Rosh Hashanah 12b (יב:) — the Talmud in English

The sun has set,

although all vegetables grow within a single year, nevertheless

one may not separate teruma and tithes from one onto the other.

Because one may not separate teruma and tithes neither from the new produce onto the old, nor from the old onto the new.

With regard to vegetables, one follows the time of their gathering, and not the time of their growth, in determining which vegetable is from the old year, the previous year, and which is from the new year, the current year.

And if it was

the

second

year of the Sabbatical cycle

entering the third,

and one gathered part of the vegetables before Rosh HaShana and part of them after Rosh HaShana, then, from what he gathered in the

second

[year, before Rosh HaShana,] he separates

first tithe and second tithe.

And from what he gathered in the

third

year, he separates

first tithe and poor man’s tithe.

And we raise a difficulty concerning this:

From where are these matters derived?

From where is it established that in the third year one separates not second tithe, but poor man’s tithe?

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said:

It is stated [Deuteronomy 26]:

“When you have finished tithing all the tithe of your produce in the third year

the year of the tithe.”

Why was the third year called “the year of the tithe”?

Because it is

a year in which

only

one tithe

of the tithes practiced in the preceding years is in effect.

How so?

Which tithes are in effect in the third year?

First tithe—

which he gives as he has given until now.

And poor man’s tithe—

which he gives in place of second tithe.

As it is stated there: “When you have finished tithing, in the third year, the year of the tithe. And you shall give to the Levite [first tithe], to the convert, to the orphan, and to the widow [poor man’s tithe]. And they shall eat within your gates and be satisfied.”

And second tithe,

which is in effect during the two preceding years,

is nullified

in the third year.

Or

perhaps you might say that the phrase “the year of the tithe”

is not

as we explained it,

but rather

the verse means that it is a year in which only poor man’s tithe is in effect, and

even first tithe as well is nullified.

And the verse would then say: “In the third year, the year of the tithe [poor man’s tithe]. And you shall give the [poor man’s tithe] to the Levite [who is included among the poor, because he has no portion in the Land], to the convert, to the orphan, and to the widow.”

The verse states—

for this reason it is stated [Numbers 18:26]:

“And you shall speak to the Levites and say to them: When you take from the Children of Israel the tithe

[the first tithe]

that I have given you from them as your inheritance.”

The verse likened

the first tithe

to an inheritance.

This teaches you:

Just as an inheritance

[just as an inheritance]

has no interruption,

but always belongs to its owners,

so too, first tithe has no interruption,

and it is in effect even in the third year.

A beraita also teaches this,

as we learned in another beraita: From where do we learn that in the third year first tithe is in effect and second tithe is not?

It is stated [Deuteronomy 26]:

“When you have finished tithing,

the year of the tithe”—

a year in which

only

one tithe

of the tithes of the two preceding years is in effect.

How so?

Which of the tithes is in effect in the third year?

First tithe,

which he gives as he has given until now.

And poor man’s tithe

he adds in place of second tithe.

As it is stated there: “In the third year, the year of the tithe, and you shall give to the Levite [first tithe], to the convert, to the orphan, and to the widow [poor man’s tithe], and they shall eat within your gates and be satisfied.”

And second tithe

[which was in effect during the two preceding years]

is nullified.

One might have thought,

perhaps you might say,

even first tithe as well is nullified,

and the intent of the phrase “the year of the tithe” is that only poor man’s tithe is in effect in this year. And the verse would then say: “And you shall give to the Levite [who is also included among the poor, because he has no portion in the Land], to the convert, to the orphan, and to the widow [poor man’s tithe].”

The verse states—

for this reason it is stated [Deuteronomy 14:29]:

“And the Levite shall come.”

This verse speaks of the third year, as it is stated there [verse 28]: “At the end of three years.” The verse comes to say that

whenever

the Levite

comes

to take the first tithe due to him,

give it to him.

These are

the words of Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: The verse “And the Levite shall come”

does

not need

to teach us this matter. For

it

[the verse]

states

[Numbers 18:26]:

“And you shall speak to the Levites and say to them: When you take from the Children of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance”—

the verse compared

the verse likened

the tithe

to an inheritance.

This teaches you:

Just as an inheritance has no interruption,

but always belongs to its owners,

so too, first tithe has no interruption

in the third year.

We learned in a beraita in the Tosefta: The first of Tishrei is the New Year for years,

and for vows.

The Sages taught

in the continuation of the Tosefta: What does it mean that it is the New Year for vows?

One who is prohibited by vow from deriving benefit from another for a year,

a person who prohibited himself by vow from benefiting from another for a year,

counts twelve months from day to day.

And if he said

that he prohibits himself from benefiting from the other

“for this year,”

then

even

if he

was standing

at the time of the vow

only on the twenty-ninth of Elul—

once the first of Tishrei arrives, a year has elapsed for him,

and from then onward he is permitted to benefit from the other.

That is, “the New Year for vows” applies to a vow of “this year,” since on the first of Tishrei another year begins.

And we explain: The statement that we learned in the Tosefta, that one who vowed on the twenty-ninth of Elul and said “for this year,” once the first of Tishrei arrived a year had elapsed for him, applies

even according to the one who says

[above, 10a]

that one day in a year is not considered a year.

For with regard to a vow, we assess the intent of the one who made the vow, that

he accepted it upon himself in order to cause himself distress,

meaning that his intention in making the vow was to cause himself distress for some period of time,

and he has indeed suffered,

for he suffered for one day, and it was not his intention to prohibit himself for any longer than that.

And we raise a difficulty: From where did the tanna learn that the first of Tishrei is the New Year for vows?

And say

perhaps the New Year for vows is

in Nisan!

And we answer:

With regard to vows, one follows the language of ordinary people.

Because a person makes a vow only in the language in which he ordinarily speaks, and ordinary people call the first of Tishrei the New Year. Therefore, we say that the intention of the one who made the vow was to prohibit the benefit until the first of Tishrei.

We learned in the Tosefta that the first of Tishrei is the New Year for vegetables, and for Torah-mandated tithes of grain, wine, and oil.

The Tosefta explained what it means that it is the New Year for vegetables: A vegetable gathered before the New Year is not tithed together with a vegetable that grew after the New Year. But concerning Torah-mandated tithes, the Tosefta did not explain what is considered “old” and what is considered “new”—whether one follows the gathering, or some other factor. The Gemara now expands upon the explanation of this matter:

We learned there,

in tractate Maasrot [1:3]:

Fenugreek,

a type of spice, becomes obligated in tithes

once it has sprouted!

And it is tithed according to the year in which it sprouted, and one does not follow the year in which it was gathered.

Grain,

grain and wine,

and olives—

become obligated in tithes

once they have reached one-third

of their growth.

And they are tithed according to the year in which they reached one-third.

And we explain:

What

is the intent of the Mishna, which said, “Fenugreek

once it has sprouted”—

once it has sprouted seeds,

meaning that the seeds have grown within the pods.

We learned in the Mishna in Maasrot:

Grain and olives

become obligated in tithes

once they reach one-third,

and they are tithed according to the year in which they reached one-third of their ripening.

And we raise a difficulty concerning this:

From where are these matters derived,

that grain and olives are tithed according to the year in which they reached one-third?

Rav Asi said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan—and some attribute it

to Rabbi Yoḥanan,

in the name of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili: The verse says

[Deuteronomy 31:10]:

“At the end of seven years

[at the end of the seven years of the Sabbatical cycle, at the beginning of the first year of the next Sabbatical cycle ]

at the appointed time, in the year of the Sabbatical cycle, on the festival of Sukkot.”

And the words of the verse require explanation:

“The year of the Sabbatical cycle”—

what is it doing here!?

What connection does the Sabbatical year have to the festival of Sukkot in the eighth year, at the end of the seven years? For from the beginning of Rosh HaShana of the eighth year, the Sabbatical year had already passed and ended. From that time onward, it is

the eighth year!

Rather,

this is what the verse says: There is something that grows during the eighth year, yet the laws of the Sabbatical year apply to it. The verse comes

to teach you

that

all grain that reached one-third

of its growth

during the Sabbatical year, before Rosh HaShana—

you apply to it the practice

of the laws of

the Sabbatical year

even

in

the

eighth year.

Rabbi Zeira said to Rav Asi,

you can raise an objection to your statement: