Sukkah, Daf Mem Daled, Part 5
Introduction
At the end of yesterday’s section an amora named Aibu participated in a few stories connected with the aravah. Today’s section continues with stories about Aibu, but without any connection to the aravah, our larger topic.
אמר אייבו: הוה קאימנא קמיה דרבי אלעזר בר צדוק, אתא לקמיה ההוא גברא. אמר ליה: קרייתא אית לי, כרמיא אית לי, זיתיא אית לי, ואתו בני קרייתא ומקשקשין בכרמיא ואוכלין בזיתיא, אריך או לא אריך? – אמר ליה: לא אריך.
Aibu stated: I was standing in the presence of R. Elazar b. Zadok. A certain man came before him and said to him: I have cities, vineyards and olive trees, and the inhabitants of the cities come and hoe the vineyards and eat the olives [on the Sabbatical year]. Is this proper or improper?
R. Yohanan rules that indeed it is improper.
The question here is whether the man can allow the people of the city to eat the Sabbatical year olives. The problem is that one is not supposed to use these olives to pay wages. He should make the available to everyone. The question is is this informal arrangement improper?
הוה קא שביק ליה ואזיל. אמר: כדו הויתי דיירי בארעא הדא ארבעין שנין, ולא חמיתי בר אינש מהלך בארחן דתקנן כדין. הדר ואתי ואמר ליה: מאי מיעבד? אמר ליה: אפקר זיתיא לחשוכיא, ותן פריטיא לקשקושי כרמים. –
As the man was about to leave him and depart, [R. Elazar] said: I have now lived in the land for forty years, and I have never seen a man walking in the paths of righteousness as this man.
The man went back and said to him: What should be done?
He answered him: Abandon the olives to the poor and pay the workers for hoeing the vineyards.
R. Elazar is impressed with the man’s piety. He could have, after all, continued to do as he had done before without asking R. Elazar what to do.
The man even goes so far as to come back and ask R. Elazar what the proper thing to do would be. R. Elazar answers that he should declare the olives ownerless and pay the people to hoe the vineyards. Note how much more money this would cost him he would lose the value of the olives and he would have to spend money on the hoeing. But the man seems to be quite righteous, willing to do what the Torah demands, even if this costs him.
וקשקושי מי שרי?
והא תניא: +שמות כג+ והשביעית תשמטנה ונטשתה. – תשמטנה – מלקשקש, ונטשתה – מלסקל!
אמר רב עוקבא בר חמא: תרי קשקושי הוו, חד סתומי פילי, וחד אברויי אילני. אברויי אילני – אסור, סתומי פילי – שרי.
But is hoeing permitted [during the Sabbatical year]?
Has it not in fact been taught: "But the seventh year let it rest and lie still" (Exodus 23:11), "Let it rest" from hoeing and "lie still" from the removal of stones?
R. Ukba b. Hama said: There are two kinds of hoeing; one consists in closing up the fissures and the other in aerating the soil. Aerating the soil is forbidden but closing up the fissures is permitted.
The Talmud raises a difficulty how can R. Elazar allow any hoeing at all on the Sabbatical year? The rabbis read Exodus 23:11 as explicitly prohibiting hoeing.
R. Ukba b. Hama resolves the difficulty there are two types of hoeing. Closing the fissures is allowed because these fissures expose the roots and their exposure might cause the tree to die. One is allowed to prevent a tree from dying during the Sabbatical year. On the other hand, one is not allowed to aerate the soil because that is done to improve the tree. Thus as a general rule one can take an action to preserve the life of the tree, but one cannot take an action to improve the tree. The type of hoeing that R. Elazar allowed was only to preserve the life of the tree.