] it used it, for it was necessary for the Mishnah to teach the ending section that all of these do not form a division at a tree. And it comes to tell us that even the communal path which is sixteen cubits wide does not form a division at a tree.
שביל הרבים ושביל היחיד – many small paths that took a foot and left a foot, and we learn that even the communal path if it is fixed for the days of sunshine (i.e., summer months) and the days of rain (i.e., winter months), that means to say, that people walk on it, even at the time when the fields are sown during the rainy seasons that separate between sown fields, and if not, they do not separate.
הבור – a field that is not sown [as it is written] (Genesis 47:19): “that the land may not become a waste,” which we translate [in Aramaic]: “and the land lay waste.”
והניר – ploughing, like (Jeremiah 4:3): “Break up the untilled ground, [and do not sow among thorns].”
וזרע אחר – like the example of two fields that are sown with wheat and between them is a piece of land sown with another kind. And the measurement of the width of the fallow land or the newly broken land and another seed is of three furrows with the handle of the plow.
והקוצר לשחת מפסיק – for he (i.e., Rabbi Meir) holds that a person who harvests young grain [for use as fodder] – is not for harvesting, and we don’t consider it as the beginning of harvesting. Corn that is used as fodder at its earliest stage which is grain that did not bring forth a third, and we harvest it to feed it to animals. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Meir.

Mishnah 2

אמת המים שאינה יכולה להקצר כאחת – which was so wide that until one stands in the middle [of the channel] , he is unable to reap from one side or the other.
ר' יהודה אומר מפסקת – And he disagrees with the First Tanna, that he said above regarding the pool, that is the canal that in every manner it forms a division; but Rabbi Yehuda holds that if he is able to reap as one, it does not divide. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yehuda.
וכל ההרים אשר במעדר יעדרון – A mountain whose thin-point is upright and cattle with its utensils are unable to to pass there, and there is a division between the two fields.
הוא נותן פאה לכל – that is to say, he gives provides one “Peah”/corner for the two fields and it is not considered a division, for since they are hoed with a mattock, that is to say, that people dig the mountain with the utensil that they dig up the ground, this is not a division. For the person who sees it says that this not uncultivated ground, but the next day, they hoe it with a mattock and seed it and the two fields which are as one.

Mishnah 3

הכל מפסיק לזרעים – It is explains in the Gemara of the Jerusalem Talmud (Peah 17a) that the word הכל/all of these – includes a rock hat would pass over the face of the entire field. If it is necessary to uproot the plough from this side in order to place it on that side, one makes a division.
אלא גדר – ten handbreadths high.
שער כותש – the branches of a tree are called שער. And the explanation is a thick hair crown, i.e., ramifications forming a sort of arbor – that the boughs of the trees combine one with the other above from the fence like these leaves that are caught in the mortar-shaped cavity. [The Gemara asks: Does this mean, like the pestle in the mortar (i.e., the partition is formed by a depression in the ground between the two fields, out of which the fence rises), or does it mean, pressing up (overgrowing) the fence? The ‘hair (ramification) presses, and not the ‘fence presence’, it is evident that it means overgrowing the fence.’].

Mishnah 4

כל הרואים זה את זה – All the while that he stands near one of the trees, he can see the other tree; even though there is a fence between them, it does not divide, and he takes [one portion of] Peah from the one tree on behalf of its neighbor.
לזיתים שהיו להם בכל רוח – They would give [one portion of] Peah on all the olives that they had on the eastern side of the city, and another [portion of] Peah for all the olives that they had on eh western side, and similarly for the four directions.
שהיו להם בכל העיר – they do not give other than one [portion of] Peah for all of them, even though they don’t see each other, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Tzadok who quoted him. But the Halakha is according to Rabban Gamaliel.

Mishnah 5

שני מיני חיטין – such as reddish, dark-colored wheat and white-colored wheat

Mishnah 6

הלבלר – the scribe
הזוגות – they are those mentioned two-by-two in the first chapter of Mishnah Avot (from Mishnah 4), where two [individuals] received [the tradition] from two [others] [until] from the mouth of Shimon HaTzaddik/the Righteous.

Mishnah 7

שדה שקצרוה גוים – for themselves. But the heathen workers did not harvest it for an Israelite, for then, it is as if an Israelite harvested it.
קרסמוה נמלים – it is the manner of ants to sever the branch of an ear of corn from the bottom, and this is called the plucking of tops off, in the language of (Psalms 80:14): “wild boars gnaw at it.”
פטורה – as it is written concerning the corner (Leviticus 23:22): “and when you reap [the harvest of your land…” until you, yourselves will be the reapers/harvesters.
שחובת הקציר בקמה – that is to say, the obligation for the corner of this that is left standing, and assuming that if the field was destroyed, the corner returned to the sheaves and he is liable to separate the corner from the sheaves; these words apply where the field was destroyed, but here it was not destroyed.

Mishnah 8

הלוקח נותן פאה לכל – that the obligation of the corner from what he had harvested remains in that one-half that the purchaser bought, and it is as if he did not sell him other than what had remained in the field after he removed from it the appropriate corner to be removed from that field, and similarly, one who redeems from the hand of the treasurer removes from the one-half that he redeemed the appropriate corner for the entire field.

Chapter 3



Mishnah 1

מלבנות – a square garden-bed, and because they were made like the white frames, they are called garden-beds/plots.
שבין הזיתים – and the same law applies for all other kinds of trees, and he (i.e., the anonymous Tanna/teacher of the Mishnah) took [the word] “olives,” to teach us, that even olives are liable in Peah/the corner of the field [to be left for the poor], are not from the legal decisions of the School of Hillel, and all the more so, the rest of the trees which are not liable for Peah/the corner of the field, for it is obvious that they did not make this legal decision.
ב"ש אומרים פאה מכל אחד ואחד – from each small garden-bed/plot and garden-bed/plot, since the small garden-beds/plots stand each piece detached and they do combine with one another, as the School of Shammai holds that the olives are detached. But where the beginnings of the rows are combined with each other, they admit that they are not separate. And at the time when the trees are distant from each other until in the ground, there is a field requiring one Se’ah of seed (a square measure), fifty cubits by fifty cubits and there aren’t ten trees in it, the School of Hillel admits that we give Peah for each and every garden-bed, since the trees are far apart, things appear that it is not for the trees that these small garden-beds were made. And when the trees are joined closely and there are ten trees in less than a field requiring one Se’ah of seed, the School of Shammai admits that we give one Peah for everything, they only disputed when there are ten trees in a field requiring one Se’ah of seed.

Mishnah 2

המנמר – he harvests his field place by place, that would speckled, from the [Biblical] language (Jeremiah 13:23): “[Can the Cushite change his skin,] Or the leopard his spots?..,” for he reaped the grain that ripened first, the first of the field.
ושייר קלחים לחים – those that had not ripened.
נותן פאה לכל אחד ואחד – and when he returns to harvest the moist stalks that he left, those that are speckled interrupts and it is not considered the beginning of the harvest.
בזרוע שבת – vegetation that we call in the foreign language ANITAV.
שהוא נותן פאה לכל אחת ואחת – because it is not their manner to sow from them one field; therefore, all of these garden-beds are considered as if each one of them are one field, and dill and mustard are liable for Peah, even though we don’t give a corner of the field for vegetation, because it is used for seeding and it is considered for kinds of seeds, and the Halakha is according to the Sages.

Mishnah 3

המחליק בצלים – there are those who interpret the language [in Biblical terms] (Genesis 27:11): “[Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, ‘But my brother Esau is a hairy man] and I am smooth-skinned,’” for when they were detached/plucked, the place remained smooth/empty. And there are those who interpret it as when he levels [a field by taking out crops], when he takes part of the moist/fresh onions to sell them in the market place and another part he leaves the dry ones for the granary for storage.
נותן פאה לאלו לעצמן – they are like two different kinds of wheat.
וכן בכרם – and similarly one who clears the vineyard, its law is like one who clears out the onions.
המדל נותן מן המשוייר על מה ששייר – at the time that the onions are sown close together, he takes from one from among them in order that the remainder will grow with open space and become large. That is what is called to thin out the vineyard by lifting up and loosening them from their place and our Mishnah (Tractate Shevi’it, Chapter 4, Mishnah 4) teaches: “Who is one who levels his field? He takes one and leaves two,” and those which he uproots to give space to the rest are not liable for Peah because it is for the repair of the remainder, therefore, he gives Peah from the remainder alone and what has been uprooted is exempt from anything and it is not considered reaping.
המחליק מאחת יד – that is to say, from one matter, or all of it for the granary or all of it to the market. And Maimonides explains “with a unity of hand” (i.e., all of them for one purpose), that the part which he takes to sell in the marketplace he does take from here and there, but all of it is from one side.

Mishnah 4

האמהות של בצלים – large onions that we leave them to grow seeds, and as a result that they remain in the ground and are not worthy for eating other than in the case of an emergency, therefore, Rabbi Yosi exempted them, but the Halakha is not according to him.
מלבנות הבצלים שבין הירק – Rabbi Yosi holds that the vegetable is considered like a different seed, for it is not the manner for people to bring in onions among the vegetables, and it is taught in the Mishnah above in Chapter two (Mishnah one) interrupts, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yosi.

Mishnah 5

שלקחו את האילן – from those trees that are considered in the first chapter [of our Tractate, Mishnah 5] that are liable for Peah.
המוכר קלחי אילן – the roots of the plants that are liable for Peah, but he did not sell him the actual ground, the purchaser gives Peah/corner of the field [for the poor] for each one of them.
בזמן שלא שייר – that is to say, if the owner of the field had not begun to reap or harvest the fruit, then the purchaser is liable to give Peah, but if the owner of the field had begun to reap his field before he sold these, what remains from the field that was not reaped or harvested , the owner of the field is the one who gives the Peah on everything, for since he had begun in reaping or the harvesting of the fruit, he becomes liable for Peah on all of the field. But Rabbi Yehuda comes to explain the words of the First Tanna/teacher, and such is the Halakha.

Mishnah 6

קרקע בית רובע – a place where it is appropriate to sow in it one-quarter of a Kab, and they explained it as ten and one-half cubits by ten cubits by proportion.
העושה סאתים – Rabbi Yehoshua does not follow after sowing, but rather the ground that produces two Se’ah which is twelve Kabs.
לקצור ולשנות – it is the manner of reapers that he grasps a palm’s worth from the flour and reaps, as it is written (Psalms 129:7): “that affords no handful for the reaper, [no armful for the gatherer of sheaves],” that the reaper did not have a handful. And if there is among the standing corn in order to fill his hand twice, he is liable for Peah.
קרקע כל שהוא חייבת בפאה – as he holds, “the corner of your field” (Leviticus 19:9) is implied, and he is in dispute with everyone.
ובכורים – as it is written regarding them “your land” (Exodus 23:19, 24:36). And these words concern the first-fruits of wheat and barley, but the first-fruits of trees – he is not liable other than if he has land sixteen cubits around the tree which is the measure of its absorption.
ולכתוב עליה פרוזבול – Hillel instituted the Prosbul, when he saw that people were prevented from making loans to the poor because the [upcoming] seventh year cancels the debt, he instituted that one should transfer their documents to the Jewish court and write: “I transfer to you, so-and-so and so-and-so the judges every liable that I have that I will collect at the time when I desire,” and when they have written for him this document the seventh year does not cancel his debt (see Mishnah Shevi’it, Chapter 10, Mishnayot 3-4), and specifically when the borrower has a parcel of land, even a bit, and it is then considered as if the debt is collected already in the hand of the Jewish court, and further, we don’t call it (Deuteronomy 15:2): “he shall not dun,” and we consider the land, however small, as if it is worth the entire debt as there is no overreaching for land.
ולקנות עמה נכסים שאין להם אחריות – for movables are acquired with the land, by money, by documentation, or by claim of undisturbed possession (during a legally fixed period).

Mishnah 7

שכיב מרע – he who lies on his bed on account of illness.
שייר קרקע כל שהוא – all these he left a bit of land, as is taught in our Mishnah, from here until the end of our chapter, not exactly land as the same law applies with a bit of movables, but since the first part of the Mishnah teaches regarding the corner and First Fruits and Prosbul/a declaration made in court before the execution of a loan to the effect that the law of limitation by the entrance of the Sabbatical year shall not apply to the loan to be transacted – a bit of land is taught in all of these are also a bit of land.
מתנתו קיימת – if they purchased from his hand on the gift even though he rose from his illness, he cannot retract, since he left for himself a bit, he revealed his thinking that it was not on account of death that he wrote the gift.
לא שייר קרקע כל שהוא – for himself, from something undefined, a person does not leave himself poorly dressed, and if he had not thought that he would certainly die, he would not give all his possessions, therefore if he stood, he retracts and even if they purchased it from his hand.
וכתב לאשתו קרקע כל שהוא אבדה כתובתה – we are speaking of someone near death who distributes his possessions to his children and writes to his wife a portion among the children, and she herself heard and was silent and didn’t say, “I am collecting my Ketubah” or something similar, she loses her Ketubah.
רבי יוסי אומר אם קבלה עליה – that she would be a partner among the children, and even if they did not purchase from her hand, and he did not command that they should write such in her presence, she lost her Ketubah and furthermore she is not able to retract, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yosi.

Mishnah 8

הכותב כל נכסיו לעבדו – that he wrote, “all my property to so-and-so my slave,” for the slave is include in the property and he (the owner) gave him his selfhood and that which when it states, “my slave” that is my slave that was already.
שייר קרקע כל שהוא לא יצא בן חורין – all where he puts down a measurement, we say that he also left to himself, and when he said: “all my property is yours,” he is speaking of the rest of his property, but he deceived him that he came and not to free him. Since he (i.e., the owner) did not say to him “yourself and my property, and even if he doesn’t have any property other than the slave and the land that he left, nevertheless, he (i.e., the slave) does not go out to freedom, for since the word “all my property” is not fulfilled, for it comes as “except for” and he annuls it and we don’t argue his words and they are completely annulled, and he (i.e., the slave) did not acquire his self-food nor the property.
ר"ש אומר לעולם הו בן חורין – whether he has no property other than the slave and the land that he left, or whether he has other property, he (i.e., the slave) is always a free man, and we establish the word, “all my property” with the slave alone, when he doesn’t have other property, and we don’t say when he said, “except for,” this nullifies his word that he said, “all my property,” for we separate his word, and we fulfill him regarding his slave and he goes out as a free man.
חוץ מאחד מרבוא – and he didn’t explain what he leaves aside, but there we said that one-ten-thousandth part that he said, is the servant, and he is not considered other than one of one-ten-thousandth of his property and even though he is worth more, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

Chapter 4



Mishnah 1

הפאה ניתנת במחובר – as it is written (Leviticus 19:10): “[You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard;] you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: …],” lay it down before them and they will plunder it.
בדלית – a vine that is suspended on the wood or on the trees.
מוריד ומחלק – as it is written (Leviticus 19:10): “you shall leave them [for the poor and the stranger…],”those which have no danger you leave before them, and if you do not leave them when there is a danger ascending [to get] them, but one brings them down from the tree and distributes it to them.
כחליקי אגוזים – on the name of the smooth nut-trees and they have no connection like the rest of the trees that are called nut trees too smooth for climbing, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.
אפילו תשעים ותשעה – it refers to the beginning of the Mishnah, that Peah/the corner is given unharvested.

Mishnah 2

בדלית ובדקל – that their observance is with something detached.

Mishnah 3

נטל – one of the poor people [took] part of the Peah that he had already gleaned and he threw/tossed it on the rest in order to acquire it.
אין לו בה כלום – even with what he had gleaned, for we fine him and remove from him [both] the detached and attached.
נפל לו עליה וכו' – even though four cubits of a person acquires for him in an alley/recess and at the sides of the public domain; here in the field of his fellow the Rabbis did not establish for him that his four cubits would acquire for him; alternatively, since he fell upon it he revealed his intention that through falling it is appropriate that it would acquire for him; in the four cubits it is not appropriate for him that he would acquire it.

Mishnah 4



Mishnah 5

שלש אבעיות ביום – three times the owner revealed/exposed and appeared in his field in order that the poor could take Peah. The word אבעיות – means revealing (Obadiah 1:6): “[How thoroughly rifled is Esau,] How ransacked his hoards!” We translate this [in Aramaic] as revealing a hidden object.
בשחר – because of those nursing among them who are sleeping in the morning, and then they have the free time to glean.
ובחצות – because of the young children who are accustomed to go out at noon and walk to glean Peah.
ובמנחה – because of the elderly who walk with their crutches and they don’t arrive to the field until the afternoon.
שלא יפחתו – from these three times. And the Halakha is that we don’t distribute Peah other than at these three times; we don’t make it any less or any more than this.
של בית נמר – It is the name of a place, as it is written (Numbers 32:36): “Beth-nimrah, [and Beth-haran as fortified towns or as enclosures for flocks].” They tie a rope at the same of the standing corn and continue reaping until the rope runs out and place the Peah the entire rope, and they go back and tie and place the Peah, that is from each and every artisan, that is to say, from each and every row and for this reason they mention these for praise.

Mishnah 6

נכרי שקצר את שדהו וכו' – as it is written concerning gleaning and the corner of the field (Leviticus 19:9): “When you reap [the harvest of your land…],” excluding that when heathens reaped it, and concerning that which is forgotten, it is written (Deuteronomy 24:19): “When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, [do not turn back to get it]..,” from here they said that a heathen which reaped his field and afterwards converted is exempt.
שאין השכחה אלא בשעת עמור – and at the time of carrying sheaves home, he was a convert and liable in all the commandments, but the Rabbis hold that since there is the forgotten sheaf of the Omer, and there is that which is forgotten with the standing corn, as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:19): “and overlook a sheaf in the field,” to include that which is forgotten with the standing corn, that which exists with that which is forgotten of the standing corn exists with that which is forgotten of the grain sheaf, and that convert who harvests while reaped that which was not that which was forgotten of the standing corn for at that time he was a heathen, and even though he has not converted, it is not that which is forgotten of the grain sheaf. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

Mishnah 7

קמה ופדה עומרים פטורה – Since the Biblical verse that we exclude the harvest of a heathen, also excludes the harvest of that which is sanctified [to the Temple] for it is not your harvest, but regarding the matter of that which is forgotten, there is a dispute between Rabbi Yehuda and the Rabbis when one sanctified the standing corn and redeemed sheaves of grain just as they disputed regarding a heathen that reaped his field and afterwards converted.

Mishnah 8

עד שלא באו לעונת המעשרות – that is giving the pile of grain an even shape when he smooths the face of the pile with a winnowing shovel, but if at that same time, if they were in the hand of the [Temple] treasurer, they are exempt, and if not, the Sanctification does not redeem them.
וגמרן הגזבר – when it had been processed while still in the hand of the treasurer.

Mishnah 9

רבי אליעזר אומר זכה לו – a dispute of Rabbi Eliezer and the Rabbis concerning a rich person that gathered Peah to make assignment to a poor person, for Rabbi Eliezer holds that we say two Miggos (i.e., that a deponent’s statement is accepted as true on the ground that, if he had intended to tell a lie, he might have invented one more advantageous to his case); [the first] Miggo – that if he had wanted to make his possessions ownerless he would be a poor person and that it is appropriate for him, now also, it is appropriate for him. And [the second] Miggo, that if he wanted, he could have taken possession for himself, he also gave possession to his friend, but the Rabbis hold that we say [only] one Miggo; two Miggos we don’t say, but from a poor person to a poor person, everyone says that it is appropriate, and the Halakha is according to the Sages.
של נכרי חייב במעשרות – for since the heathen is not liable in gleanings, that which is forgotten and the corner of the field/Peah, it is like the other grain of the heathen which is liable for tithes.
אלא אם כן הפקיר – to the ppor and to the rich, for that which is ownerless is exempt from tithes. But our Mishnah is according to Rabbi Meir who said that there is no acquisition in the Land of Israel for a heathen to be released from tithes. But the Halakha is not according to this.

Mishnah 10

הנושר בשעת הקצירה – ears of corn that fall at the time of harvesting.
הכהו קוץ – whenever it falls on account of an accident, it is not gleaning, as it is written (Leviticus 19:9): “or gather the gleanings of your harvest,” there is no cleaning other that on account of harvesting.
תוך היד – it refers to falling, that is, if it is within the hand and it falls [or] within the sickle and it falls, for that which falls from one’s hand and from the sickle is for the poor, but if it falls from the back of the hand [or] from the shaking of the hand,a nd from the back of the sickle from the power of the movement of the sickle, it belongs to the owner, and this not through the [act of] harvesting.
ראש היד when his hand is full and here are ears of corn between the tops of his fingers and the palm of his hand, when it falls from there, and similarly when it falls from the top of the sickle.
רבי ישמעאל אומר לעניים – it is compared to within one’s hand and within the sickle.
ורבי עקיבא אומר לבעל הבית – that it is compared to the back of he hand and the back of the sickle. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Akiva.

Mishnah 11

חורי הנמלים – it is the manner of ants to bring grain into their holes/cavities.
שבתוך הקמה – until he had started to reap.
של בעל הבית – and he poor have nothing from the standing corn.
שלאחר הקוצרים – after they had begun to harvest, and we suspect less the ants brought it there from the gleanings. Therefore, the upper wheat that are in the cavity or the upper ears of corn go to the poor for there is from the gleanings there, but the lower wheat belongs to the owner as it was from the standing corn. And which are the upper parts? The white ones. And which are the lower parts? The greenish ones that turn black and are recognized as being old.
ר"מ אומר הכל לעניים – for it is impossible for a granary without jaundicing/mildew, and lest those green ones from the new grain that was harvested now, there is within it a part for the poor.
שספק לקט לקט – as it is written (Leviticus 19:10): “you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger,” leave before them of your own, and the Halakha is according to Rabbi Meir.

Chapter 5



Mishnah 1

גדיש שלא לוקט תחתיו – he who collected and heaped up stacks of grain to one place within the field, where the poor people there had not yet gleaned the poor man’s share of the crop.
כל הנוגעות בארץ לעניים – the Rabbis fined him since he heaped up stacks on top of the gleanings, and even heaped up stacks of wheat on top of gleanings of barley, whomever comes in contact with/touches the wheat on the ground is for the poor.
הרוח שפזרה את העמרים – on top of the gleanings.
גשי נפילה – according to the measure that normally falls at the time of harvesting, which are four Kabim for a Kor of seed, and a Kor is thirty Se’ah, and because the first Tanna/teacher who stated that we estimate how much it is appropriate to make as gleanings, Rabban Gamaliel teaches us that the matter does not require an estimation for it is already defined/determined as the field requires for seed, with thirty Se’ah of seed, it is customary to fall from it four Kabim at the time of harvest, and such is given to the poor.

Mishnah 2

שבולת שבקציר – he left a remnant in his harvesting one sheaf that he did not reap, and the top of that sheaf touches/reaches the standing corn, if that sheaf is cut with the standing corn, it belongs to the owner of the house, as the standing corn saves it and we don’t call it (Deuteronomy 24:19): “do not turn back to get it…”
מעשר שבולת אחת ונותן לו – since he is is obligated to give him tithed things like that which was a sheaf of gleanings which is exempt from tithes, and even though that they had yet been shaped into an even pile, the title of tithe applies upon it such as First Tithe in which the sheaves had been advanced hat the name of Tithe fell upon hem, even though they had yet formed an even pile. And how does he do this? He brings two sheaves from this pile that had been combined in the sheaves of the gleaning, and says about one of them if this gleaning is good, and if not, it is from the set tithes of the second, and he gives him the first. And in the Jerusalem Talmud, an objection is raised, for we suspect lest that this second time when he established it for tithes of this gleaning, since it is exempt from Tithes, the Tithes do not establish it, for we don’t’ separate from that which is exempt for what is liable. And we respond that the person who takes a third sheaf and says if the second one that I had established it is for Tithes is for gleaning, and it cannot be for tithes, the third is tithed for the first.
א"ר אליעזר וכי היאך העני הזה מחליף דבר שלא בא ברשותו – Rabbi Eliezer to the words of the Rabbis said to them that, that you who dispute me regarding a rich person who gleans Peah for a poor person, for I say that he should take possession and you stated that he should not take possession, how can this poor person exchange a matter that has not come into his possession? For surely, the owner of the field is not able to make assignment to him the gleanings according to their words, and it is found that this gleaning does not come into the possession of the poor person, other than according to their words, he can assign the poor person the entire pile on the condition to return it, for a gift given on the condition to return it is called a gift, and it is found that that sheaf which is gleanings comes to the hand of the poor person and he can exchange it for another. But the Rabbis state here that they did what they cannot assign as one who assigns it and we consider it as that sheaf of gleanings as if it comes into the hands of the poor person, even though that he did not merit it, for regarding this he can exchange it for another. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

Mishnah 3

אין מגלגלין בטופח – a form of thin pulse, which we call in Arabic Gilabaan. But Maimonides explained that it is a kind of seed which we call it Kortmin, and it is likened to barley. And Rabbi Meir states that we don’t irrigate this species with other kinds of seeds, to reap them together, for the greening that was appropriate to fall from the other kinds of seeds would fall from this worst species and it is found to cause loss to the poor.
וחכמים מתירים מפני שאפשר – that gleanings will fall from the rest of the seeds as from the irrigating engine. And the Halakha is according to the Sages. Another explanation: We don’t bring up water in a wheel from the well to water the field or to sprinkle it until the irrigating engine waters on it at the time when the poor come for the gleanings, because it causes loss to the poor. But the Sages permit it, since it is possible that they would estimate the loss of the poor in this and give the owner the family according to the estimation that they would estimate upon it, and for Rabbi Meir who stated that we don’t irrigate, we estimate for the owner of the house his loss and take it from the poor.

Mishnah 4

עני היה באותה שעה – and he is exempt from paying, and the Halakha is according to the Sages.

Mishnah 5

המחליף עם העניים – he gives grain or fruit to a poor person in exchange for what he gleaned.
שלו פטור – from tithing. What the poor person gave him which is gleaning, the forgotten sheaf and [from] the corner of the field.
ושל עניים חייב – what the owner of the house gave the poor person from his grain, and he is lible to tithe prior to giving it to the poor person.
שנים שקבלו את השדה – and both of them are poor.
באריסות – for one-half, for one-third and/or for one-fourth, and they are made like the owner of the house, and if the owner of the house is poor, he is prohibited from the gleanings of his field, as it is written (Leviticus 19:10): “or gather [the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them] for the poor…,” it is a warning to the poor that he should not glean his gleanings and he is liable to separate out the Poor Man’s tithe and to give it to another poor person. And specially everyone regarding his portion is made like the owner of the house, and not on the part of his fellow. Therefore, it is permissible for this one to give that one the Poor Man’s Tithe.
שקבלה ממנו למחצה – if he owned that which was attached [to the ground] but if he said to him… [שליש] מה שאתה קוצר – you have no part other than that which is detached [from the ground] and he is liable for gleanings, the forgotten sheaf and the corner of the field, everything is upon the owner of the field, and even though that you forgotten the sheaves when detached at he time of the heaping up of the sheaves/carrying the sheaves home nevertheless, here he is exempt, and we don’t call it, “your harvest” (Leviticus 21:9), since he did not merit it other than when it was detached. And a proselyte who converted after the harvest and is liable in the forgotten sheaf above, according to Rabbi Yehuda, that is because we call it “your field” (Leviticus 21:9). But nevertheless, for this reason, we do not obligate a convert in gleaning after it had been uprooted from being attached to the ground.

Mishnah 6

המוכר שדהו – He sold him a field and its standing corn, but if he sold only the standing corn and left the field to himself, both are forbidden for the gleanings, the forgotten sheaf and the corner of the field, for near this, I call it “your field” and near that I call “your harvest.”
המוכר מותר – [to have] the gleanings, the forgotten sheaf and the corner of the field if he is poor.
על מנת שילקט בנו אחריו – and through this, the worker deducts it from the rent, it is found that he repays his liability from the poor.
אל תסג גבול עולים – that is to say, don’t read it as “always” but rather as those who ascend, there are those who interpret these as those who went up from Egypt that they would not change the warnings in the Torah that were given to those who left Egypt, and there are those who interpret those to ascend as those people whose property decreased, and calling them those who ascend is a language of honor, such as they call a blind person, who is capable of sight.

Mishnah 7

ולא שכחו בעל הבית – such as the case where the owner of the house is in the field and refers concerning him and he acquires it, but the owner of the house is in the city, it is considered forgetting, even though the owner of the house did not forget it.

Mishnah 8

לכובעות – to make of them a kind of hat at the top, for such they were accustomed to making wreaths of ears of corn and to put them on the head.
לכומסאות – they are not tall nor project above like hats, but are bent below so that they would be seen so much, as it states (Deuteronomy 32:34): “Lo, I have it all put away [Sealed up in My storehouses].”
ולחררה – reaped a little bit and made a temporary stack in the field, in order to roll the dough to make a thick cake baked on coals. Another explanation: There are those who harvest the grain and make a pile in one place until they are collected, and then they carry them to the place where they thresh the grain, and the place of the threshing is called a granary. And what they make a pile of on the ground is called stack covers, like the image of a hat which they place on a head, and what they make a pile of in a ditch in the field is called sheaves put at the bottom of a stack as foundation , like the language of (Deuteronomy 32:34): “Lo, I have it all put away,” and what they make a pile in a round heap like the image of the stone of a millstone is called a temporary stack in the field, on account that the temporary sheaf is round.
ולעמרים – he made small sheaves and he will end up making from two or three one sheaf.
אין לו שכחה – that is to say, what he forgot in the field at the time that he brings in from one of these places is not “forgotten,” as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:19): “When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, [do not turn back to get it;]...,” just as there is reaping that has no reaping after it, so too carrying sheaves home, which have no other sheaves, which excludes those which have sheaves heaped up afterwards.
ממנו ולגורן יש לו שכחה – A person who brings from one of these places to the granary and forgot one heap of sheaves from these places, is considered “forgotten.”
המעמר לגדיש – and wants that they should remain in one place and there he will thresh them, there is something forgotten.
ממנו ולגורן – if he had his mind upon them and afterwards brought them to another place to thresh them, he has nothing forgotten.

Chapter 6



Mishnah 1

בית שמאי אומרים הבקר לעניים – Whomever declares something ownerless [only] for the poor but not for the rich, he has the law of ownerless, and is exempt from tithes, as it is written regarding gleaning and the corner of the field (Leviticus 19:10): “you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger.” What does the inference of “you shall leave them” teach us? It comes to teach on another kind of “leaving,” which is being ownerless, which is like this, just as this is for the poor but not the rich, even this, which is said in another place, is for the poor and not the rich.
אף לעשירים בשמטה – as it is written (Exodus 23:11): “But in the seventh you shall let it rest and lie fallow.” What does the word ונטשתה /”to be released” come to teach us? It teaches about another renunciation/resignation like this which is being ownerless, which is in the seventh year. Just as the seventh year is for both the poor and the rich, so also being ownerless is for the poor and the rich.

Mishnah 2

לגפה – stone fence set up one on the other without plaster.
ולכלים – utensil of the plough/strigil.
בית שמאי אומרים אינו שכחה – the dispute of the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel regarding the Omer/quantity of grain in a sheaf that he took possession of to bring it to the city and placed it at the side of a stone fence or at the side of the pile and forgot it there. 
ובית הלל אומרים שכחה – And it is taught later in our Mishnah (Tractate Peah, Chapter 6, Mishnah 3), that he picked it up to bring into the city and forgot it, the School of Hillel admits to the School of Shammai that it is not forgotten, this is when he did not place it near the stone fence or near the pile. Another explanation: The School of Shammai states that it is nit forgotten, even with Omer that he did not take pick it up, it is not forgotten, for since he had placed it next to a specific place, he would ultimately remember it, and the School of Hillel states that all the while that he did not pick it up, the School of Hillel admits that if he took possession of it and afterwards forgot it, that it is not forgotten, as we will say shortly.

Mishnah 3

ראשי שורות העומר שכנגדו מוכיח – Nearby ahead, it explains this (Tractate Peah, Chapter 6, Mishnah 4).

Mishnah 4

שנים שהתחילו מאמצע שורה – of sheaves, this one turned his face to the north and that one turned his face to the south.
ושכחו לפניהם – after they had started to bind and pile the sheaves, they skipped and forgot it, that is forgetting, as we call it (Deuteronomy 24:19): “Do not turn back to get it.”
ולאחריהם אינו שכחה – if when they turned their faces – this one to the north and that one to the south, and they began to bind and pile the sheaves, and there remained one sheaf between them that they had forgotten, that is not forgetting, because both of them relied upon each upon the other and through that it was forgotten.
יחיד שהתחיל מראש השורה – Now it explains to that which is taught in the Mishnah above (Tractate Peah, Chapter 6, Mishnah 3), [as regards a sheaf at] the end of the row, [the presence of] a sheaf at the end of the row across from it proves [that the first sheaf has not been forgotten], such as there are ten rows here of ten by ten Omers set up by rows from the north to the south, and he began to bind and pile the sheaves at the end of one row and he forgot an Omer behind it, that is forgetting, since he passed it and an Omer stands near it, we call that (Deuteronomy 24:19): “Do not turn back to get it.” Bu if he forgot one Omer/sheaf or two at the end of the row, that is in front of him, and he placed them and return and began to bind and pile the sheaves from the beginning of the second row, that is not forgetting, for we don’t call it “Do not turn back” (ibid.), for I saw that it is his intention to work on another row from those which he left from east to west, and that is what is taught in the Mishnah (in Tractate Peah, Chapter 6, Mishnah 3), at the end of the row across from it proves the point, for the Omer sheaves of the other rows prove concerning those which he left that they were not forgotten and are fit to be considered with them in another row.

Mishnah 5

הוצני פשתן – like when the flax is uprooted from the field, it is called (hard) flax-stalks (before they are prepared for spinning), that stand like flax-stalks.
שני גרגרים – grapes.
אלו כדברי ב"ה – And their reason is because it is written (Leviticus 19:10): “You shall leave them for the poor and the stranger,” one for the poor and one for the stranger/convert, that is two, and the School of Shammai states three for the poor and four for the owner of the house, as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:19): “it shall go to the stranger, the fatherless and the widow – [in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all your undertakings],” there is three for the poor.

Mishnah 6

העומר שיש בו סאתים אינו שכחה – as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:19): “Do not turn back to get it,” Omer that you can lift it all up as one and carry it on his shoulders, excluding this of two Se’ah that you are not able to life all of it as one.
אמרו לו יפה כחו – as we have said, two is forgotten; three is not forgotten.
לא אם אמרת בעומר אחד שהוא בגדיש – the law is that one Omer that contains two Se’ah, there will not be any forgetting, because it is like a grain heap, and forgetting does not belong with a pile.
תאמר בשני עמרים – which are like the other small Omer piles.
ככריכות – in small bundles.

Mishnah 7

קמה שיש בה סאתים ושכחה אינו שכחה – since we derived the forgotten standing crop from the forgotten Omer. Just as an Omer which contains two Se’ah is not forgotten, so also the standing crop which has two Se’ah is not forgotten, and the forgotten standing crop we derive it from the Biblical verse, as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:19): “[When you reap the harvest in your field] and overlook a sheaf in the field,” to include the forgotten standing crop.
טופח – a kind of very thin pulse, and we call it in Arabic “Gilba’an.” But in the standing barley grain, we are speaking of when they were emptied of grain/blasted and they became thin like an inferior kind of barley, and even so, we see them as if they are thick like the rest of the barley, and if when we consider them thick like other barley, there would be in them two Se’ah, even though that now they are blasted and don’t have two Se’ah, they are not forgotten. And we should not interpret that of the inferior barley explicitly that they should consider it as if they are like thick barley, but with barley that was blasted and became inferior, and this is what we say in the Jerusalem Talmud, we see the blasted [barley] as if they are full.
ענוה של שעורים – the word ענוה /fertility with [the letter] ו' (Vav), like [the word] ענבה /stalk of grapes with a ב' (Bet), that is to say, a grain/berry of barley.

Mishnah 8

הקמה מצלת את העומר – a standing crop that was not forgotten that was at the side of Omer that had been forgotten, prevents/saves the Omer that it would be forgotten, as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:19): “When you reap [the harvest in your field] and overlook a sheaf in the field…” the Omer that is is around it that was harvested is forgotten, and not the Omer that is around it that is standing crop.
ואת הקמה – if he forgot a standing crop and the heads of its ears of corn are attached to another standing crop that was not forgotten, that standing crop that was not forgotten prevents/saves the forgotten standing crop that is attached to it, and it is not forgotten.
העומר אינו מציל – if the Omer was forgotten or the standing crop was forgotten at the side of the Omer that was not forgotten, the Omer that is not forgotten does not save either the forgotten Omer or the forgotten standing crop.

Mishnah 9

עקורה – detached, and is not uprooted, is attached to the ground, and does not combine to the two Se’ah and a fiber is not forgotten, but if he forgot them, it is forgotten, and especially if he forgotten both of them, for if he forgot the uprooted but did not forget that which was not uprooted, that which was not uprooted saves/prevents that which is uprooted that is next to it.
וכן באילן – A Se’ah of detached fruit next to an attached does not combine, and they are forgotten.
והשום והבצלים – A Se’ah of standing crop of garlic and a Se’ah of standing crop of onions does not combine to two Se’ah of standing crop. Alternatively, a Se’ah of uprooted garlic and a Se’ah of garlic that is not uprooted, and similarly, a Se’ah of uprooted onions and a Se’ah of onions that are not uprooted do not combine.
אם באת – for example when there is leaning between one Se’ah and [another] Se’ah , and similarly, in a vineyard, there is the poor man’s share of grapes between a Se’ah and [another] Se’ah. But regarding fruit of a tree, there is not found the domain of the poor in the middle, for there is no gleaning or poor man’s share of grapes with a train. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yosi.

Mishnah 10

שנתנה לשחת – to reap while it is still moist to feed to cattle.
לאלומה – to reap in order to prohibit through it other sheaves, like (Genesis 37:7): “binding sheaves [in the field]…”
אגודי השום – garlic that had been harvested/collected in order to bind to them other garlic.
ואגודות השום והבצלים – if he forgot them, they are not forgotten, for it is manner of garlic and onions that we make of them small bundles and we go back and bundle them with five or six of the small ones to one bundle, and on those small ones it is stated that there is no forgetting, because it is like binding and piling sheaves to a place which is not the completion of the work, for we say about at the end of the chapter [of the Mishnah] הגדיש (chapter five) that it is not forgetting.
הלוף – Maimonides explains that it is a species from the kind of onions.
רבי יהודה אומר אין להם שכחה – for all of those that are hidden, as it is written (Leviticus 19:9): “your field,” just as a field is revealed/in the open, so all that is revealed, excluding that which is hidden.
וחכמים אומרים יש להם שכחה – as it is written, “your field” (ibid.), which implies revealed, and it is written (Leviticus 19:9): “your harvest,” that also implies revealed. This is a one limitation following another limitation, and a double limitation serves to widen the scope (i.e., it is an exemplification), and we include that which is hidden. And an explanation of the word טמון /hidden is something that is eaten from it which is hidden under the ground, such as radish, and onion and the garlic and the turnip and similar things to it. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

Mishnah 11

הקוצר בלילה והמעמר – at night.
והסומא – whether during the day and/or at night.
אם היה מתכוין ליטול הגס הגס – since he intended to take the large [sheaves] even the thin ones have no forgetting.
על מנת מה שאני שוכח אני נוטל יש לו שכחה – because he makes a condition against what is written in the Torah and his condition is null/void.

Chapter 7



Mishnah 1

כל זית. כזית הנטופה בשעתו – on account that it drips oil, they called it “dripping,” even though it does not drip every year long since when they raised up this name on that fact that at its time, it drips. If he forgot it, It is not forgetting, as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:19): “And overlook a sheaf in the field,” a sheaf that you always forget it, excluding that which you remember after a while.
שופכני – that its olives spill much oil.
בישני – that it embarrasses all the rest of the trees from the great among of oil that goes out from it, more than its neighbors.
שהוא עושה הרבה – many olives.
שנים שכחה – our anonymous Mishnah is according to the School of Hillel who said above that two are for the poor.
רבי יוסי אומר אין שכחה לזיתים – Rabbi Yosi did not say this other than when Hadrian the Caesar came and destroyed all the country and there were no olives found, but when the olives are found, Rabbi Yosi admits that there is forgetting for olives, and similarly, he whose olives were dripping or dry (not producing oil), they have forgetting.

Mishnah 2

שלש שורות של שני מלבנים – three rows of olive trees and between the first row and the second there is a square garden-bed in the form of a small grain plot (of three handbreadths in width) that is between the olives as is taught in the Mishnah above at the beginning of chapter three (Mishnah 1)., and similarly, between the second row and the third row, and he forget the middle tree that is in the middle row, that is not forgetting for the trees that surround it hid it, and it is similar to covering it with straw or poor people stood opposite it as is taught in the Mishnah above that is not forgetting.
במה דברים אמורים – it refers to the Mishnah that is above (Mishnah 1 of Chapter Seven), with a dripping oil at its time, and its forgetting is not forgetting. What are we referring to? At the time when he not begun [to harvest the tree] with it, but if he begun with it and had forgotten it, it is forgetting until there is in it two Se’ah.
כל מזן שיש לו תחתיו יש לו בראשו – If the owner of the olives is reminded from the olives that he forgot on the tree while he has olives underneath it, he can go back and harvest them, and it is not considered forgotten what he forgot at the top of the tree other than after no olives remained underneath the tree.
רבי מאיר אומר משתלך המחבא – that is to say, from when the harvester checked with the rods by which hidden olives are knocked down (i.e., searching after the hidden olives) , then all that remains is for the poor when the owner of the tree has no olives underneath [the tree], but all the while that the harvester did not check with the rods by which hidden olives are knocked down, even though there are no olives underneath, he can go back and harvest. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Meir.

Mishnah 3

איזהו פרט – that is mentioned in the Torah (Leviticus 19:10): “or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard.”
עקץ – sever/cut [by the stalk].
הוסבך בעלים – it became tied and caught in the trees, and through this fell and was separated into single grapes.
הרי הוא של בעל הבית – it was not separated through the cutting [of the branches].
המניח כלכלה בשעה שהוא בוצר – he places a basket underneath the grapes when the individual grapes fall into it.
הרי זה גוזל את העניים – that fallen grapes when falling, the poor have taken possession before they reach the ground.
אל תסג גבול עולים – this is explained above in chapter 5 (Tractate Peah, Mishnah 6).

Mishnah 4

איזו היא עוללת – as it states in the Torah (Leviticus 19:10): “You shall not pick your vineyard bare.”
כתף – the middle shoot/twig of the cluster is attached to many small clusters, and they lie one on top of the other it is like a burden that is on the shoulder of a person which is called a shoulder, and when they are scattered in one shoot/twig one hear and the other there, there is no “shoulder,” (i.e., grapes on an arm of a vine which branches off into twigs).
נטף – they are berries of grapes that are attached at the end of the shoot/twig that is customary that many grapes would be hanging there, and on account that its grapes drop downward, it is called נטף/grapes hanging down directly from the trunk, and in the language of the Bible, they call a cluster that lacks a shoulder (i.e., grapes on the arm of a vine which branches off into twigs) and grapes hanging down directly from the trunk עולל/picked bare, because it is in front of the rest of the clusters of grapes like something picked bare before the person.
אם ספק – that the small clusters appear to be hanging/suspended on a shoot/twig, as if the lie one on top of the other and they don’t lie nicely, for now there is doubt if it has grapes on the arm of a vine which branches off into twigs (i.e., a shoulder) or not.
שבארכובה – a young shoot of a vine that many clusters hang on it and when the person cutting grapes cuts them and it is called a knee/joint and sometimes it has a small single bunch (on a single branch, or hanging down directly from the trunk) with the clusters.
נקרצת – it is cut and severed and its example we taught in Talmud Yoma (31b): “he cut [the windpipe and the gullet] and another priest completed the slaughtering on his behalf” and in the Bible (Jeremiah 46:20): “a butcher from the north is coming.”
גרגר יחידי – such as a cluster that lacks small clusters lying one on top of the other but the single berries (not growing in clusters) are attached to the shoot/twig itself.
רבי יהודה אומר אשכול – as it is written (Isaiah 17:6): “Only gleanings shall be left of him, as when one beats an olive tree, two or three berries…” are a small single bunch, more than this is a cluster.
וחכמים אומרים עוללת – and they are not considered berries that lie one on top of the other to be called a shoulder (grapes on an arm of a vine which branches off into twigs). And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

Mishnah 5

המדל בגפנים – when the vines are joined in close contact one after another, he uproots from those that are in-between and the others are fixed with this.
כך הוא מדל בשל עניים – even though they have Peah or a small single bunch (on a single branch – or hanging down from the trunk)/gleaning reserved for the poor so the thinning of theirs like with his, for he holds that they have a partnership law and just as he thins his own, so too he thins that [the vines] of his friends and even the poor are included.
רבי מאיר אומר בשלו הוא רשאי – He holds that the poor have a law of acquisition with their part, and just as the seller says to his fellow – ten clusters of grapes it is prohibited to touch them, so too regarding that of the poor. But the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yehuda.

Mishnah 6

כרם רבעי – A person who plants a food-bearing tree, in the fourth year, he brings the fruit to Jerusalem and eats them there in the holiness of the Second Tithe, or redeems them and brings their monetary-value to Jerusalem, as it is written (Leviticus 19:24): “In the fourth year all its fruit shall be set aside for jubilation before the LORD,” and we expound on [the word] הלולים/jubilation like redeemed to become secular again, as the All Merciful said, redeem it and then eat it.
בית שמאי אומרים אין לו חומש – even though it requires redemption like the Second Tithe, the owners do not add the one-fifth for the Torah did not write [an added] fifth concerning it.
ואין לו ביעור – He is not obligated to remove it from the house on the Eve of Passover of the fourth year and the seventh year as one removes the tithes as it is written (Deuteronomy 26:13): “I have cleared out the consecrated portion from the house.”
וב"ה אומרים יש לו – [He has the added] fifth and he has removal. The School of Hillel derives [through a Gezerah Shavah/analogy] as he learns the fourth year fruit from the Second Tithe (Leviticus 19:24: “In the fourth year all its fruit shall be set aside (קדש) for jubilation before the LORD,” and Leviticus 27:30: “All tithes from the land, whether seed from the ground or fruit from the tree are the LORD’s; they are holy to the LORD.”). Just as the Second Tithe has the additional fifth and it has the removal from the house, so also the fourth-year fruit has the added firth and the it has removal from the house. But the School of Shammai does not derive “holy/holy” from the Second Tithe (see the above verses).
יש לו פרט ויש לו עוללות – they are considered like non-sacred/secular produce.
והעניים פודין לעצמן – from the grapes fallen off during cutting/the poor man’s share and the gleaning reserved for the poor (i.e., the small single bunch on a single branch or hanging down directly from the trunk) that they had gleaned, eating them in their place and bringing their monetary value to Jerusalem.
ובית הלל אומרים כולו לגת – because they derive it from the Second Tithe and they hold that the Second Tithe is the money of the Most-High (God), therefore, the poor have no share in it. And they tread on the gleaning reserved for the poor with the rest of the wine and owners bring everything to Jerusalem.

Mishnah 7

שכולו עוללות – throughout the entire vineyard there is not a bunch of grapes that has grapes on an arm of the vine which branches off into twigs (כתף) and grapes hanging down directly from the trunk (נטף).
אם אין בציר – and what is the measure of a harvest? Three bunches which makes a fourth.
אמר לו רבי עקיבא וכרמך לא תעולל אפילו כולו עוללות – But Rabbi Eliezer said that you should say this since the poor don’t have [a share in] grapes hanging down directly from the trunk prior to the harvest, the owner of the house will get possession of them, and therefore it says (Leviticus 19:10): “You shall not pick your vineyard bare.”

Mishnah 8

משנודעו הועללות – when it is recognized what are grapes hanging down directly from the trunk and what is a bundle [of grapes].
העוללות לעניים – A person cannot dedicate/sanctify [to the Temple] something that is not his.
יתנו שכר גדולן להקדש – that which grows in value all the while that they are in the ground of something dedicated to the Temple. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yosi.
בעריס – a vineyards where its vines hang on poles and trees, based upon the language (Song of Songs 1:16): “Our couch is in a bower.”
כל שאינו יכול לפשוט – that is to say, after he has passed by them, and if in the place where he remembers he cannot stretch his hand and take, it is called concerning him, (Deuteronomy 24:19): “Do not turn back to get it.”
אבל רוגליות –[grapes growing in a row on isolated vines] grapes that stand on the ground when they tread upon them with the foot.
משיעבור ממנה – that is forgetting, for each and every vine among the grapes growing in a row on isolated vines is considered like a border-bed/furrow on its own, and it is prohibited to return from one border bed to another border bed.

Chapter 8



Mishnah 1

מאימתי. הנמושות – there are those who explain this [word נמושות/the last troop of gleaners ] as old people who are walking on their staffs, and there are those who interpret this as the gleaners after the gleaners (the poor who come for the second gleanings – see Talmud Bava Metzia 21b) , for after they would go in the field, gleaners after the gleaners or these elderly people who come late to walk go to glean after everyone that is poor has already despaired from that field, and all that is found in it after that is ownerless to all, whether for the poor or for the rich.
רביעה שניה – the rain is called fructification (in the fall) because it fructifies the ground (see Talmud Ta’anit 6a), and gives birth and causes to grow like a male who copulates with a female and she becomes pregnant from him, from the language (Leviticus 19:19): “You shall not let cattle mate [with a different kind]…” Another explanation: Fructification on account that the rain causes the dust to lie down, which is the Aramaic translation of lying down to cause fructification. And he time for the second rainfall in an average year is on the twenty-third of Mar Heshvan.
שאינן מוסקין – harvesting of olives like reaping grain and cutting grapes and plucking figs and harvesting dates, so too harvesting olives.
ולא יהא מביא בארבעה איסרות – that is two Pundiyons/Dupondium (a Roman coin equal to two Asses) as a Pundiyon is two Issars, and we teach in the Mishnah that a poor person that goes from place to place from the [town] square receives not less that a Pundiyon/Dupondium, that is the food for two meals, and since he does not bring olives worth four Issars, that is the food for two meals for himself and two meals for his wife, for even he does not go out to glean. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

Mishnah 2

נאמנים – the poor [are believed] to state that this wheat is of gleanings, forgotten sheaves and the corner of the field, and they are exempt from tithing.
בשעתן – at the time of the harvest.
בכל שנתו – in the third year and in the sixth year where the Poor Tithe applies to them.
ובן לוי נאמן לעולם – since the First Tithe applies in each year, and since that he said that they are First Tithe, we do not suspect lest he did not separate from them the Tithe of the Tithe, and just as an Israelite was not suspected regarding the Large Terumah (i.e., two percent to the Kohen), the Levite was not suspect on the Tithe of the Tithe (that was given by a Levite to a Kohen).
אלא על דבר שבני אדם נוהגין כן – It was practice to give them this and not on anything that they were not accustomed to give them similar to this, and further on, it explains this.

Mishnah 3

נאמנים על החיטים – [they are believed] to say that they are of the Poor Man’s tithe that was given to me, but they are not believed to say that flour and this bread is of the Poor Man’s tithe, that flour and bread were given to me, for it is not the manner to distribute [processed] Poor Man’s tithe of flour and bread.
שעורה של אורז – there are those who explain spike of rice, for it was not their manner to distributer rice of the Poor Man’s Tithe other than spike/ears of corn. And there are those who explain barley of of rice prior to its being crushed in a mortar and the remove of its shell [it is called barley] and after threshing while its hide is on it, it is the practice to distribute it to the poor.
גריסין – that they are ground in a millstone of grist-grinder’s mills.
נאמנים על השמן – it is the manner to distribute the Poor Man’s Tithe in oil.
ואין נאמנים לומר של זיתי נקוף הוא – the olives left on the tree for the poor/the gleanings are from the gifts of the poor, that we beat and knock the olive to empty the olives that remained from the harvesting. And this striking is the language like pounding an olive. But the poor person is not believed to state that this oil I removed from pounded olives and he is exempt from tithes, because it is not customary to make oil from pounded olives. But the poor person who states that this flour or bread is from the gleanings, forgotten sheaf and corner of the field that I gleaned and that I grinded the flour and baked the bread, is believed for it is the manner of the poor person to make bread from gleanings, forgotten sheaves and the corner of the field.

Mishnah 4

נאמנים – the poor people [are believed] about raw vegetables to state that they are from the Poor Man’s Tithe, for vegetables are liable for tithes from the Rabbis.
דבר מועט – they are believed even on that which is cooked, for sometimes the owner of the house forgot to tithe and tithes from that which is cooked from within the pot.
מלפסו – the pot/dish or round pot that he is cooking in.

Mishnah 5

אין פוחתין לעניים בגורן – when they distribute the Poor Man’s Tithe in the granary/threshing floor, they don’t give to each and every poor person less than this measure, as it is written (Deuteronomy 26:12): “that they may eat their full in your settlements,” give him according to his fullness/satisfaction.
דבלה – dry figs after they had been tread in a round mould [in which figs are pressed] which is called cake of pressed figs. And further, they are not sold by measurement but rather by weight, therefore it teaches [in the Mishnah] a Maneh of a cake of pressed figs, and a Maneh is a weight of one hundred Denars and a Denar is a weight of six Ma’ah and the weight of a M’ah is sixteen berries/grains of barley.
פרס – one-half of a Maneh, and in all of the measurements that are stated in our Mishnah, the Halakha is according to the first Tanna/teacher and the Halakha is according to Abba Shaul. And these things are not said other than to distribute the Poor Man’s Tithe in the threshing floor/granary, butr he who distributes the Poor Man’s Tithe in his home, distributes according to his desires and the Sages did not give him a measurement.

Mishnah 6

מדה זו – since we don’t give any less to the poor that is stated for Kohanim, Levites and Israelites, each one of them to whom we distribute the Poor Man’s Tithe in the threshing floor/granary should not receive less than this measurement.
היה מציל – for he does not want to distribute to the poor who came all the Poor Man’s Tithe that is in his hand, but he wants to save from it for his poor relatives.
נוטל מחצה – and hides it for the needs of his relatives.
ונותן מחצה – to the poor people came, and if after he took the half and hid it for the needs of his relatives, he had a little bit, that is to say, that thre didn’t remain to him enough to give to every one of the poor people according to the fixed measurement mentioned above in our Mishnah, he places it before them what remains in his hand in order that they can divide it among themselves.

Mishnah 7

ככר בפונדיון – bread that is sold for a Pundiyon when the wheat is sold at four S’eah for a Selah, and these four Se’ah are twenty-four Kabs, and each Se’ah is six Kabs and the Selah is four Denars and each Denar is six Ma’ahs , it is found that the Selah is twenty-four Ma’ah and and it is found that twenty-four kabs for twenty-four Ma’ah, a Kab for each Ma’ah. But because the storekeeper wants to make money for his expenditures of baking and grinding, it is impossible to sell the bread which is one-half Kab per Pundiyon according to the value that they sell grain in the market place, four Se’ah for a Selah, therefore, the bread is not sold for a Pundiyon but only for one-quarter Kab. And when they distribute the grain to the poor in the grainary and it is upon him to grind [it] and bake [it], they don’t give less than one-half Kab, but when they give him a baked loaf, he does not get other than one-quarter of a Kab which is six eggs. This is explained in the [eighth] chapter of Tractate Eruvin, the Chapter “How do you prepare a Shittuf for the Sabbath line?”
פרנסת לינה – a bed, pillows and cushions.
מזון שלש סעודות – for a person is liable to eat three meals on the Sabbath.
לא יטול מן התמחוי – because the soup-kitchen is distributed every day and the treasurers/managers go back out to the openings of the home owners on each day and take from them food for the needs of the poor, and the utensil that they place the food is called a תמחוי/ charity plate.
לא יטול מן הקופה – for the communal fund is distributed from Friday to Friday.
נגבית בשנים – because they may [forcibly] take collateral, and one doesn’t make an authority over a community with less than two [people].
ומתחלקת בשלשה – because it is like the monetary matters and monetary matters are with three (see the beginning of Tractate Sanhedrin).

Mishnah 8

מאתים זוז – the Rabbis have established that [two hundred zuz] is sufficient for one year for clothing and food.
או לכתובת אשתו – and even if she is dwelling beneath him.
ואת כלי תשמישו – nice utensils that he makes use of on Shabbat and Festivals, and these words when he comes to take gleanings, the forgotten sheaf and the corner of the field and he doesn’t take from the charitable communal fund that he can support himself in private, and he doesn’t take from is in the hand of the treasurer/manager, but if he takes from the charitable communal fund then we don’t let him to take even gleanings, the forgotten sheaf or the corner of the field until he sells his tools/dishes.

Mishnah 9

מי שיש לו חמשים זוז וכו' – for fifty [zuz] for good service is like two-hundred for one who does not work.
וכל מי שצריך ליטול ואינו נוטל וכו' – such as case where he pushes himself in his work and suffices with the work of his hands in order that he doesn’t have to be supported from others, but if the work of his hands is not sufficient for him and he afflicts himself in a life of pain that near death, on this they said, that whomever needs to take and does not take, he is like one who sheds blood and it is forbidden to have mercy upon him, for he does not have consideration for his own soul, how much more so upon the souls of others.