Pe'ah 030

2:
Not being an agriculturalist myself I have to rely on second-hand information in this area of knowledge. I am told that onions grow better when they are thinned on the ground. And it is just this to which our present mishnah refers. The horticulturalist will probably choose to thin out his onion patch before the main harvest: he will pull up some while they are still not fully grown ("moist") leaving still in the ground the rest which he will harvest later when fully developed. The "moist" onions he will take to market for immediate sale, while the "dry" onions he will store in his barn when he eventually harvests them. Our mishnah states that he must give Pe'ah from each batch separately: when he harvests the "moist" onions he must leave some for the poor as Pe'ah (hopefully, at least one sixtieth of the "moist" ones); later, when he harvests the "dry" ones he must do the same for them. Since he will be making a profit from both kinds of onions there is no reason for depriving the poor of their share of all the produce.

3:
Our mishnah states that the same rule applies to the harvesting of beans. The Hebrew word here translated as 'beans' is used in modern Hebrew for 'peas', but knowledgeable authorities teach that the word was originally applicable to beans. Rambam, in his commentary on our mishnah, applies the term to anything that grows in a pod. So it would seem that in mishnaic times the horticulturalist or market gardener would treat his legumes the same way as he treated his onions – and the poor would be entitled to their full share.

4:
Our mishnah now turns its attention to the vineyard. Here there are two separate rulings. When the grapes are harvested in two batches, as it were, the first batch for immediate marketing and the later batch for storage and processing, the same rule applies as before and the vine-dresser must give Pe'ah from both batches separately. However, there was also another method in which bunches of grapes were pruned from the vine before they were ripe. This was done in order to ensure that the fruit which was left on the vine would develop and grow better. The unripe grapes which were pruned off the vine would be discarded. Since these grapes are discarded and the farmer makes no immediate profit on them they are not counted for Pe'ah and when the time comes Pe'ah must be given for the ripe grapes, and the amount calculated as to be made available for the poor should be a percentage only of the fully ripened grapes.

5:
On the other hand if the vine-dresser harvests all his grapes in one fell swoop (and not in two batches as previously described), even though some of the grapes will be discarded as undeveloped and unsuitable for sale or processing he must include those grapes in the total amount from which Pe'ah must be calculated.

Michal Roth writes:

In modern day Israel agriculture is still a part of the economic field, so to speak, and I learnt in the past that we are still required to give Pe'ah and the other Trumot U'Ma'asrot [donatives and tithes – SR]. But I find it hard to imagine the modern day indigents going to the fields, vineyards and orchards and harvesting their share, it just doesn't seem to work that way nowadays. So how would the Mitzva of Pe'ah (and the other Mitzvot that relate to the field) be preformed today? and if one had a garden with fruit bearing trees (like some people in moshvim have) go about performing these Mitzvot?

I respond:

Michal is correct in assuming that the mitzvah of Pe'ah, in theory at least, still applies today. However, those agriculturalists who take note of this mitzvah will presumably ignore the injunction of the sages to give at least one sixtieth part and revert to the original ruling of the Torah that even the most minimal amount ('one stalk') can count as Pe'ah. Michal is also right in assuming that nowadays the poverty-stricken would not claim their rights from the fields. This is probably caused by two considerations. Firstly, long centuries of desuetude have made people forget that this right is still applicable. But more importantly our life-style has changed so much that the indigent would probably not know what to do with the produce they thus received. (Nowadays, bread does not come from wheat: it comes from the supermarket.)

If the modern State were to be run on Torah lines, therefore, and if we apply to Torah law the principles of Conservative Judaism (which maintain a continuously evolving and vibrant halakhah that is eternally relevant to the currant situation) I would imagine that we would find that instead of being given 'handouts' and 'benefits' from the State the indigent would be entitled to a certain percentage of the output of every farm, every industrial plant and so forth. On the other hand, I can't help feeling that this would be very unfair in that so large a proportion of the modern economy is 'service industry' and not 'production' that there would be a very uneven distribution of the source of Pe'ah. Furthermore, the factory owner would be required to permit the indigent access to his assembly line… I just don't think that it would work. However, one aspect of Torah legislation that is lamentably lost to us now is the direct involvement of the individual with the plight of the indigent. Perhaps others have better ideas.