Gemara Clarity

Pesachim 53a

פסחים נ״ג ע״א

Learn Pesachim 53a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Pesachim 53a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Cutting trees and the deadlines for eating שביעית produce, signs of land types, and local customs about selling animals and roasted meat on פסח night

Overview

This amud opens at the end of a ברייתא about when it becomes forbidden to cut down fruit trees during שביעית. רב אסי says that בוסר and גירוע are the same stage, reached when the grape is the size of a white bean. The גמרא then rejects its earlier explanation of how רבי אילעאי could cut down a palm tree, and concludes that the tree's dates never ripen on the tree. Next, a ברייתא lists how long one may keep eating each kind of שביעית fruit: until that fruit is gone from late-ripening places like אוכל, תקוע, בית הִינֵי and צוער. Another source gives holiday deadlines instead. The גמרא answers that both describe the same time, and that the real test is whether the fruit is still found in the field. רבן שמעון בן גמליאל then lists plants that mark each kind of land, and the גמרא explains their uses for בכורים, עגלה ערופה, and buying and selling. A new משנה follows about local customs: selling animals to non-Jews and eating roasted meat on פסח night. The גמרא brings רב's rule against saying 'this meat is for פסח,' and challenges it from the story of תודוס of Rome. The discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מִשֶּׁיְּגָרֵיעוּ,

from when [the grapes] form kernels;

וְהַזֵּיתִים מִשֶּׁיָּנֵיצוּ,

and olive trees, from when they blossom;

וּשְׁאָר כׇּל הָאִילָנוֹת מִשֶּׁיּוֹצִיאוּ.

and all other trees, from when they produce fruit.

וְאָמַר רַב אַסִּי:

And Rav Asi said:

The steps (32)

  1. StatementEnd of the list: when vines, olives and other trees become forbidden to cut
  2. Statementרב אסי: unripe grape, grape kernel and white bean are one stage
  3. ChallengeCan a grape really be called a white bean?
  4. ResolutionCorrection: the grape is the size of a white bean
  5. ChallengeThe Rabbis themselves forbid cutting once any fruit appears
  6. Resolutionרבי אילעאי cut a tree with dates that never ripen on it
  7. StatementGrapes may be eaten until the vines of אוכל are empty
  8. StatementOlives: until the last in תקוע, or in גוש חלב per רבי אליעזר
  9. StatementWhen fruit counts as 'finished': a poor person can't find a רובע
  10. StatementDried figs: until the unripe figs of בית הִינֵי are gone
  11. Statementרבי יהודה: בית הִינֵי figs belong to the laws of מעשר
  12. ProofThe משנה about בית הִינֵי figs and טוֹבִינָא dates
  13. StatementThe deadline for eating dates
  14. ChallengeAnother source gives fixed holiday deadlines
  15. ResolutionBoth describe the same time period
  16. ResolutionThe real rule depends on whether fruit still exists
  17. StatementPlants that show what kind of land it is
  18. ProofA verse hinting that sycamores belong to the lowland
  19. StatementWhy the mountain and valley signs matter
  20. ProofSource: first fruits must come from their proper land
  21. StatementWhy the stream sign matters
  22. StatementWhy the lowland sign matters
  23. ConclusionAll the signs also matter for buying and selling
  24. StatementSelling small animals to non-Jews follows local custom
  25. StatementLarge animals may not be sold anywhere
  26. StatementTwo opinions that allow exceptions
  27. StatementEating roasted meat on פסח night follows local custom
  28. Statementרב forbids saying 'this meat is for פסח'
  29. Statementרב פפא limits the rule to meat, not wheat
  30. ChallengeChallenge from תודוס of Rome
  31. ChallengeQuestioning the word 'קדשים' in the story
  32. ResolutionSetting up a corrected reading