Rosh Hashanah 12b — the Talmud in English

When the sun sets,

even though all the vegetables grow in one year, nevertheless

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

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

And with vegetables, one follows their gathering, and not their growth, to establish which vegetable is from the old [year], from the previous year, and which is from the new [year], from this year.

And if

the year

second

of the Sabbatical years

enters the third, and he gathered part of the vegetable before New Year and part of it after New Year, then what he gathered in the

second year

second

[before New Year] he separates from it

first tithe and second tithe.

And what he gathered in the

third year,

he separates from it

first tithe and poor tithe.

And we inquire about it:

From where are these words,

from where [do we know] that in the third year one does not separate second tithe, but rather poor tithe?

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said:

It is stated [Deuteronomy 26]:

“When you finish 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 there is no

practice

in it except one tithe,

from the tithes practiced in the years preceding it.

How so?

Which tithes are practiced in the third year?

First tithe—

that he should give it in the manner in which he gave it until now.

And poor tithe—

that he should give it in place of second tithe.

For it is stated [there]: “When you finish tithing, in the third year, the year of the tithe. And you shall give to the Levite [first tithe], to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow [poor tithe]. And they shall eat within your gates and be satisfied.”

And second tithe,

which is practiced in the two years preceding it—

shall cease

in the third year.

Or

perhaps you will say that the verse “the year of the tithe”

is not

as we explained,

but rather

the intention of the verse is to say that it is a year in which only poor tithe is practiced, and

first tithe as well shall cease.

And so the verse said: “In the third year, the year of the tithe [poor tithe]. And you shall give the [poor tithe] to the Levite [who is included among the poor, because he has no portion in the land], to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow.”

The verse says,

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],

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

The verse compared

the first tithe

to an inheritance.

To teach you:

Just as an inheritance

[just as an inheritance]

has no cessation,

but rather it always belongs to its owners,

so first tithe has no cessation,

and it is practiced even in the third year.

It was taught likewise

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

It is stated [Deuteronomy 26]:

“When you finish tithing,

the year of the tithe” —

a year in which there is no

practice

in it except one tithe

from the tithes of the two preceding years.

How so?

Which of the tithes is practiced in the third year?

First tithe,

he shall give it in the manner in which he gave it until now.

And poor tithe

he shall add 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 stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow [poor tithe], and they shall eat within your gates and be satisfied.”

And second tithe

[which was practiced in the two preceding years]

shall cease.

It might be thought,

perhaps you will say,

first tithe as well shall cease,

]]and the intention of the verse “the year of the tithe” is to say that in this year only poor tithe is practiced. And so the verse said: “And you shall give to the Levite [who is also included among the poor, because he has no portion in the land], to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow [poor tithe].”

The verse says,

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

“And the Levite shall come.”

And this verse speaks of the third year, as it is stated there [verse 28]: “At the end of three years.” And 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”

is not needed

to teach us this matter. For

it [the verse]

the verse

says [Numbers 18:26]:

[Numbers 18:26]:

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

the verse compared

the verse likened

the tithe

to an inheritance.

To teach you,

just as an inheritance has no cessation

but rather it always belongs to its owners,

so first tithe has no cessation

in the third year.

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

and for vows.

The Sages taught

in continuation of the Tosefta: How is it the New Year for vows?

One who is forbidden by a vow to derive benefit from his fellow for a year,

a person who forbade himself by a vow from benefiting from his fellow for a year—

counts twelve months from day to day.

And if he said

that he forbids his fellow’s benefit to himself

“for this year,”

then

even

if

he was not standing

at the time of the vow

except on the twenty-ninth of Elul—

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

and from then onward he is permitted to benefit from his fellow.

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

And we explain: That which we learned in the Tosefta, that one who vows on the twenty-ninth of Elul and says “for this year,” when the first of Tishrei arrives a year has elapsed for him, is

even according to the one who says [above 10a]

[above, 10a]

one day in a year is not considered a year.

For with a vow, one assesses the intention of the one who vowed, that

he accepted upon himself to cause himself suffering,

for his intention in his vow was to cause himself suffering for some period of time,

and he has indeed suffered,

and he suffered for one day, and it was not in his mind to forbid himself for more than this.

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

But say,

and perhaps the New Year for vows is

in Nisan!

And we answer:

With vows, one follows the language of people.

For a person vows only in the language in which he is accustomed to speak. And people call the first of Tishrei the New Year. Therefore we say that the intention of the one who vowed was to vow until the first of Tishrei.

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

And the Tosefta explained how it is the New Year for vegetables: a vegetable gathered before New Year is not tithed together with a vegetable that grew after New Year. But concerning Torah-commanded tithes, the Tosefta did not explain what is considered “old” and what is considered “new,” whether one follows the gathering or something else. And now the Gemara expands the explanation of the matter:

We learned there,

we learned in tractate Maasrot [1:3]:

fenugreek,

which is a type of spice, becomes obligated in tithe —

once it sprouts!

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

The grain,

grain and wine,

and the olives—

become obligated in tithes

once they produce one-third

of their growth.

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

And we explain:

What

is the intention of the Mishna that said “fenugreek

once it sprouts”—

once it sprouts seeds,

when the seeds have grown inside the pods.

We learned in the Mishna in Maasrot:

The grain and the olives

become obligated in tithes

once they produce one-third,

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

And we inquire about it:

From where are these words

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

Rav Asi said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan, and some attribute it

there are those who say that Rabbi Yohanan said it

in the name of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili: The verse says [Deuteronomy 31:10]:

[Deuteronomy 31:10]:

“At the end of seven years

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

at the appointed time of the year of release, on the Festival of Sukkot.”

And the words of the verse require explanation:

“the year of release”—

what is it doing here!?

What connection does the year of release have to the Festival of Sukkot in the eighth year, at the end of seven years!? After all, from the beginning of the New Year of the eighth year, the year of release has already passed and gone. And from that time—it is a year

eighth!

Rather

the verse said as follows: There is something that grows in the eighth year, and nevertheless the laws of the Sabbatical year are practiced with it. And the verse comes

to tell you

that

all grain that produced one-third

of its growth

in the seventh year, before New Year—

you practice with it the practice

of the laws of

the Sabbatical year

also

in

the

eighth year.

Rabbi Zeira said to Rav Asi

there is a difficulty to raise against your words: