Kiddushin 39a — the Talmud in English

Let it teach

that the tanna of the Mishna stated both of them equally:

either this and that—“

he descends and takes,”

for only uncertainty is permitted outside the Land of Israel;

or this and that—“

he descends and picks,”

for even certainty is permitted, when the Israelite himself did not pick the prohibition.

And we answer: Indeed, it is necessary to read in the Mishna both of them equally, and the proof is:

For Shmuel said to Rav Anan: Teach,

repeat the Mishna in this wording:

either this and that “

he descends and takes,”

or this and that “

he descends and picks.”

For with regard to orla and mixed species, in both of them the prohibition outside the Land of Israel is only rabbinic, and therefore their law is equal.

Mar, son of Ravina, taught it to him

he would recite the Mishna as referring to both of them

leniently.

That is,

this and that,

both orla and mixed species,

descends

the gentile

and picks

even when the prohibition is certain,

provided that he does not pick

the Israelite himself

by hand.

Levi said to Shmuel: Ariokh!

[a designation for Shmuel]

Provide uncertainty for me,

pick for me fruits of orla when I am not present,

and I shall eat.

For with regard to this matter it is permitted for me: since I do not know that it is a fruit of orla, because I did not see that it was taken from an orla tree, its law is like that of uncertain orla outside the Land of Israel, and it is permitted.

Rav Avya and Rabba bar Rav Hanan would provide uncertainty to one another,

they would pick fruits of orla for one another without informing the other that they were orla, so that the other would be able to eat from them.

The sharp ones of Pumbedita said: There is no orla

practiced

outside the Land of Israel

at all.

Rav Judah sent it before Rabbi Yohanan,

to ask how to conduct oneself with those who were entirely lenient concerning orla outside the Land of Israel.

He sent to him

Rabbi Yohanan:

Conceal the uncertainty.

Permit them uncertain orla. However, since they are so very lenient concerning orla, do not expound this publicly; rather, instruct them privately that uncertain orla is permitted.

And destroy its certainty,

also be stringent with them, since they are lenient: do not permit them to provide one another with orla, but rather you should destroy the fruits of orla with your hands.

And proclaim concerning their fruits

of those who are lenient

that they require concealment

because of concern for orla.

And whoever says: There is no orla outside the Land of Israel, shall have no “

son or grandson

[Micah 2:5]

casting a cord

[dividing an inheritance]

by lot in the congregation of the Lord,”

when they return to the Land of Israel.

And we raise a question concerning it:

But they,

the sharp ones of Pumbedita,

according to whom did they hold?

Which of the tannaim was so lenient that they held like him? And we answer: They held

in accordance with that which was taught: Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Yosei says in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Dormaska, who said in the name of Rabbi Yosei the Galilean, who said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri, who said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer the Great: There is no orla outside the Land of Israel.

And we object:

Is that so!?

Did Rabbi Eliezer hold that orla is not practiced outside the Land of Israel?

But we learned

in our Mishna:

Rabbi Eliezer

[who is Rabbi Eliezer the Great]

says: Even the new produce.

For he adds to the first tanna, who forbids orla and mixed species outside the Land of Israel, and holds that new produce is also forbidden outside the Land of Israel.

And it implies

that with regard to orla he agrees with the first tanna!

And we answer:

Teach,

recite the Mishna as follows: Rabbi Eliezer says:

New produce.

That is, he disagrees with the first tanna and holds that only “new produce” is forbidden outside the Land of Israel, whereas orla and mixed species have the same law as the other mitzvot dependent on the Land, which are not practiced outside the Land of Israel.

Rabbi Asi said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Orla outside the Land of Israel

is forbidden by

a halakha given to Moses at Sinai.

Rabbi Zeira said to Rav Asi: But it was taught: Uncertain orla, in the Land

of Israel,

is forbidden; in Syria it is permitted; [outside the Land of Israel he descends and picks).

According to your statement, that orla outside the Land of Israel is forbidden by Torah law, why is uncertain orla there permitted? For uncertainty concerning a Torah prohibition is treated stringently.

He was stunned for one hour.

Rabbi Asi was silent for a little while and considered what to answer.

Rabbi Asi said to him: Say, thus it was stated

explicitly in the halakha given to Moses at Sinai:

uncertainty is permitted,

and only

certainty is forbidden.

Rabbi Asi said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: One is flogged for

mixed species by Torah law.

One who sows mixed species outside the Land of Israel is liable to lashes by Torah law.

Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Yosei said

to Rav Asi:

But we learned: Mixed species

outside the Land of Israel—their prohibition is

from the words of the Scribes!

And how do you say that one is liable to lashes for this by Torah law?

And Rabbi Asi answered him:

It is not difficult. Here,

in the Mishna, it is referring

to mixed species of the vineyard,

where one sowed two kinds of seeds together with a grape seed, and this is forbidden only by the words of the Scribes outside the Land of Israel.

Here,

what I said, that mixed species are forbidden outside the Land of Israel by Torah law, is

the grafting of a tree,

where it is forbidden to graft onto a tree a branch from another species of tree, and this is forbidden by Torah law even outside the Land of Israel.

And

as

Shmuel expounded.

For Shmuel said:

It is stated [Leviticus 19:19], “You shall keep My statutes: Your animal you shall not mate with mixed species; your field you shall not sow with mixed species.”

Since Scripture did not say, “And you shall keep My statutes,” but rather

“You shall keep My statutes,”

it implies that Scripture comes to say:

Statutes that I established for you already

from the beginning of time—you shall keep them. That is, Scripture is speaking of mitzvot with which Noah and his sons had already been commanded, and these are:

“Your animal you shall not mate with mixed species; your field you shall not sow with mixed species.”

And with which mixed species is it speaking that are forbidden to the children of Noah?

For we expound by juxtaposition “your field” to “your animal”:

Just as “

your animal”

Scripture is speaking

of mating,

where one animal of one species is mated with an animal of another species,

so too “

your field”

is speaking

of grafting,

where one grafts a branch of a tree onto a tree of another species. And only this is forbidden to the children of Noah, but mixed species of sowing did not forbid the children of Noah.

And from now we add to expound through this juxtaposition:

Just as,

like the prohibition of mating of

“your animal” is practiced both in the Land and outside the Land of Israel,

for it is an obligation of the body and does not depend on the Land,

so too “

your field,”

the prohibition of grafting a tree,

is practiced both in the Land and outside the Land of Israel.

And we object:

But is it not written “

your field”!

And it implies that the prohibition of grafting a tree is practiced only in the Land of Israel, which is designated for you, and not outside the Land of Israel, which is not designated for you, since it was not given to you from Heaven?

And we answer:

That

verse

is to exclude seeds outside the Land of Israel.

The exclusion of “your field” applies only to the wording “you shall not sow,” which implies the sowing of mixed species, namely, the prohibition of mixed species of the vineyard, which is not practiced outside the Land of Israel [by Torah law]. But the grafting of a tree is forbidden even outside the Land of Israel.

Rav Hanan and Rav Anan were taking and going along the road,

they were walking on the road [outside the Land of Israel].

They saw

they saw

a certain man, who was sowing seeds

of different kinds

together

with one another.

He said to him

one of them to his fellow:

Let my master come and excommunicate him.

Let my master come and excommunicate him, because he transgressed a rabbinic prohibition of mixed kinds outside the Land of Israel.

He said

his fellow to him:

You have not clarified it!

The laws of mixed kinds are not clear to you, for only vineyard mixed kinds are forbidden outside the Land of Israel when one sows a grape seed together with two other kinds of seeds, but to sow only two kinds of seeds is entirely permitted outside the Land of Israel, as will be explained below.

And furthermore, they saw a certain man who was sowing wheat

and barley,

seeds of wheat and barley,

among grapevines,

between grape trees.

He said to him

one of them to his fellow:

Let my master come and excommunicate him,

because he transgressed the prohibition of vineyard mixed kinds.

He said to him: You have not illuminated it!

The laws of vineyard mixed kinds are not shining clearly to you, for:

And is it that

we do not hold in accordance with Rabbi Yashya, who said:

that one is not liable for vineyard mixed kinds

until he sows wheat, barley, and a grape seed

from grapes

with one scattering,

so that the beginning of the sowing of all three is together as mixed kinds, and not that he sowed two kinds of seeds among grapevines that had already been planted?

Rav Yosef [ [A0029]]was in Babylonia]

was in Babylonia

was mixing seeds,

several kinds of seeds,

and sowed

together in a field [and not in a vineyard].

Abaye said to him: But did we not learn: Mixed kinds

are forbidden outside the Land of Israel

by rabbinic ordinance!

And how are you sowing mixed kinds?

He said to him

Rav Yosef:

It is not difficult: Here

the Mishna that forbids sowing mixed kinds outside the Land of Israel is speaking

of vineyard mixed kinds.

Here,

what I am sowing is

seed mixed kinds,

only kinds of seeds, without a mixture of a grape seed, and this is permitted outside the Land of Israel.

And the reason that seed mixed kinds are permitted even by rabbinic ordinance outside the Land of Israel, whereas seed mixed kinds are forbidden, is:

Vineyard mixed kinds,

whose prohibition is severe,

for in the Land

of Israel

they are forbidden

even

for benefit; outside the Land of Israel as well, the Sages enacted a decree concerning them.

But

seed mixed kinds,

whose prohibition is lenient,

for in the Land

of Israel itself

they did not forbid them for benefit,

outside the Land of Israel as well, the Sages did not enact a decree concerning them

at all.

Rav Yosef subsequently said: What I said is not a matter!

Rather, even seed mixed kinds are forbidden outside the Land of Israel by rabbinic ordinance. And proof for my words is from this:

For Rav sowed the garden of the house of Rav,

the garden that was intended for the students to eat from its vegetables, Rav sowed in the form of

“beds upon beds,”

beds upon beds, each kind in a separate bed by itself.

What is the reason

why did Rav take care to sow each kind in a separate bed, even though it was outside the Land of Israel?

Is it not

does it not mean

because of the intermixing of mixed kinds

so that there would not be seed mixed kinds?

Thus, seed mixed kinds too are forbidden outside the Land of Israel [for Rav was in Babylonia].

Abaye said to him:

It was not because of avoidance of the prohibition of mixed kinds that Rav did so.