Rosh Hashanah 13a

ראש השנה י״ג ע״א

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Topic

How we know that grain's year follows its first third of growth, and whether the חכמים can measure exactly one-third

Overview

The גמרא proves that grain which reached one-third of its growth during the seventh year keeps its שמיטה rules in the eighth year, including grain harvested at סוכות. The proof comes from ״וחג האסיף בצאת השנה״: ״אסיף״ means harvest, and grain harvested on סוכות must have reached a third before ראש השנה. רבי ירמיה asks how the חכמים can tell exactly one-third from slightly less. רבי זירא answers that all the measures of the חכמים have exact cutoffs, like forty סאה, a כביצה, and three-by-three for מדרס. רבי ירמיה then takes back his question, citing the first עומר in ארץ ישראל. That עומר came from grain that had not reached a third while a גוי owned it, so they must have been able to judge the one-third point. The גמרא rejects this proof: because ארץ ישראל is called ״ארץ צבי״, the grain may have had no growth at all and still ripened quickly. Then רבי חנינא shows from another פסוק that ״אסיף״ can mean gathering the waste of the threshing floor, which knocks down the original proof. The גמרא begins a new source, a ברייתא of רבי יונתן בן יוסף on ״לשלש השנים״, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (22)

1. ChallengeMaybe the rule covers grain that never grew in the seventh year
2. ResolutionRejecting the challenge with the פסוק about the harvest festival
3. QuestionWhat does 'gathering' mean? Not simply the gathering season
4. Response'Gathering' means harvest, so the grain reached a third before ראש השנה
5. Challengeרבי ירמיה asks how the חכמים can tell one-third from less
6. Resolutionרבי זירא: All the measures of the חכמים work this way
7. ResolutionExamples of exact measures
8. Rejectionרבי ירמיה takes back his question
9. QuestionWhere did the first עומר in ארץ ישראל come from?
10. ChallengeMaybe they never brought a עומר at all
11. ResolutionThe פסוק proves they brought the עומר
12. QuestionSo where did they bring it from?
13. Responseרב כהנא explains where the עומר came from
14. Proofרבי ירמיה proves the חכמים can tell when grain reached one-third
15. ChallengeMaybe the grain had not grown at all
16. ResolutionGrain could not ripen in five days
17. ChallengeEven a quarter-grown crop could not ripen in five days
18. Rejection'Land of the deer' explains it, so the proof falls
19. Challengeרבי חנינא: 'אסיף' does not mean harvest
20. Conclusionרבי זירא: the proof has been chopped down
21. QuestionSo where do we learn it from?
22. ResponseA ברייתא of רבי יונתן בן יוסף begins