Rosh Hashanah 9a (ט.) — the Talmud in English

And we answer:

And the Rabbis

derive from the verse, “It is a Jubilee, the fiftieth year,” teaching you that in that year you count only

“the fiftieth year”

alone:

you count it.

But you do not count

that same year in two different reckonings:

a.

The fiftieth year

of the previous Jubilee.

b.

And the first year

of the next Jubilee.

For one does not begin counting the fifty years to the next Jubilee from the Jubilee year itself, but only from the year after the Jubilee.

And the verse comes, according to the Rabbis,

to exclude

—that is, to exclude

the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, who says: The fiftieth year counts

both here and there!

In his view, it is considered both the year of the previous Jubilee and the first year in the count toward the next Shemita cycle.

It teaches us

—the verse teaches us—

that it does not.

And the Gemara returns to explain the beraita, which follows the opinion of Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka. For we learned in it:

One might have thought that just as it becomes sanctified gradually at its beginning, so too it becomes sanctified gradually at its end. And do not wonder at this, for “we add from the profane to the sacred.”

And we raise a difficulty concerning it:

And concerning the principle that “we add from the profane to the sacred,”

from where do we know it

—from where do we learn this?

For it was taught:

It is stated [Exodus 34:21]: “For six days you shall work, and on the seventh day you shall rest;

in plowing and in harvesting you shall rest.”

And this verse requires explanation: Is it only plowing and harvesting that are prohibited on Shabbat? After all, there are thirty-nine primary categories of labor that are prohibited on Shabbat?!

Rabbi Akiva says:

Although the beginning of the verse concerns observing Shabbat, the end of the verse, “in plowing and in harvesting you shall rest,” necessarily refers to the Shemita year and not to Shabbat.

For it is impossible to say that on Shabbat only plowing and harvesting, which are agricultural activities, are prohibited, while the other forms of labor are not.

But with regard to the Shemita year, during which only four agricultural and arboricultural activities are prohibited by Torah law [planting, pruning, harvesting, and gathering grapes], it is possible to say that the verse mentions only the two agricultural activities, and from them we also know the two arboricultural activities, pruning and gathering grapes, which correspond to plowing and harvesting:

a. Pruning, which is an activity that causes a tree to grow, is derived from “plowing” stated in the verse. The meaning of this “plowing” is the activity of planting, because through plowing one turns the seeds into the soil.

b. Gathering grapes is derived from “harvesting” stated in the verse, since gathering grapes is also a form of harvesting.

But even if it is possible to interpret this verse as referring to the prohibition of labor during the Shemita year, it can still be challenged, since the verse is superfluous.

For

the verse does not need

this verse

to state

that

plowing and harvesting during the Shemita year

are prohibited.

For it has already been stated [Leviticus 25:4–5], concerning the Shemita year:

“

You shall not sow your field.

You shall not harvest the aftergrowth of your harvest.” If so, what does this verse come to teach us?

Rather,

if this verse “does not apply” to the Shemita year itself, “assign it” and interpret it as referring to the prohibition of

plowing before the Shemita year that extends into the Shemita year.

That is, this verse is not superfluous; rather, it contains a novel teaching that cannot be derived elsewhere.

Through it, the Torah teaches that there is a prohibition even during the sixth year, the year before the Shemita year, against plowing before the Shemita year for the benefit of crops that will grow during the Shemita year!

From here we learn that there is an addition to the Shemita year at its beginning, before the Shemita year has begun.

And

if the harvesting mentioned in the verse comes to teach that the laws of the Shemita year apply even to

the harvesting of the Shemita year’s produce that extends into the year following the Shemita year,

that is, produce that grew and reached one-third of its growth during the Shemita year but was not harvested until the year following the Shemita year,

the verse teaches us that this produce must be treated both with regard to its harvesting and with regard to its sanctity according to the law governing produce that grew and was harvested during the Shemita year itself.

From here we learn that there is an addition to the Shemita year at its end, after the Shemita year has ended. And

Rabbi Yishmael

disagrees with Rabbi Akiva and

says:

The verse “In plowing and in harvesting you shall rest” does not concern the Shemita year or the addition to the Shemita year; rather, it concerns Shabbat itself, just as the beginning of the verse concerns Shabbat: “For six days you shall work, and on the seventh day you shall rest.”

And the verse comes to teach:

Just as

like

plowing

that is prohibited on Shabbat—the plowing referred to is

optional,

and not for the sake of a mitzva, since no plowing is obligatory.

Even one who plows and sows for the purpose of fulfilling the mitzva of the Omer or the mitzva of the two loaves has no mitzva in the plowing or sowing itself, such that we should permit him to plow and sow on Shabbat for the sake of the mitzva of the Omer.

For if he found a field already plowed or sown, it would be suitable for harvesting and for bringing produce from it for the Omer.

The Torah did not permit plowing and sowing for the sake of the Omer, since there is no mitzva in plowing or sowing to grow produce for the mitzva of offering the Omer.

It follows that the harvesting prohibited by the Torah on Shabbat is only optional harvesting and not harvesting for the sake of a mitzva [for there is no such thing as “harvesting for the sake of a mitzva”].

So too, harvesting

that the Torah prohibited on Shabbat is specifically harvesting that is

optional.

Excluded

from this prohibition is

the harvesting of the Omer,

which is permitted to perform on Shabbat, since

it

is harvesting

for the sake of a mitzva.

For even if we have cut wheat before us, it is a mitzva to cut other wheat for the sake of the mitzva of the Omer. Here the Torah permitted harvesting the Omer on Shabbat.

Now, according to Rabbi Akiva, we have learned the source for the law that one adds from the profane to the sacred.

But we must still find the source for this according to Rabbi Yishmael.

The Gemara explains:

And Rabbi Yishmael,

who does not derive the addition to the Shemita year from this verse—if so, the law that

“we add from the profane to the sacred”—

from where does he derive it!?

He derives it

—this law emerges for him

from that which was taught:

It is stated [Leviticus 23:32], concerning Yom Kippur:

“You shall afflict your souls on the ninth

of the month [Tishrei].”

One might have thought

that they are obligated to fast

on the ninth

of the month.

The verse states

in the continuation of the verse: “On the ninth of the month,

in the evening!”

The meaning is: In the evening following the ninth of the month—the mitzva of fasting begins then.

If “in the evening,” one might have thought

that the mitzva of affliction begins only

once it grows dark.

The verse states: “On the ninth

of the month.” But once it grows dark, it is already the tenth of the month, not the ninth; necessarily, the mitzva of affliction begins while it is still daytime.

How is this achieved?

He begins and fasts while it is still daytime.

And here the verse

teaches that one adds from the profane to the sacred

from the ninth day, which is profane, to the tenth day, which is sacred.

I have

a source from which to learn that one adds from the profane to the sacred

only at its onset,

at the entry of Yom Kippur, before Yom Kippur has begun.

At its conclusion,

at the conclusion of Yom Kippur—

from where

do we know that one adds to it?

The verse states

in the continuation of the verse:

“From evening to evening.”

That is, until the evening [the night] following Yom Kippur, inclusive.

From here we learn that one adds to Yom Kippur also at its conclusion.

And

I have no

source from which to learn that one adds from the profane to the sacred

except

with regard to

Yom Kippur,

about which the verse speaks.

For Shabbat—

from where

do we know that we must add to it from the profane to the sacred, both at its onset and at its conclusion?

The verse states

in the continuation of that verse: “[From evening to evening,]

you shall rest.”

This word is superfluous, and it comes to teach that even on Shabbat, for which a requirement to rest from all labor is stated, one adds from the profane to the sacred.

The Festivals—

from where

do we know that one adds from the profane to the sacred?

The verse states

following the verse: “ [from evening until evening you shall rest]

your Shabbat.”

And this word is superfluous. It comes to include other days regarding which there is a mitzva to add from the profane to the sacred.

How so?

Every place where there is a prohibition of labor [a law of cessation from labor] —

we add

to it

from the profane to the sacred.

Now the Gemara raises a difficulty against Rabbi Akiva, who holds that the addition from the profane to the sacred is learned from “You shall desist from plowing and harvesting”:

And Rabbi Akiva, this

verse, that says

“You shall afflict your souls on the ninth

of the month, in the evening”

—what does he do with it?

What will he derive from this verse? According to his view, surely Scripture does not need to teach us that one adds from the profane to the sacred, since this law has already been learned from “You shall desist from plowing and harvesting”!

And we answer:

He needs it

for another exposition;

for that which Hiyya bar Rav of Difti taught:

For Hiyya bar Rav of Difti taught:

It is stated:

“You shall afflict your souls on the ninth.”

And this verse requires explanation:

Do you afflict yourselves on the ninth

day

by fasting?

Is it not on the tenth

alone

that you fast,

as it is stated: “On the ninth of the month—in the evening”!

Rather,

the verse comes

to tell you:

Anyone who eats and drinks on the ninth—

Scripture considers it for him:

as though he fasted on both the ninth and the tenth.

And this is what Scripture said: Eating on the ninth of the month is considered affliction. And since eating on the ninth is regarded as affliction, it is a mitzva to increase one’s eating and drinking on the ninth.