Pe'ah (, lit. "Corner") is the second tractate of '' Seder Zeraim'' ("Order of Seeds") of the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...
and of the
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
. This tractate begins the discussion of topics related to agriculture, the main focus of this ''seder'' (order) of the Mishnah. The tractate discusses the laws of gifts to the poor when a person harvests their field, vineyards or trees, based on commandments in the
Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
. The tractate also deals with the laws of giving
charity
Charity may refer to:
Common meanings
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...
in general. The tractate is called Pe'ah because the first part of the tractate deals with the laws of Pe'ah, while the remaining part of the tractate deals with a number of other related topics.
In addition to the Mishnah, a tractate Pe'ah exists in the
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...
(commenting on the Mishnah tractate), but not in the
Babylonian Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...
.
Topics
This tractate discusses the gifts due to the poor when fields, vineyards or trees are harvested, and the laws of giving charity in general. Six categories of obligations are discussed in the tractate, as follows:
# Pe'ah: "corner" - the portion of the crop that must be left standing for the poor, in accordance with and
#"Leket": "gleanings" - ears of grain that fell from the reaper's hand or the sickle while the grain is being gathered during the harvest, as described in and )
#"Shich'chah": "forgotten sheaves" - sheaves left and forgotten in the field while the harvest is being brought to the threshing floor, as well as attached produce overlooked by the harvesters, as in
#"Olelot" - immature clusters of grapes, as in and
#"Peret" - grapes that fall from their clusters while being plucked from the vine, as in
#" Ma'aser ani" - the tithe for the poor, every third and sixth year of the tithing cycle, as in and
There are three gifts to the poor from the field: Pe'ah, Leket and Shich'chah; four gifts from the vineyard: Pe'ah, Shich'chah, Peret, and Olelot; and two from the trees: Pe'ah and Shich'chah. These gifts apply every year. In addition, in the third and sixth year of the Shmita cycle, a person is required to set aside the '' ma'aser ani'' (tithe for the poor).
Structure and content
The tractate consists of eight chapters and has a
Gemara
The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aram ...
(rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah) only in the
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...
.
Chapters 1-4 deal with the obligation of Pe'ah. The end of chapter 4 and most of chapter 5 concern the laws of ''leket''; the end of chapter 5 to the beginning of chapter 7 deals with the laws of ''shechicha''. Chapters 7 and 8 discuss the laws of ''peret'' and ''olelot'', followed by the laws of ''ma'aser ani'' and '' tzedakah'' (charity).
Chapter eight discusses the laws of eligibility and entitlement to public charity, including tithes and agricultural gifts. It relates that Jewish communities maintained two kinds of charitable organizations: ''tamchuy'' and ''kuppah''. One was for travelers, who were to be provided food and lodgings, including extra meals for the Sabbath. The other was the charity fund for the local poor. Both institutions were required to provide minimum quantities to the poor from funds collected by the local community.
Of general interest are the first and last mishnayot in the tractate:
The first mishna of tractate Pe'ah declares that there is no maximum limit to ''pe'ah'' (one can give as much of the produce in one's field to the poor as one desires once the harvest has begun), '' bikkurim'' (the first-fruits), the
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
, acts of lovingkindness, and Torah study. After exhorting people to give their all to God and other people, the mishnah states that a person receives a reward in this world and in the next by honoring his father and mother, doing acts of lovingkindness, making peace between people, and that the study of Torah is equivalent to them all.
Likewise, the concluding mishnah is a compilation of ethical homilies warning people against feigning poverty, improperly taking from charity and perverting justice. On the other hand, it lauds the poor person, who is eligible to be supported by charity, yet refuses public funds, working hard and living frugally. To such a person, the verse "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord; and the Lord will be his trust" () applies.
Liturgical uses
The morning service in both the
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
liturgy
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...
begins with recital of blessings over the Torah, followed by brief selections from the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' Kiddushin 30a) that Torah learning comprises these three elements. The biblical text is the three verses of the Priestly Blessing, the Mishna is the first one from this tractate (Peah 1:1), about commandments that have no fixed measures, (including the mitzvah of Peah, and of learning Torah), and a passage from the Gemara (
Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
127a) about the reward for good deeds in this world and the next.
Wikisource
Wikisource is an online wiki-based digital library of free-content source text, textual sources operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole; it is also the name for each instance of that project, one f ...