[58a - 16 lines; 58b - 16 lines]

1)[line 1]כל דבר שיש לו מתיריןKOL DAVAR SHE'YESH LO MATIRIN

(a)When a forbidden object is mixed with a permitted object, the mixture may be prohibited to be eaten mid'Oraisa, prohibited to be eaten mid'Rabanan, or permitted to be eaten, as follows:

1.If most of the mixture is Isur, it is prohibited mid'Oraisa.

2.If most of the mixture is Heter, but the Isur is more than one sixtieth of the Heter, i.e. the Isur is "Nosen Ta'am" (lends taste) to the Heter, it is prohibited mid'Rabanan (since "Ta'am k'Ikar," the "taste" is like the essence, is a Din d'Rabanan. There are those who prohibit this mixture mid'Oraisa, when the two mixed substances are unidentical ("Min bishe'Eino Mino"), asserting that "Ta'am k'Ikar" is mid'Oraisa).

3.If the amount of Isur is less than one sixtieth of the Heter, and is not Nosen Ta'am to the Heter, the mixture is permitted.

(b)These rules apply to normal Isurim. There are, however, Isurim for which Chazal decreed that they not be nullified by a majority or even by sixty parts of Heter. One of these is Davar she'Yesh Lo Matirin, an object that will become permitted eventually, either by itself (such as an object that is Muktzah on Shabbos and Yom Tov and will become permitted when Shabbos or Yom Tov ends), or through its owner's actions (such as Tevel, for which one can separate Terumah to permit it to be eaten).

(c)The Rishonim offer various reasons to explain why the Rabanan were more stringent with a Davar she'Yesh Lo Matirin; see Insights to Beitzah 3a for a brief discussion of this.

2)[line 1]ומעשר שניMA'ASER SHENI

(a)After a crop is harvested and brought to the owner's house or yard, he must separate Terumah from the crop and give it to a Kohen. Although the Torah does not specify the amount to be given, the Rabanan set the requirement at one fiftieth of the total crop.

(b)After Terumah is removed from the produce, the first tithe to be given every year is called Ma'aser Rishon; one tenth of the produce must be given to a Levi.

(c)A second tithe is given every year after Ma'aser Rishon has been separated. The tithe that is separated in the third and sixth years of the 7-year Shemitah cycle is called Ma'aser Ani and is given to the poor.

(d)The tithe that is separated during the first, second, fourth and fifth years is called Ma'aser Sheni. The Torah requires that Ma'aser Sheni be brought and eaten by its owner in Yerushalayim.

(e)Alternatively, Ma'aser Sheni produce may be redeemed, in which case the money used to redeem it is brought to Yerushalayim. If the owner himself redeems the produce, he must add an additional fifth (of the ensuing total, or a quarter of the original value). The food that is bought with this money in Yerushalayim becomes Kodesh like Ma'aser Sheni and must be eaten b'Taharah. Ma'aser Sheni that was redeemed by anyone besides the owner is exempt from the additional fifth.

3)[line 2]וחדשCHADASH

(a)Chadash is any grain that has not begun to take root until after the Korban ha'Omer is brought on the second day of Pesach. This grain may not be eaten until next year's Korban ha'Omer is brought (or when there is no Beis ha'Mikdash, until the day that it would have been brought), as it states in Vayikra 23:14 ("v'Lechem v'Kali v'Charmel Lo Sochlu ...").

(b)Many Rishonim rule that the prohibition of Chadash applies mid'Oraisa even in Chutz la'Aretz.

4)[line 4]וחלהCHALAH

Whenever a person kneads a dough made from one of the five species of grain (wheat, barley, oats, rye or spelt), he must separate a small portion to be given to the Kohen, as specified in Bamidbar 15:17-21. This portion is called Chalah. The requirement to separate Chalah with a Berachah only applies to a dough made from the volume of 43.2 Beitzim of flour (about 10 1/2 cups or 2.48 liters). An amount about half that much requires Chalah to be separated without a Berachah. A baker must separate 1/48 of his dough as Chalah, while a normal homeowner must separate 1/24.

5)[line 4]וערלהORLAH

See Background to Nedarim 57:8.

6)[line 4]וכלאי הכרםKIL'EI HA'KEREM

(a)It is forbidden to plant different types of crops together as it states in the Torah, "Sadecha Lo Sizra Kil'ayim" - "Do not plant different species (together) in your field" (Vayikra 19:19), and "Lo Sizra Karmecha Kil'ayim, Pen Tikdash ha'Melei'ah ha'Zera Asher Tizra u'Sevu'as ha'Karem" - "You shall not sow your vineyard with other species, lest the fruit of the seed which you have sown, and the fruit of the vineyard, be forfeited" (Devarim 22:9). If one sows Kil'ayim, the produce becomes prohibited ("Kidesh," from the word in the verse, "Tikdash").

(b)The Mishnayos in Maseches Kil'ayim specify the distance that one must leave in between different crops.

7)[line 8]לביעורBI'UR (SHEMITAH)

(a)The Torah requires that farmers desist from working the land every seventh year, as described in Vayikra 25:1-7. The fruits that grow during the seventh (Shevi'is) year are holy to the extent that 1. they must be considered ownerless; anyone may come into any field and pick the fruit that he intends to eat. 2. The fruits may not be bought and sold in a normal fashion (see Insights to Sukah 39:2). 3. The Torah requires that the fruits of Shevi'is be used only for eating or drinking (in the normal manner for that type of fruit) or for burning to provide light (in the case of oil). They may not be wasted or used for medicinal purposes or animal fodder, etc.

(b)In addition, when each type of produce is no longer available in the fields, there is an obligation to perform Bi'ur on it and on all of the items for which it was exchanged (Pesachim 52a). The Rishonim argue with regard to the definition of Bi'ur.

1.The Ramban (to Vayikra 25:7) writes that one is obligated to remove the items from his house and declare them Hefker (ownerless) such that they may be taken by any passerby. (One may later reacquire ownership of the produce.) If Bi'ur was not done at the right time, the produce becomes Asur b'Hana'ah mid'Rabanan.

2.According to the Rambam (Hilchos Shemitah 7:3), Bi'ur means to destroy the produce completely. At the time that it is no longer available in the fields, eating it becomes prohibited.

3.The Ra'avad (ibid.) rules that there are two types of Bi'ur. At the time that an item of produce becomes unavailable in the fields in a certain place, one must declare it Hefker (like the opinion of the Ramban). At the time that it becomes unavailable in all of Eretz Yisrael, one must destroy the produce completely (like the opinion of the Rambam).

8a)[line 12]שחוריןSHECHORIN- dark

b)[line 12]הוריקוHORIKU- if they were pale

9)[last line]במדוכניןMEDUKANIN- crushed, chopped (before they started to grow - RAN)

58b----------------------------------------58b

10)[line 1]המנכש עם הכותיHA'MENAKESH IM HA'KUSI- one who weeds (thins out plants so that they will grow better) for a Kusi

11)[line 1]בחסיותCHASIYOS- members of the leek family, including onions and garlic

12)[line 6]הלוףHA'LUF- (a) a type of onion, similar to colocasia (such as elephant's ear cabbage), with edible leaves and roots; (b) (O.F. lupine) a type of lupine or bean plant (MEFARESH; the Old French term "lupines," although similar in sound to the Talmudic word, does not appear in the manuscripts of the Mefaresh but only in the printed version, and some cast doubt as to its authenticity (M. Katan, "Lazei Rashi"). The ME'IRI, though, also suggests the translation "lupines." Nevertheless, he describes the Luf as a leafy vegetable with an edible root. He says that it grows in two varieties; a small-leafed variety, and in a large-leafed, sloppy looking variety called "Luf ha'Shoteh" - see Shevi'is 7:1.)

13)[line 13]ליטרא מעשר טבל שזרעה בקרקעLITRA MA'ASER TEVEL SHE'ZAR'A B'KARKA- a pound of Ma'aser [Rishon, from which Terumas Ma'aser (see below, entry #14b) was not taken, and therefore it is still called] "Tevel," which a Levi planted in the ground (during the Shemitah year - RAN)

14a)[line 15]חייבת במעשר ובשביעיתCHAYEVES B'MA'ASER UVI'SHEVI'IS- (a) Terumas Ma'aser must still be removed from the original Ma'aser Tevel (i.e. the Ikar, but not from the Gidulim), and the entire plant (including the Gidulm) must be treated as Shemitah produce (RAN); (b) Alternatively, the entire plant (including the Gidulim) is obligated in Ma'aser like normal produce if the Gidulim are grown during a year other than Shemitah, or it is treated as Shemitah produce if the Gidulim are grown during the Shemitah year (ROSH and others, see also RAN 59b DH Sha'ani).

b)[line 15]חייבת במעשרCHAYEVES B'MA'ASER (TERUMAS MA'ASER)

(a)After a crop is harvested and brought to the owner's house or yard, he must separate Terumah Gedolah from the crop and give it to a Kohen. Although the Torah does not specify the amount to be given, the Rabanan set the requirement at one fiftieth of the total crop. After Terumah is removed from the produce, one tenth of the produce that remains must be designated "Ma'aser Rishon," and given to a Levi. The Levi, in turn, must separate one tenth of his Ma'aser Rishon as Terumas Ma'aser, to be given to a Kohen, as it states in Bamidbar 18:26.

(b)The produce may not be eaten until both Terumos have been removed. The punishment for eating Tevel (produce that has not been tithed) is Misah b'Yedei Shamayim.