Kiddushin 39a (לט.) — the Talmud in English

Let it teach

that the tanna of the Mishna should state both of them equally:

either both this and that—“

he goes down and takes,”

since only an uncertain case is permitted outside Eretz Yisrael;

or both this and that—“

he goes down and picks,”

since even a certain case is permitted when the Jew did not pick the prohibited produce himself.

And we answer: Indeed, the Mishna should be read as stating both equally, and the proof is:

For Shmuel said to Rav Anan: Teach

the Mishna in the following formulation:

either both this and that “

he goes down and takes,”

or both this and that “

he goes down and picks.”

For with regard to orla and kilayim, in both cases the prohibition outside Eretz Yisrael is only rabbinic; therefore, their laws are the same.

Mar, son of Ravina, taught it to him

as a reading of the Mishna in which both of them are

lenient.

That is,

both this and that,

both orla and kilayim,

the gentile goes down

the gentile

and picks

even when the prohibition is certain,

provided that he does not pick

the Jew himself

by hand.

Levi said to Shmuel: Aryokh! [

a title for Shmuel]

Pick uncertain orla produce for me,

pick orla fruit for me without my being present,

and I will eat it.

For with regard to me, the matter is permitted: Since I do not know that it is orla fruit, as I did not see that it was taken from an orla tree, its status is that of uncertain orla outside Eretz Yisrael, and it is permitted.

Rav Avya and Rabba bar Rav Hanan would provide uncertain produce for one another,

they would pick orla fruit for each other without informing the other that it was orla, so that the other could eat it.

The sharp-witted scholars of Pumbedita said: There is no orla

that applies

outside Eretz Yisrael

at all.

Rav Yehuda sent it before Rabbi Yohanan,

to ask how to conduct oneself with regard to those who were entirely lenient concerning orla outside Eretz Yisrael.

He sent him word

Rabbi Yohanan:

Conceal the uncertainty.

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

But destroy the certain orla,

and in this too be stringent with them: Since they are lenient, do not permit them to provide orla to one another; instead, you personally should destroy the orla fruit.

And proclaim concerning their produce

of those who are lenient

that it requires burial

due to the concern that it is orla.

And whoever says, “There is no orla outside Eretz Yisrael,” shall have no “

grandchild or great-grandchild [

Micah 2:5]

who casts a cord [

who apportions an inheritance]

by lot among the congregation of the Lord,”

when they return to Eretz Yisrael.

We raise a question concerning this:

And they,

the sharp-witted scholars of Pumbedita,

whose view did they follow?

Which tanna was so lenient that they followed his view? And we answer: They followed

the teaching of the following baraita: Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Yosei, says in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Durmaskah, who said in the name of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili, 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 Eretz Yisrael.

We object:

Is that so?!

Did Rabbi Eliezer really hold that orla does not apply outside Eretz Yisrael?

But didn’t we learn in the Mishna

in our Mishna:

Rabbi Eliezer [

who is Rabbi Eliezer the Great]

says: “Also hadash.”

He adds to the first tanna, who prohibits orla and kilayim outside Eretz Yisrael, and holds that hadash is also prohibited outside Eretz Yisrael.

And it implies

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

And we answer:

Teach

the Mishna as follows: Rabbi Eliezer says:

“Hadash.”

That is, he disagrees with the first tanna and holds that only hadash is prohibited outside Eretz Yisrael, whereas orla and kilayim have the status of the other mitzvot dependent on the Land, which do not apply outside Eretz Yisrael.

Rabbi Asi said that Rabbi Yohanan said: Orla outside Eretz Yisrael

is prohibited by

a halakha given to Moses at Sinai.

Rabbi Zeira said to Rav Asi: But it was taught: “In the case of uncertain orla, in Eretz Yisrael

Israel

it is prohibited; in Syria it is permitted; outside Eretz Yisrael, he goes down and picks).”

And according to you, that orla outside Eretz Yisrael is prohibited by Torah law, why is uncertain orla there permitted? After all, in a case of uncertainty concerning a Torah prohibition, one must be stringent.

He was silent for one hour.

Rabbi Asi remained silent briefly and considered how to respond.

Rabbi Asi said to him: Say rather, this is what was stated

explicitly in the halakha given to Moses at Sinai:

an uncertain case is permitted,

and only

a certain case is prohibited.

Rabbi Asi said that Rabbi Yohanan said: One is liable to lashes for

kilayim by Torah law.

One who sows kilayim outside Eretz Yisrael is liable to lashes by Torah law.

Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Yosei,

said to Rabbi Asi:

But didn’t we learn in the Mishna: Kilayim

outside Eretz Yisrael is prohibited

by rabbinic decree?

How can you say that one is liable for this by Torah law?

Rabbi Asi replied to him:

It is not difficult. Here,

in the Mishna, the reference is

to the kilayim of a vineyard,

where one sows two species of seeds together with a grape seed; this is prohibited outside Eretz Yisrael only by rabbinic decree.

Here,

when I said that kilayim are prohibited outside Eretz Yisrael by Torah law,

the reference is to grafting a tree,

where it is prohibited to graft onto a tree a branch of another species of tree; this is prohibited by Torah law even outside Eretz Yisrael.

And

as

Shmuel expounded.

For Shmuel said:

It is stated [Leviticus 19:19]: “You shall observe My statutes: You shall not mate your animal with a different species; you shall not sow your field with kilayim.”

Since the verse did not say, “You shall observe My statutes,” but rather

“You shall observe My statutes,”

it implies that the verse comes to say:

The statutes that I already established for you

from the beginning of time—you shall observe them. That is, the verse is referring to mitzvot with which Noah and his descendants had already been commanded, and these are:

“You shall not mate your animal with a different species; you shall not sow your field with kilayim.”

And which type of kilayim is being discussed as prohibited to the descendants of Noah?

For we derive by analogy “your field” from “your animal”:

Just as “

your animal”

the verse speaks

of mating,

where one mates a living creature of one species with a living creature of another species,

so too “

your field”

speaks

of grafting,

where one grafts a branch of a tree onto a tree of another species. This alone is prohibited to the descendants of Noah, but not the kilayim of sowing, with regard to which the descendants of Noah were not prohibited.

And now we further expound this analogy:

Just as

the prohibition against mating of

“your animal” applies both in Eretz Yisrael and outside Eretz Yisrael,

since it is a personal obligation and is not dependent on the Land,

so too “

your field,”

the prohibition against grafting a tree,

applies both in Eretz Yisrael and outside Eretz Yisrael.

We object:

But isn’t it written “

your field”?

This implies that the prohibition against grafting a tree applies only in Eretz Yisrael, which is designated for you, and not outside Eretz Yisrael, which is not designated for you, since Heaven did not grant it to you?

And we answer:

That

verse is

to exclude seeds outside Eretz Yisrael.

The exclusion indicated by “your field” applies only to the phrase “you shall not sow,” referring to the sowing of kilayim—that is, the prohibition of the kilayim of a vineyard, which does not apply outside Eretz Yisrael [by Torah law]. But grafting a tree is prohibited even outside Eretz Yisrael.

Rav Hanan and Rav Anan were traveling along the road,

they were walking on the way [outside Eretz Yisrael].

They saw

they saw

a certain man who was sowing seeds

of different species

together

together.

He said to him,

one to the other:

“Let the Master come and excommunicate him.”

Let the Master come and excommunicate him, because he transgressed the rabbinic prohibition of kilayim outside Eretz Yisrael.

His companion said

to him:

“You are not clear!”

The laws of kilayim are not clear to you, for only kilayei hakerem are prohibited outside Eretz Yisrael when one sows a grape seed together with two other types of seeds; but sowing only two types of seeds is entirely permitted outside Eretz Yisrael, as will be explained below.

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

and barley,

wheat and barley seeds,

among grapevines,

between grapevines.

One of them said

to the other:

“Let the Master come and excommunicate him,”

because he had transgressed the prohibition of kilayei hakerem.

He said to him: “You are not enlightened!”

The laws of kilayei hakerem are not clear to you, for:

Is it so that

we do not rule in accordance with Rabbi Yoshiyya, who said:

one is not liable for kilayei hakerem

until he sows wheat, barley, and a grape seed

from grapes

with one act of sowing,

so that the sowing of all three begins together as kilayim, and not when he sows two types of seeds among grapevines that were already planted?

Rav Yosef

[he was in Babylonia]

would mix seeds,

several types of seeds,

and sow

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

Abaye said to him: But didn’t we learn in the Mishna: Kilayim

are prohibited outside Eretz Yisrael

by rabbinic decree!

How, then, are you sowing kilayim?

Rav Yosef said to him

:

“It is not difficult: Here,”

the Mishna that prohibits sowing kilayim outside Eretz Yisrael is speaking

of kilayei hakerem.

“Here,”

what I am sowing is

kilayei zeraim,

only types of seeds, without the mixture of a grape seed, and this is permitted outside Eretz Yisrael.

The reason that kilayei zeraim are permitted even rabbinically outside Eretz Yisrael, whereas kilayei zeraim are prohibited, is:

Kilayei hakerem,

whose prohibition is severe,

for in

Eretz

Yisrael they are prohibited

even

for benefit; outside Eretz Yisrael as well, the Sages decreed that they be prohibited.

But

kilayei zeraim,

whose prohibition is lenient,

for in

Eretz Yisrael itself

they are not prohibited for benefit,

outside Eretz Yisrael as well, the Sages did not decree that they be prohibited

at all.

Rav Yosef later said: “What I said is not correct!”

Rather, even kilayei zeraim are prohibited outside Eretz Yisrael by rabbinic decree. Proof of my statement is the following:

Rav sowed the garden of the study hall,

the garden intended for the students to eat its vegetables, by means of

“beds upon beds,”

beds upon beds, with each type in its own separate bed.

“For what reason”

did Rav take care to sow each type in a separate bed, even though he was outside Eretz Yisrael?

Was it not

because

of intermingling mixtures of kilayim,

so that there would be no kilayim of seeds?

It follows that even kilayei zeraim are prohibited outside Eretz Yisrael [since Rav was in Babylonia].

Abaye said to him:

Rav did this not to avoid the prohibition of kilayim.