Sukkah, Daf Mem, Part 5
Introduction
In yesterday’s section, R. Elazar used the verse "And if you sell something to your fellow" to derive the halakhah that one can redeem sabbatical year produce only by selling it. R. Yohanan did not read the verse that way, for he allowed one to redeem the produce also by exchanging it. Our passage asks how R. Yohanan reads that verse.
ורבי יוחנן, האי כי תמכרו ממכר מאי עביד ליה? – מיבעי ליה לכדרבי יוסי בר חנינא. דתניא, אמר רבי יוסי בר חנינא: בוא וראה כמה קשה אבקה של שביעית וכו’, אדם נושא ונותן בפירות שביעית – לסוף מוכר את מטלטליו ואת כליו, שנאמר בשנת היובל הזאת תשבו איש אל אחזתו וסמיך ליה וכי תמכרו ממכר לעמיתך וגו’.
But what does R. Yohanan do with the verse, "And if you sell something to your neighbor"?
He requires it in accordance with the statement of R. Yose b. Hanina, as it has been taught, R. Yose b. Hanina said: Come and see how serious is [even] the dust of the Sabbatical Year. A man merely trades with the produce of the Sabbatical Year, in the end he sells his movable property and his clothes, as it is said, "In this year of Jubilee you shall return, each man to his possessions" and then comes immediately, "And if you sell something to your neighbor etc."
R. Yohanan does not derive a halakhah from the juxtaposition of the verses. Rather, he reads it as a story. First comes the Jubilee year, representative of any sabbatical year. During the sabbatical year one should not do regular trade in produce. The idea is that one can eat the fruit of the land, and if there is extra one can sell the extra, but one shouldn’t make a business out of it. This is called "the dust of the sabbatical year" for the main prohibition of the sabbatical year is not to plant or work the field in any way.
In any case, if one does engage in business with sabbatical year produce, then the next verse will apply to him he will grow poor as a punishment and end up selling his possessions. Note that this is a type of "measure for measure" punishment. One didn’t leave sabbatical year produce out in the fields so that anyone could take it, even the poor. In the end, that person himself will grow poor.
ורבי אלעזר, האי קרא דרבי יוחנן מאי עביד ליה? מיבעי ליה לכדתניא: +ויקרא כה+ כי יובל היא קדש מה קדש תופס את דמיו – אף שביעית תופסת את דמיה.
And R. Eleazar, what does he do with the verse of R. Yohanan?
He needs it in accordance with what has been taught, "For it is a Jubilee, it shall be holy" just as with holy objects the money [for which it is redeemed] assumes the same sanctity, so with the produce of the Sabbatical Year, the money [for which it is sold] assumes the same sanctity.
Rabbi Elazar uses the verse that calls the Jubilee year "holy" to teach a general halakhah about sabbatical year produce. When one sells something that is holy, such as something that has been dedicated to the Temple, the money now takes on the holiness of the sold object. That money would have to be given to the Temple just as the holy object would have had to have been given to the Temple. The same is true for sabbatical year produce when one sells it, the money takes on the sanctity of the produce. In tomorrow’s section we will note that redeeming sabbatical year produce is different from redeeming holy things.