Shevi'it (, lit. "Seventh") is the fifth
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 ...
, dealing with the laws of leaving the fields of the
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...
to lie fallow every seventh year; the laws concerning which produce may, or may not be eaten during the
Sabbatical year; and the
cancellation of debts and the
rabbinical ordinance established to allow a creditor to reclaim a debt after the Sabbatical year (
Prozbul).
The laws are derived from 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 () ...
in , and , and .
This tractate comprises ten chapters in the Mishna and eight in the Tosefta and has thirty-one folio pages of Gemara 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 ...
. Like most tractates in the order of ''Zeraim'', there is no
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 ...
for this tractate.
The
Jewish religious laws detailed in this tractate continue to apply in modern
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, where the Sabbatical year, known as ''shmita'', is still observed.
Topics
This tractate deals with the details of the laws concerning the three main commandments of the Sabbatical year – known as
Shmita
The sabbath year (''shmita''; , literally "release"), also called the sabbatical year or ''shǝvi'it'' (, literally "seventh"), or "Sabbath of The Land", is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah in the Lan ...
() – the prohibition of cultivating the land, the law of the sanctity of the produce of the land and of the remission of all debts.
As with most of the Torah's agricultural laws, the agricultural laws of the Sabbatical year apply only in the
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...
; however, by
Rabbinic enactment, some were also applied to the adjoining land of Syria as well. The laws regarding loans, however, apply everywhere, both inside and outside of the Land of Israel.
[
]
Agricultural respite
The Mishna establishes the rules for permissible and forbidden agricultural work during the seventh year and how the produce that grows during this year must be handled, in what the Mishna terms ''shmittat karka’in'' – respite of the Land – in accordance with the Torah’s requirements (, and ). Generally, farming activities are forbidden, such as planting in the fields, pruning vineyards and reaping grain or gathering produce. According to Torah law, four kinds of work are forbidden — sowing and reaping in the field and pruning trees and gathering their fruit. All other kinds of work which benefit the soil or trees are forbidden by Rabbinical law
In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; , ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment from God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discussion of these commandments ...
.
The tractate specifies the work that may or may not be performed, not only in the seventh year itself, but also thirty days before Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...
. Only in cases of great loss was certain work allowed; and during periods of oppressive taxation by foreign rulers of the Land of Israel, was work allowed until the New Year itself, and even later. This prohibition is called "''tosefet shevi'it''" (), and applies only when the Temple of Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...
stands.[
]
Sanctity of produce of the Sabbatical year
The Mishna also elaborates on how produce that grows during the Sabbatical year must be treated with a higher degree of sanctity than that which is grown during the six ordinary years.[ Gathering and processing produce that grows of its own accord during the year is regulated but can be eaten by the owner of the land, servants, and guests, as well as the poor – the fields must be made accessible for anyone to take the produce, and once the produce is acquired, it is governed by special laws.][
There are four specific commandments regarding the sanctity of the produce of the Sabbatical Year:][
* All human production from the earth must rest and the produce that grows must be declared public property, allowing access to everybody.
* Trade in the produce of the Sabbatical year is forbidden.
* Produce of the Sabbatical year may not be destroyed or wasted. Both tree fruit and that which grew from seeds which fell to the ground before the Sabbatical year are permitted as food but must be treated as sanctified.
* People may eat from the produce of the Sabbatical year only while it can be found growing naturally in the field, but when a certain kind is no longer there, whatever of it remains in the house must be disposed of.
]
Discharge of loans
At the end of the seventh year, the Torah requires every creditor to discharge any personal loan made to a fellow Israelite in what is termed ''shmittat kesafim'' – release of debts – in accordance with .[
This release of debts was conceived for an agricultural community, where a debt would be contracted only in a case of poverty or misfortune, and the loan was considered an act of charity rather than a business transaction. However, as economic life became more complex during the ]Second Temple period
The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...
, debts incurred in business transactions belonged to a different category and could not fairly be cancelled. Thus, people became reluctant to lend money to one another for fear of forfeiting their claim to it with the arrival of the Sabbatical year. The Talmudic sage, Hillel, who lived in the first century before the Common Era, interpreted the biblical verses to exclude debts that had been secured by order of the court before the start of the Sabbatical Year from the operation of the law and enacted a legal instrument known as Prozbul, drawn up by a court to empower the collection of a debt due to a creditor.
The biblical law (as prescribed in Deuteronomy 15:1-3) concerning the cancellation of debts was left unchanged by technically changing the status of individual private loans into the public administration, according to which the court, instead of the individual lender, reclaimed the loan. This allowed the poor to receive interest-free loans before the Sabbatical year, while protecting the investments of the lenders.[
The last chapter of tractate Shevi’it details this legal instrument and specifies how it is drawn up in a court when the loan is made.][
]
Aggadah
The tractate also contains aggadic
Aggadah (, or ; ; 'tales', 'legend', 'lore') is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly the Talmud and Midrash. In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporat ...
material and the Jerusalem Talmud describes several occurrences in the lives of several Talmudic sages intended to convey messages of morals and principles:
One such story is that of Rabbi Abba bar Zemina, who was in Rome and was offered meat from an animal which had not been slaughtered in the kosher manner to eat and threatened with death should he refuse; when the rabbi remained steadfast, the Roman admitted that, in fact, he had wanted only to test his loyalty to Judaism, and, on the contrary, he would have killed him had he eaten it, stating, in the words of the Talmud 'if one is a Jew, one should be a true Jew, and faithfully observe the principles of his religion" (Jerusalem Talmud, 4:2, 35a-b).
The Talmud also relates a story that as a matter of piety (''middat hasidut''), Rav told his household that if they promised to give something to someone else, they should not withdraw the offer, even if the promise was not legally binding; he said this despite his known halakhic
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments (''mitzv ...
ruling that a withdrawal from an agreement that was not legally binding is not a formal breach of faith. Having mentioned that the sages are pleased with someone who repays a debt despite the Sabbatical year, the tractate concludes that the person who keeps their word and does not seek to evade a commitment, even though it was not legally binding, is honored.[
]
Structure and content
The tractate consists of ten chapters and eighty-nine paragraphs (''mishnayot''). It 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 ...
. There is a Tosefta
The Tosefta ( "supplement, addition") is a compilation of Jewish Oral Law from the late second century, the period of the Mishnah and the Jewish sages known as the '' Tannaim''.
Background
Jewish teachings of the Tannaitic period were cha ...
of eight chapters for this tractate.[
There is no Gemara 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 ...
for this tractate, or indeed for any of the tractates of this order of the Mishna, other than tractate Berakhot, as the laws related to agriculture that are mostly discussed in this order generally have no practical application outside of the Land of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...
.[
An overview of the topics of the chapters is as follows:
* Chapter 1 concerns what parcels of land are considered fields, fields on which trees grow, and the length of time during which these lands may be cultivated in the sixth year.][
* Chapter 2 concerns fields that do not have trees; how long these lands may be cultivated, fertilized, and otherwise cultivated in the year before the seventh year; how late in the sixth year crops may be planted, and how long those already planted may be tended; it specifically addresses rules for fields of ]rice
Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
and millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae.
Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
, beans
A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are tradition ...
, onions
An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classified ...
, and gourds
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and ''Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds have ...
.[
* Chapter 3 describes the time in the seventh year after which preparatory work in fields, such as fertilizing, fencing, and removal of stones, may be done; and how for work such as in a quarry or tearing down a wall, any appearance of preparation for cultivation must be avoided.][
* Chapter 4 deals with the clearing of stones, wood, and weeds from fields; cases in which, as a punishment for preparatory work done in the seventh year, the field may not be sown even in the eighth year; rules about cutting down and pruning trees; the time after which a person may begin to eat what has grown in the fields in the seventh year, and when one may take it home; and the permissibility for a non-Jew to cultivate the soil in the seventh year.][
* Chapter 5 describes practices necessary in the case of certain plants, such as white figs, ]arum
''Arum'' is a genus of plants in the Araceae family; they are native to Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region. Frequently called arum lilies, they are not closely ...
, early onions, and madder
''Rubia'' is the type genus of the Rubiaceae family of flowering plants, which also contains ''Coffea'' (coffee). It contains around 80 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and subshrubs native to the Old World.
The genus and it ...
; objects, such as agricultural implements, which may not be sold in the seventh year, and those which may not be lent.[
* Chapter 6 speaks of the differences between the various areas of the Holy Land regarding shmita observance and details the distinctions between the provinces with regard to the seventh year, together with an account of the regions of the Land of Israel which were settled by the ]Israelites
Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age.
Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...
, as distinct from those areas to which the Jews returned from Babylonia under Ezra
Ezra ( fl. fifth or fourth century BCE) is the main character of the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was an important Jewish scribe (''sofer'') and priest (''kohen'') in the early Second Temple period. In the Greek Septuagint, t ...
; details concerning the region of Syria; and forbidden exports from and imports to the Land of Israel.[
* Chapter 7 details general rules regarding products of the seventh year, the prohibition against trading in the produce of this year and other items with which it is forbidden to deal.][
* Chapter 8 provides general rules for the produce of the seventh year; how it may be sold without being measured, weighed, or counted; and the actions required if the money received for the produce of the seventh year is spent on land, cattle, or any other object.][
* Chapter 9 deals with herbs and greens which may be purchased in the seventh year from anyone; use and removal of the produce of the seventh year, and the division of the Land of Israel regarding removing such crops.][
* Chapter 10 deals with the laws concerning the release from debt; debts which fall due in the seventh year and those which do not; the arrangements and form of the Prozbul and cases in which it is invalid; and praiseworthy cases in which either debtors or creditors fulfil their obligations even in cases where they are not legally obligated to do so.][
]
Historical context
The Tosefta
The Tosefta ( "supplement, addition") is a compilation of Jewish Oral Law from the late second century, the period of the Mishnah and the Jewish sages known as the '' Tannaim''.
Background
Jewish teachings of the Tannaitic period were cha ...
describes how the produce of the Sabbatical year was stored in communal granaries, from which it was divided every Friday on the eve of the weekly Sabbath among all the families according to their need.[
According to the Roman-Jewish historian, ]Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...
, the Greek ruler Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
and the Roman emperor Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
both cancelled the usual taxes from the Jews in the Land of Israel during the Sabbatical year out of consideration for the agricultural inactivity and associated lack of income.[ Other Greek and Roman rulers of the Land of Israel were not as accommodating and the tractate therefore addresses these circumstances of hardship due to the demands of the ruling powers.
Many of the ''mishnayot'' discuss agricultural methods for field crops and fruit trees. Hence this tractate is an important source for understanding agriculture and ]horticulture
Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...
in ancient Israel
The history of ancient Israel and Judah spans from the Israelite highland settlement, early appearance of the Israelites in Canaan's hill country during the late second millennium BCE, to the establishment and subsequent downfall of the two ...
.
Commentaries
The major early commentaries on the Mishna are collected and printed along with the text of the Mishna in the standard Vilna editions of the Talmud, following the tractate Berakhot. New editions based on manuscripts differ significantly from the Vilna edition in many cases.
Medieval
Medieval commentaries on this tractate include the following:[
* ''Ribmas'', one of the earliest known comprehensive commentaries on ''Seder Zera'im'', written in the early 12th century by Rabbi Isaac ben Melchizedek of ]Siponto
Siponto (, ) was an ancient port town and bishopric of Magna Graecia in Apulia, southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Manfredonia, in t ...
* ''Rash'', a commentary by Rabbi Shimshon of Sens, printed in the Mutzal Me'esh edition of the Jerusalem Talmud. The commentary of Rabbenu Asher (Rosh) has been particularly abridged in the Vilna edition, which perceived it to be nothing more than glosses to the commentary of Rash. Although Rosh does follow Rash to a great extent, his reformulations of Rash makes many clarifying changes.
* ''Rosh'', the commentary of Rabbenu Asher
* ''Rambam'', Maimonides
Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...
' Commentary on the Mishna
* ''Rash Sirilio'', the comprehensive commentary on a large portion of the Jerusalem Talmud by Rabbi Solomon Sirilio, appears in the Mutzal Mi’Eish edition of the Jerusalem Talmud (but not in the Vilna edition). His commentary is cited regularly, often anonymously, by '' Melekhet Shlomo''.
Modern
During the nineteenth century, with the renewal of Jewish agricultural communities in the Land of Israel, and the re-establishment of Jewish sovereignty in the land with the State of Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
in the twentieth century, the subject of the Sabbatical year generated a large number of works. The following are some of the commentaries that have been published:[
* ''Pe'at Ha'Shulchan'' by Rabbi Yisroel of Shklov, a disciple of the Vilna Gaon
* ''Aruch Ha'Shulchan He'Atid'' by Rabbi ]Yechiel Michel Epstein
Yechiel Michel ha-Levi Epstein ()
(24 January 1829 – 25 March 1908), often called "the ''Aruch haShulchan''" after his magnum opus, '' Aruch HaShulchan'', was a Rabbi and ''posek'' (authority in Jewish law) in Lithuania.
Biography
Yechiel Mi ...
* ''Chazon Ish'' by Rabbi Avraham Yeshayah Karelitz;
* ''Maadanei Aretz'' by Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
* ''Shabbat Ha'Aretz'' by Rabbi Avraham Isaac HaKohen Kook.
Works that are of assistance interpreting the many botanical references in the tractate include:
*
* (Rabbi Yosef Kafich in his notes to Rambam's Commentary in Arabic identifies numerous species by their Latin equivalents)
References
External links
Full text of the Mishnah for tractate Shevi'it
on Sefaria
Sefaria is an online open source, free content, digital library of Jewish texts. It was founded in 2011 by former Google project manager Brett Lockspeiser and journalist-author Joshua Foer. Promoted as a "living library of Jewish texts", Sefaria ...
(Hebrew and English)
Full text of the Mishna for tractate Shevi'it
(Hebrew)
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Jewish agrarian laws
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