Pe'ah 034

1:
As we mentioned at the beginning of chapter 3, this chapter deals with several issues connected with liability to pe'ah which have not been satisfactorily dealt with previously. Our present mishnah introduces the concept of minimal requirements: how big (or, rather, how small) does a field have to be in order for its yield to be liable to pe'ah? The views of five different sages are given.

2:
Rabbi Eli'ezer has a tradition which measures the minimal requirement for pe'ah by the amount of seed which can be sown on the land in question. When we studied Tractate Tamid I wrote:

It follows that Rabbi Eli'ezer is referring to a utensil which contains just under one half a litre of seed. It was held that this amount of seed could be sown in an area which was 'ten and one fifth cubits' square, which answers to an area today which is almost 5 metres by 5 metres – 23.86 square metres to be more exact. (This would indicate an area of about 16 feet by 16 feet in anglo-saxon measurement.) This is about the size of a living room. Since Rabbi Eli'ezer had 'Shamuti' tendencies (supportive of the views of Bet Shammai, which were favourable to the 'landed gentry') it is not surprising that his tradition seems to give the largest area.

3:
Rabbi Yehoshu'a has a tradition which measures the minimal requirements for pe'ah as being a field which will yield at least 2 se'ahs of grain. As we saw above, a se'ah was about 11.5 litres, which would mean that according to this view the field would have to have a minimal yield of 23 litres of grain.

4:
Rabbi Tarfon has yet another tradition which measures the field in simple terms: in order to be liable for pe'ah a field must have an area of 6 handbreadths by 6 handbreadths. This would be exceedingly small: less than two and one half square feet. However, Rabbi Akiva, who understandably always seems to favour the poor, holds that there is no minimum size for a field to be liable to pe'ah.

5:
Despite the parenthetical note in our mishnah, accepted halakhah does not follow the tradition given by Rabbi Yehudah ben-Beteyrah; actually the halakhah is according to the view of Rabbi Akiva. This is stated quite clearly by Rambam in his commentary on our mishnah and is also thus encoded in his Mishneh Torah. Nevertheless, we must explicate the view of Rabbi Yehudah ben-Beteyrah. It is based purely on careful biblical exegesis. Psalm 129:7 reads:

The context is clearly referring to a very poor harvest. Therefore, Rabbi Yehudah ben-Beteyrah interprets that a 'reasonable' harvest would be when the reaper can reap a handful of wheat and then do so again with another handful. The reaper would enclose in one arm a bundle of growing crop which he would then cut with the scythe which was in his other hand; he would then drop what he had harvested into the sack held by a second person who was following behind him. Rabbi Yehudah ben-Beteyrah holds that when the reaper can perform this function twice the field is liable to pe'ah.

6:
In order to complete our study of this mishnah let us return to the view of Rabbi Akiva. He holds that there is no minimum size to land with regard to four legal functions.

• Any land which yields a crop is liable to pe'ah.
• Any land which yields a crop is liable to bikkurim – First Fruits. (When we studied Tractate Sotah 7:2 I gave a review of the mitzvah of First Fruits.)
• Any land is sufficient to serve as collateral for a deed (prozbul) in which the creditor transfers debts owing to him to the court so that they will not become non-payable in a sabbatical year. (The word prozbul is a term borrowed from the Greek meaning 'before the court'.)
• Any land is sufficient to ensure that the ownership of chattels which are sold together with real estate has been transferred from the vendor to the buyer. (Real estate can be legally acquired by payment of money, by a 'deed of acquisition' – contract – or by presumed ownership after unchallenged occupation for three years. Usually, chattels can be acquired only by taking hold of them or using them in some way, but if chattels are sold together with land whatever manner changes the ownership of the land also changes the ownership of the chattels.)

Albert Ringer writes concerning beans (Peah 030):

When speaking about beans, one has to distinguish between different species. Chickpeas, lentils and fava beans (broad beans) have a long history in the middle-east. Haricot beans, including runner beans, kidney beans and lima beans originally came from the mid-America's. I suppose it is quite unlikely they where called anything at all in Hebrew in mishnaic times.

---

Michal Roth writes with regard to beds of onions (also Peah 030):

Not to long ago I watched a gardening program in which it was recommended to plant onions, shallots and garlic as borders around vegetables and herb gardens to keep pests away thus gaining produce and pest-control. It seems to me that this could have been a common practice of farmers that Bet Hillel knew about.