משנה: הַמַּבְרִיךְ שְׁלֹשָׁה גְפָנִים וְעִיקְּרֵיהֶן נִרְאִין. רִבִּי לָֽעְזָר בֵּירִבִּי צָדוֹק אוֹמֵר אִם יֵשׁ שָׁם בֵּינֵיהֶן מֵאַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת וְעַד שְמוֹנֶה הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ מִצְטָֽרְפוֹת וְאִם לָאו אֵינָן מִצְטָֽרְפוֹת. גֶּפֶן שֶׁיָּֽבְשָׁה אֲסוּרָה וְאֵינָהּ מְקַדֶּשֶׁת. רִבִי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר אַף גֶּפֶן צֶמֶר אָסוּר וְאֵינוֹ מְקַדֵּשׁ. רִבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בַּר רִבִּי צָדוֹק אוֹמֵר מִשְּׁמוֹ אַף עַל גַּבֵּי הַגֶּפֶן אָסוּר וְאֵינוֹ מְקַדֵּשׁ. אֵלּוּ אֲסוּרִין וְלֹא מְקַדְּשִׁין מוֹתָר חָרְבַּן הַכֶּרֶם מוֹתָר מָחוֹל הַכֶּרֶם מוֹתָר פִּיסְקֵי עָרִיס מוֹתָר אַפִּיפִּירוֹת. אֲבָל תַּחַת הַגֶּפֶן וַעֲבוֹדַת הַגֶּפֶן וְאַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת שֶׁבְּכֶרֶם הֲרֵי אֵילּוּ מְקַדְּשִׁין. MISHNAH: If one sinks three vines and their stems are visible, Rebbi Eleazar bar Rebbi Zadoq says if there are between them from four to eight cubits, they go together; otherwise, they do not go together18If one has three vines in a row and sinks a shoot from each one to get another row of three vines, if the distance between the rows and between the vines in one row is between four and eight cubits then one has a legal vineyard since five of the six vines would be enough (Halakhah 4:6). If the distances are too small, one has six single vines.. A dried-up vine is forbidden but does not sanctify19If one sows within six hand-breadths from a dead vine it does not sanctify.. Rebbi Meïr says, cotton also is forbidden but does not sanctify. Rebbi Eleazar bar Rebbi Zadoq says in his name20In R. Meïr’s name. This attribution is missing in the Genizah ms., probably correctly; cf. Note 23., even on top of the vine it is forbidden21The meaning of this sentence will be clarified in the Halakhah. but does not sanctify.
The following are forbidden but do not sanctify: The excess of a dried-up vineyard27By Mishnah 4:1, if a vineyard dried up in the middle, a space of 16 cubits square cannot be sown. But only four cubits on each side are needed for working the vineyard. If the dried-up space contains a square of sides 16-ε, the inner (8-ε)-by-(8-ε) space cannot be worked on as a rabbinic, rather than a biblical prohibition. Working that inner space is forbidden but a transgression does not sanctify either growth or vineyard., the excess of the circumference of a vineyard28By Mishnah 4:2, 12 cubits have to be left empty between a vineyard whose outer rows have died and the fence. Again, if there are 12-ε cubits, of these only four are biblical, the remaining 8-ε have rabbinic status only., the excess of an interrupted trellis29Since the constituent parts of an interrupted trellis do not form vineyards by themselves, of the eight cubits between the inner vines only one cubit on each side (six hand-breadths) will sanctify, the remaining six cubits represent rabbinic prohibition., and the excess of a papyrus30If vines that do not form a vineyard are drawn over papyrus, only the space under any part of any vine is biblically forbidden; the rest is a rabbinic prohibition (Halakhah 6:3).. But under a vine, the working space of a vine, and the four cubits of a vineyard do sanctify.
הלכה: אָמַר רִבִּי לָֽעְזָר הֲלָכָה דְּרִבִּי מֵאִיר הִיא. HALAKHAH: Rebbi Eleazar said, the Mishnah is Rebbi Meïr’s23The Halakhah discusses only the second part of the Mishnah, listing the plants near which it is forbidden to sow but which do not sanctify. Since part of the Mishnah is attributed to R. Meïr, all of it belongs to R. Meïr. The statement makes more sense if the Mishnah follows the reading of the Genizah text, Note 20..
נִיחָא בְסִיתְװָא אֲבָל בְקַייְטָא. אִית אֲתָרִין דְּמַתְּרָן טַרְפֵיהֹן אֲפִילוּ בְקַייְטָא. One understands in winter24This refers to the statement that it is forbidden to sow next to a dead vine. The only reason for such a rule is bad appearance, that passers-by will not notice that the vine is dead and will think that the farmer sows forbidden seeds. One understands that this is a concern in late fall and early winter, after the old leaves have been shed and the new ones did not grow yet, but in summer when the leaves cover the ripening grapes there should be no problem. The answer is that there is a problem with varieties whose grapes ripen in June and will have lost their leaves by mid-July., but in summer? There are places where they lose their leaves even in summer.
רִבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בְשֵׁם רִבִּי זְעִירָא עַל גַּבֵּי זְמוֹרָה הִיא מַתְנִיתָא. רִבִּי בּוּן בַּר חִייָא בְשֵׁם רִבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר רַב יִצְחָק לַאֲוֵיר עֲשָׂרָה הִיא מַתְנִיתָה. אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹסֵי הֲוֵינָן סָֽבְרִין כֶּרֶם יֵשׁ לוֹ אֲוֵיר גֶּפֶן יְחִידִית אֵין לָהּ אֲוֵיר. מִן מַה דְּאָמַר רִבִּי בּוּן בַּר חִייָא בְשֵׁם רִבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר רַב יִצְחָק לַאֲוֵיר עֲשָׂרָה הִיא מַתְנִיתָא. הָדָא אָֽמְרָה אֲפִילוּ גֶּפֶן יְחִידִית יֵשׁ לָהּ אֲוֵיר. Rebbi Samuel in the name of Rebbi Zeïra: The Mishnah speaks of the space above the shoot25This refers to the last sentence in the Mishnah, “even on top of the vine it is forbidden but does not sanctify.” Rebbi Zeïra refers this to the shoot of vine sunk under less than three hand-breadths of earth.. Rebbi Abun bar Ḥiyya in the name of Rebbi Samuel bar Rav Isaac: The Mishnah speaks about the air space of ten26If the vines are on a terraced hill and the next terrace is at least ten hand-breadths higher, the wall of the terrace terminates the working space (for vineyard or single vine); planting inside six hand-breadths or four cubits, as the case may be, is forbidden but does not sanctify if the vertical distance is at least ten hand-breadths. {R. Simson thinks that one speaks about plants in flower pots hanging over the vines; Maimonides might agree with this interpretation.}. Rebbi Yose said, we were of the opinion that a vineyard has air space; a single vine has no air space. Since Rebbi Abun bar Ḥiyya said in the name of Rebbi Samuel bar Rav Isaac: The Mishnah speaks about the air space of ten, that means that even a single vine has air space.
מוֹתָר מָחוֹל הַכֶּרֶם אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת מוֹתָר חָרְבַּן הַכֶּרֶם אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת מוֹתָר פִּיסְקֵי עָרִיס שִׁשָּׁה טְפָחִים מוֹתָר הַפִּיפִּייָרוֹת שִׁשָּׁה טְפָחִים. The excess of the circumference of a vineyard is four cubits31The language is elliptic: The excess of the circumference of a vineyard is defined as excess of the distance over and above 4 cubits, as explained in the Notes to the Mishnah. The other statements have a corresponding interpretation., the excess of a dried-up vineyard is four cubits, the excess of an interrupted trellis is six hand-breadths, and the excess of papyrus is six hand-breadths.
בֵּנְתַּיִים מַהוּ. רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר אָסוּר וּמְקַדֵּשׁ. רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ אָמַר אָסוּר וְאֵינוֹ מְקַדֵּשׁ. מַה נַפְשֵׁךְ כֶּרֶם גָּדוֹל הוּא לָמָּה לִי חָרְבָּנוֹ אֲפִילוּ מַטָּעָתוֹ. כֶּרֶם קָטָן הוּא אֵין לוֹ מָחוֹל. אֶלָּא כִּי נָן קַייָמִין בְּכֶרֶם גָּדוֹל שֶׁנְּטָעוֹ עַל מַטַּע כֶּרֶם קָטָן. אֶמַר רִבִִּי זְעִירָא הָדָא אָֽמְרָה כֶּרֶם גָּדוֹל שֶׁנְּטָעוֹ שְׁמוֹנֶה עַל שְׁמוֹנֶה אֵין לוֹ מָחוֹל. אִין תֵּימַר מַטַּע שֵׁשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה עַל שֵׁשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה תּוֹכוֹ אָסוּר וּמְקַדֵּשׁ חוּצָה לוֹ לֹא כָּל־שֶׁכֵּן. What is the status of the intermediate spaces32This refers to Mishnaiot 4:8–9, that if a vineyard is planted in such a way that the distance from one vine to the next in both directions is more than eight but less than 16 cubits, one may not sow there. This situation really should have been dealt with in our Mishnah since in that configuration there are points distant more than four cubits from any vine. Since it is not mentioned in our Mishnah, R. Joḥanan concludes that sowing there must sanctify. {The explanation of this paragraph follows an idea of R. Eliahu Wilna who, however, feels compelled to rewrite the text.}? Rebbi Joḥanan said, they are forbidden and sanctify. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, they are forbidden and do not sanctify. What can you say33Here follows the argument of R. Joḥanan against R. Simeon ben Laqish.? If it is a large vineyard, what about its dry spot, even where it is planted34Since for R. Simeon ben Laqish any spot distant more than eight but less than 16 cubits is forbidden but does not sanctify, why does the Mishnah speak about a dry spot?! If it is a small vineyard, it has no circumference35Chapter 4, Note 37. The Mishnah cannot speak about a “small” vineyard.. But we must deal with a large vineyard planted in the manner of a small one36The distances from one vine to the other and between two rows of vines are at least four but definitely less than eight cubits. In that case, the objections do not apply.. Rebbi Zeïra said, this implies that a large vineyard planted eight by eight has no circumference37Since the Mishnah declares that outside of eight it does not sanctify; dried-up vines cannot make the situation worse.. If you say that the inside is forbidden and sanctifies if it is planted 16 by 16, the outside not so much more38This is R. Simeon ben Laqish’s argument against all the preceding. If inside it sanctifies up to 16 cubits there would be no reason to require only 12 on the outside.?
אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹסֵי אֵין לוֹקִין אֶלָּא עַל עִיקַּר הַכֶּרֶם. Rebbi Yose said, one whips only for the main vineyard39Even though the Mishnah establishes the cases in which the new growth sanctifies, the biblical commandment that can be enforced by the criminal court only refers to grain sown in a vineyard..