משנה: בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים לֹא יִמְכּוֹר אָדָם אֶת זֵיתָיו אֶלָּא לְחָבֵר. בֵּית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים אַף לִמְעַשֵּׂר . וּצְנוּעֵי בֵּית הִלֵּל הָיוּ נוֹהֲגִין כְּדִבְרֵי בֵית שַׁמַּאי. שְׁנַיִם שֶׁבָּֽצְרוּ כַרְמֵיהֶן לְתוֹךְ גַּת אַחַת אֶחָד מְעַשֵּׂר וְאֶחָד שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְעַשֵּׂר הַמְּעַשֵּׂר מְעַשֵּׂר אֶת שֶׁלּוֹ וְחֶלְקוֹ בְּכָל־מָקוֹם שֶׁהוּא. MISHNAH: The House of Shammai say, one should sell one’s olives only to a ḥaver126The ḥaver will prepare his olive oil in ritual purity. The House of Shammai forbid causing impurity to food grown in the Land of Israel, but the House of Hillel permit this after the destruction of the Temple.. The House of Hillel say, also to one who tithes. But the modest127See end of Halakhah. ones of the House of Hillel used to follow the words of the House of Shammai.
If two people put the yield of their vineyards into one wine press and one tithes but the other does not, then he who tithes must tithe his own and what could be his at any place146The meaning is explained in the Halakhah..
הלכה: אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן טַעְמָא דְּבֵית הִלֵּל דֶּרֶךְ בְּנֵי אָדָם לוֹכַל זֵיתֵיהֶן עֲטוּנִין אֶלָּא עַל יְדֵי עִילָּה. בֵּית הִלֵּל כְּדַעְתֵּין דְּתַנֵּינָן לֹא יִמְכּוֹר לוֹ פָּרָה חוֹרֶשֶׁת בַּשְּׁבִיעִית. וּבֵית הִלֵּל מַתִּירִין מִפְּנֵי שֶׁיָּכוֹל לְשׁוֹחֲטָהּ. וְאוֹרְחֵיהּ דְּבַר נַשׁ מֵיכוֹס תּוּרָא דִידֵּיהּ עַל יְדֵי עִ[י]לָּה. שָׁוִין שֶׁהוּא מוֹכֵר לוֹ שִׁיבֳּלִין לְעִיסָּתוֹ אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁיּוֹדֵעַ שֶׁאֵינוֹ עוֹשֶׂה אוֹתָן בְּטָהֳרָה. HALAKHAH: Rebbi Joḥanan said, the reason of the House of Hillel is that people eat from their olives while they are being loaded into the oil vat128Olives when harvested are put into large vats called מעטן, to be transported to the oil press. Dry food cannot become impure. The olives can become impure only if their oil starts to flow; the lowest olives in the vat will start to exude fluid even before being emptied into the oil press. Then they and all olives wetted by them may become impure. But the top olives may be eaten dry; it is possible that the buyer will eat some of them while in a state of purity even if the buyer is impure. Hence, there is no logical necessity that the sale will result in the olives made impure., as a subterfuge. The House of Hillel follow their own opinion, as we have stated129Mishnah Ševiït 5:8. The first sentence is labelled as opinion of the House of Shammai in the Mishnah. The House of Shammai argue that nobody would buy cattle trained for ploughing in a Sabbatical year unless he intends to use it then.: “One should not sell him a ploughing cow in the Sabbatical year, but the House of Hillel permit this because he may slaughter it.” Do people really slaughter their cattle130Cattle trained for ploughing and still vigorous are much too valuable to be slaughtered as food.? As a subterfuge. They agree that one may sell ears of grain131In the Rome ms. (and R. S. Cirillo), the reason is given: כדי חייו, necessities of life may be sold to everybody. The problems start only with large quantities, as indicated in the next paragraph. for dough even though one knows that the buyer will not prepare the dough in purity.
תַּנִּי שָׁוִין שֶׁאֵין מוֹכְרִין גָּדִישׁ שֶׁל חִטִּין וְעָבִט שֶׁל עֲנָבִים וּמַעֲטָן שֶׁל זֵתִים אֶלָּא לְחָבֵר וּלְמִי שֶׁהוּא יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֶׂה אוֹתָן בְּטָהֳרָה. וְעָבִט שֶׁל עֲנָבִים לֹא תוֹרָה הִיא. לֵית הָדָא פְלִיגָא עַל רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן דְּרִבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר כְּשֵׁם שֶׁאָמַר קָטָן חוּמָרִין כָּךְ אָמַר מַעֲטָן שֶׁל זֵתִים חוּמָרִין. רִבִּי חִזְקִיָּה אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹנָה בְשֵׁם רִבִּי יִרְמְיָה מַה פְלִיגִין בְּחִיבּוּרִין. לְפִי שֶׁבְּכָל־מָקוֹם נָשׁוּךְ חִיבּוּר מָעוּךְ אֵינוֹ חִיבּוּר וְכָא אֲפִילוּ מָעוּךְ חִיבּוּר הָא הֶכְשֵׁירָן תּוֹרָה. קָם רִבִּי יוֹנָה עִם רִבִּי יִרְמְיָה אָמַר לוֹ אַתְּ אָֽמְרָת הָדָא מִילְתָא אָמַר לֵיהּ אֵין מִנִּי אֲפִילוּ הֶכְשֵּׁירָן וְהֵן חוּמָרִין. וְהָתַנִּי שָׁוִין שֶׁאֵין מוֹכְרִין גָּדִישׁ שֶׁל חִטִּים וְעָבִט שֶׁל עֲנָבִים וּמַעֲטָן שֶׁל זֵיתִים אֶלָּא לְחָבֵר וּלְמִי שֶׁהוּא יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֶׂה אוֹתָן בְּטָהֳרָה. וְעָבִט שֶׁל עֲנָבִים לֹא תוֹרָה הִיא. וְדִכְווָתָהּ מַעֲטָן שֶׁל זֵתִים תּוֹרָה הִיא. מַיי כְדוֹן. תִּיפְתָּר כְּרִבִּי מֵאִיר דְּרִבִּי מֵאִיר אָמַר הַמּוֹהֵל כְּמַשְׁקֶה. 132In the Venice text, Halakhah 7 starts here. It is clear that this discussion is the continuation of the previous paragraph and has no connection with Mishnah 7. The note in Leyden ms. and Venice print giving a new Halakhah here is clearly in error. For the rest of this chapter, numbers of Halakhot and Mishnaiot in these sources do not agree; the numbering here follows that of the relevant Mishnah. It was stated133Tosephta Ma‘serot 3:13.: “They agree that one does not sell a wheat stack, a grape vat134Grapes usually are harvested into baskets made from palm leaves. For transportation to the wine press, the baskets are then emptied into a vat, usually made of clay (or any other material that is impermeable.) If some grape berries are injured in harvesting and start oozing grape juice in the basket, that fluid will not make the grapes subject to ritual impurity since the oozing juice is lost and unwelcome to the vintner. However, in the vat the lowest grapes will be compressed by the weight of the upper layers of grapes and will start losing juice. Since that juice is poured into the winepress, it is welcome because it reduces the workload on the press. Hence, the juice will make all grapes in the vat subject to ritual impurity and selling the vat to a person unwilling to follow the rules of purity would help to make the vat impure., or an olive vat135The argument given for grapes essentially is valid also for olives harvested into boxes which then are emptied into a vat. The difference is that olives are not easily injured when poured into the vat, and when warmed by the weight of the olives on top will start oozing sap that contains little or no oil. Hence, the olives become susceptible to impurity only if we consider the sap to be oil, since only seven kinds of fluid enable foods to be impure (cf. Chapter 2, Notes 136–137). The operative statement is Mishnah Ṭahorot 9:1: “When do olives become susceptible to impurity? When they start oozing sap in the vat but not in boxes, following the House of Shammai. Rebbi Simeon says, the term for oozing is three days. The House of Hillel say, if three olives cling together. Rabban Gamliel says, when the work is complete {i. e., if no more olives are added to the vat}, and the sages accept his position.” to anybody but a ḥaver or to somebody who is known to process in purity.” Is the grape vat not from the Torah136Since grape juice is one of the Seven Fluids, the impurity of grapes in the vat must be considered Biblical.? This does not disagree with Rebbi Joḥanan137R. Joḥanan had explained in the previous paragraph that even the nonobservant may eat olives in purity from the vat!; just as Rebbi Joḥanan said, the little one is a restriction138“Restriction” means a restriction imposed by the rabbis, or the Men of the Great Assembly, not a direct Biblical ordinance. It is difficult to know what the reference means. In the opinion of R. Eliahu Fulda, one refers to a statement of R. Joḥanan reported in Babli Qiddušin 80a on Mishnah Ṭahorot 3:8: “If a toddler was found with a piece of dough near a dough made in purity, that dough is pure in the opinion of R. Meïr, impure in the opinion of the Sages, since toddlers will grab everything they see.” On this R. Joḥanan notes that the impurity is rabbinic and one may not burn heave if it was made impure in this way. “Little one” then would refer to a toddler. According to R. Moses Margalit, the statement refers to Mishnah Ṭevul Yom 3:1: “All handles of food which would transmit impurity from its original source transmit impurity for Ṭevul Yom. Food that is almost separated, R. Meïr says, if he takes a large piece and a small one is lifted with it, the small piece goes with the large one. R. Jehudah says, if he takes a small piece and a large one is lifted with it, the large goes with the small one. R. Neḥemiah says, that refers to purity, the Sages say, to impurity.” In this case, “small one” refers to a piece of food and R. Joḥanan notes that the restrictive attitude of the Sages represents a rabbinic decree, not an interpretation of Biblical law.
{A “handle” of a fruit is an inedible part by which the fruit may be moved, such as the stalk of a pear or an apple. The stalk is wood and not subject to impurity, but as handle it transmits impurity both from an impure person to the fruit and from an impure fruit to any person handling it. The detailed rules are spelled out in Tractate Uqeẓin.
Ṭevul Yom means a person who had been impure, had immersed himself in water for cleansing, and now is in an intermediate state until sundown when he will be pure (Lev. 22:7). In the state of Ṭevul Yom, any heave or sacrifices he touches become unusable; the Mishnah discusses transmission of that disability.}, so “vat of olives” is a restriction139Since olives and grapes cannot be compared for the fluids extracted from them.. Rebbi Ḥizqiah said to Rebbi Jonah in the name of Rebbi Jeremiah: They disagree about connections. Because everywhere “biting”140“Biting” means that after touching, two different things cannot be cleanly separated. The standard example are two pieces of dough which after close contact cannot be cleanly separated again. Such a connection changes the two separate pieces into one for all considerations of impurity. is a connection, squeezing is not a connection. But here even squeezing is a connection141According to the House of Hillel in Mishnah Ṭahorot 9:1, if the olives are squeezed so that three cling together as one clump, their sap prepares for impurity and the olives are enabled to receive impurity in the Biblical sense.; hence from the Torah they are enabled. Rebbi Jonah met Rebbi Jeremiah and asked him, did you say that? He said, that is not from me, even their enablings are restrictions. Did we not state142R. Jonah asked from R. Jeremiah, how does he square his stand with that Tosephta?: “They agree that one does not sell a wheat stack, a grape vat, or an olive vat to anybody but a ḥaver or to somebody who is known to process in purity?” Is the grape vat not from the Torah? Then the olive vat should be from the Torah! What about this? Explain it following Rebbi Meïr, since Rebbi Meïr said, sap is counted as a fluid143R. Meïr holds with the House of Shammai that the sap, as a necessary precursor of the oil, has the Biblical status of olive oil. In that case, the mention of the vat of olives in the Tosephta would not be practice to be followed (neither would the prohibition of selling a wholesale quantity of wheat grain, where impurity can be imparted only if water is used in milling or if the flour later comes into contact with water.).
אָמַר רִבִּי זְעִירָא טַעְמָא דְּבֵית שַׁמַּאי אֵין דֶּרֶךְ חָבֵר לִהְיוֹת מוֹכֵר זֵיתִים אֶלָּא לִמְּעַשֵּׂר. Rebbi Zeïra said, the reason of the House of Shammai is that a ḥaver should never sell olives to anybody but one who tithes144The House of Shammai does not state like the House of Hillel that one may also sell to one who is certain to tithe but who is not formally a trustworthy person and therefore not obliged to tithe demay before selling, since a ḥaver is always bound by the rules of the trustworthy person..
מַהוּ צְנוּעֵי כְּשֵׁירֵי. אָמַר רָב חִסְדָּא כָּךְ שָׁנִינוּ שֶׁהַכָּשֵׁר נִקְרָא צָנוּעַ. Who are the modest ones145Mentioned in the Mishnah. This sentence appears as Halakhah 8 in the Venice print.? Those of noble conduct. Rav Ḥisda said, here we have taught that those of noble conduct are called modest.
אָמַר רִבִּי לָֽעְזָר דְּרִבִּי מֵאִיר הִיא דְּרִבִּי מֵאִיר אָמַר לֹא הִתִּירוּ לִמְכּוֹר דְּמַאי אֶלָּא לְסִיטוֹן בִּלְבַד. הוּא פָּתַר לָהּ הַמְּעַשֵּׂר מְעַשֵּׂר אֶת שֶׁלּוֹ וַדַּאי וְחוֹלְקוֹ בְכָל־מָקוֹם שֶׁהוּא דְּמַאי. רִבִּי יוֹנָה בְּעֵי מוֹכֵר וַדַּאי וּמְתַקֵּן דְּמַאי. אֵין לָךְ אֶלָּא כְּהַהִיא דְּאָמַר רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן דִּבְרֵי הַכֹּל הִיא הַמְּעַשֵּׂר מְעַשֵּׂר אֶת שֶׁלּוֹ וַדַּאי וְחוֹלְקוֹ בְכָל־מָקוֹם שֶׁהוּא דְּמַאי וַחֲצִי חֶלְקוֹ שֶׁבְּיַד חֲבֵירוֹ מִשֶּׁלּוֹ דְּמַאי. 147In the Venice print Halakhah 9.: Rebbi Eleazar said, this follows Rebbi Meïr, since Rebbi Meïr said, they permitted to sell demay only to the grain wholesaler148Cf. Halakhah 3:2. R. Eleazar considers the distribution of the finished wine to the two partners as a commercial transaction; hence, the one who tithes may not give to his partner anything that is not tithed.. He explains the Mishnah: The one who tithes must tithe his own part as certain149That means, he must give heave and tithes from his own grapes before they are pressed. Otherwise, he would not know what is his., and that part of his which could be spread anywhere as demay150The part of the grape juice he gets after pressing certainly contains juice from his partner’s grapes of which it must be assumed that heave but not tithes were removed. Hence, he must tithe his grape juice as demay.. Rebbi Jonah objected: He sells it as certain and tithes only demay151If this is considered a mutual sale, R. Meïr cannot be satisfied with treatment as demay, since it is required that everything be completely in order.? It is only possible in the way Rebbi Joḥanan said, the Mishnah is the word of everybody: The one who tithes must tithe his own part as certain, and his part anywhere as demay; that means one half of his part in his partner’s hand as demay152Since we assume that everybody gives heave and we may assume that not more than 50% of his grape juice comes from his partner’s grapes, half of what he gets must be tithed as demay(assuming that both of them put exactly the same amount of grapes into the press; otherwise, he tithes an amount proportional to his partner’s share in the whole.).