Sukkah 40b (מ:) — the Talmud in English

The beraita explains:

“I include laundering, which is equally relevant to everyone,”

analogous to eating, and it is even more reasonable that one should permit it in the Sabbatical year,

“and I exclude a poultice”—

“which is not equally relevant to everyone,”

as it is needed only by the ill.

And the Gemara explains:

“Who is the tanna of that which the Sages taught in a beraita?”

“For eating”—

“but not for a poultice”;

“for eating”—

“but not for sprinkling”

—it was their practice to sprinkle wine in the house for a pleasant fragrance—since this is a form of benefit that is not equally relevant to everyone.

“For eating,” but not to make an emetic from it

[various medicinal substances that induce vomiting; this term is an acronym: “afik,” meaning removal, and “zayin,” meaning food]. This too is a form of benefit that is not equally relevant to everyone, as it is needed only by the ill.

“In accordance with whose opinion? In accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yose.”

He excluded not all benefits whose consumption and benefit do not occur simultaneously, but only forms of benefit that are not equally relevant to everyone.

For if

it were in accordance with the opinion of

the Rabbis, there is also soaking and laundering,

as these too are uses that are prohibited with produce of the Sabbatical year for another reason: their benefit and their consumption do not occur simultaneously.

For an understanding of the laws below, a brief introduction to several laws of the Sabbatical year is necessary:

A. Produce of the Sabbatical year never entirely loses its sanctity, not even through redemption.

B. Produce of the Sabbatical year “transfers sanctity to its money.” If a person sells Sabbatical-year produce for money, the money acquires the sanctity of the Sabbatical year, and it is prohibited to engage in commerce with it. Rather, one must remove it at the time when Sabbatical-year produce must be removed, or use it to purchase food fit to be eaten with the sanctity of the Sabbatical year and eat it before the time of removal.

This law also applies to “exchanges of Sabbatical-year produce”: if a person exchanged his Sabbatical-year produce for food, the food acquires the sanctity of the Sabbatical year.

C. Although produce of the Sabbatical year never loses its sanctity, nevertheless, the money of the Sabbatical year [money with which Sabbatical-year produce was purchased], or exchanges of Sabbatical-year produce, lose their sanctity if they are exchanged for something else, since the law of redemption applies to the money of the Sabbatical year: the sanctity of the Sabbatical year transfers to what is received in exchange for it. This law will be explained at length below.

D. The Gemara below cites a dispute as to whether the Sabbatical year transfers sanctity to its money only by way of a purchase, when one purchases the produce with money, or also by way of “redemption,” analogous to the redemption of consecrated property, when a person says: “Let this Sabbatical-year produce be redeemed onto money that I have in my possession.”

Rabbi Elazar said: There is no

sanctity of the

Sabbatical year transferred

so as to transfer sanctity to its money, so that the sanctity of the Sabbatical year will take effect upon it,

except by way of a purchase.

That is, when one purchases Sabbatical-year produce with money. But if one takes money in his hand and says, “Let this produce be redeemed onto money that I have in my possession,” the money does not acquire the sanctity of the Sabbatical year.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

The Sabbatical year transfers sanctity to its money

both by way of a “purchase” and by way of “redemption.”

And the Gemara explains:

“What is the reason for Rabbi Elazar’s opinion?”

As it is written

[Leviticus 25:13], concerning the laws of the Jubilee, which are essentially similar to the laws of the Sabbatical year: “

In this year of the Jubilee

you shall return, each man, to his ancestral holding,”

and

in the verse that

is juxtaposed to it

it is written:

“And when you sell a sale,”

and from the juxtaposition of the passages we learn that the verse comes to teach that the Sabbatical year is redeemed only

by way of

a purchase,

as the verse states, “And when you sell a sale,”

and not by way of redemption.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan,

who disagrees with Rabbi Elazar and holds that the Sabbatical year can also be redeemed by way of redemption,

what does he do with this verse?

As it is written

there, in that same passage:

“For it is the Jubilee; it shall be sacred.”

And we derive:

Just as consecrated property

[consecrated objects] is redeemed

both

by

way of a purchase and

by

way of redemption, so too the Sabbatical year

transfers sanctity to its money

both by way of a purchase and by way of redemption.

And the Gemara further explains:

And Rabbi Yoḥanan, what does he do with this

juxtaposition of the passages concerning

“And when you sell a sale,”

from which Rabbi Elazar derived that specifically the manner of a purchase is required,

[and] what does he do with it

[how does he interpret it]?

He requires it for that which Rabbi Yose bar Ḥanina [taught].

As it was taught in a beraita, Rabbi Yose bar Ḥanina said: Come and see how severe is the “mere dust” of the Sabbatical year,

meaning, come and see how severe are even the lightest laws among the prohibitions of the Sabbatical year [a minor matter is compared to dust, which is not the essence of the matter]. That is, the primary prohibition of the Sabbatical year concerns working the land, whereas the prohibition against commerce in this produce is merely an accompanying prohibition.

A person engages in business with Sabbatical-year produce; in the end he sells his movable property and his utensils, as it is stated: “In this year of the Jubilee you shall return, each man, to his ancestral holding,” and juxtaposed to it: “And when you sell a sale to your fellow.”

That is, because he violated the prohibitions of the Sabbatical year, he ultimately becomes so impoverished that he must sell all his possessions.

The Gemara further explains from the opposite perspective:

And Rabbi Elazar,

who holds that the Sabbatical year can be redeemed only by way of a purchase,

what does he do with Rabbi Yoḥanan’s verse, “

For it is the Jubilee; it is sacred,”

[and] what does he do with it?

He requires it for that which was taught in a beraita:

[Leviticus 25]:

“For it is the Jubilee; it shall be sacred.”

Just as consecrated property transfers sanctity to its money,

so that when it is redeemed, its sanctity takes effect upon its money,

so too the Sabbatical year transfers sanctity to its money.

However, this applies only by way of a purchase and not by way of redemption. That is, according to Rabbi Yoḥanan, we derive from this verse the manner in which the Sabbatical year transfers sanctity to its money—analogous to consecrated property. But according to Rabbi Elazar, we learn from here only the fundamental law: that the sanctity of the Sabbatical year transfers to its money.

A beraita was taught in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, and a beraita was taught in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan:

A beraita was taught in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Elazar: The Sabbatical year transfers sanctity to its money, as it is stated: “For it is the Jubilee; it shall be sacred for you,”

and we derive:

Just as consecrated property transfers sanctity to its money and is prohibited

from benefit in accordance with the law of consecrated property,

so too the Sabbatical year transfers sanctity to its money and is prohibited

for commerce and the like.

If

[you might say],

just as consecrated property transfers sanctity to its money and becomes

ordinary,

as redemption removes the sanctity from the consecrated property,

so too the Sabbatical year

should

transfer sanctity to its money and become ordinary?

The verse states: “It shall be”—

it shall remain as it is.

That is, even after redemption, the sanctity does not depart from the produce; rather, both are sacred—the produce and its money.

How so?

If one purchased meat with Sabbatical-year produce

and the like,

both this and that must be removed during the Sabbatical year,

as both are sacred.

And if afterward

he purchased fish with the meat, the

and

meat

leaves its sanctity, since this limitation derived from the word “shall be” was stated only with regard to the produce of the Sabbatical year itself, which does not lose its sanctity through redemption. But money loses its sanctity through redemption,

and

therefore

the fish enter

into sanctity in its place, and the meat becomes ordinary.

And so on: if

he purchased wine with the fish, the fish leave and the wine enters. If he purchased oil with the wine—

the wine leaves and the oil enters.

How so?

The last

of the money

enters the Sabbatical year,

and the earlier one becomes ordinary,

while

the

produce

of the Sabbatical year

itself

always

remains prohibited

with the sanctity of the Sabbatical year, since that sanctity never departs from the produce itself.

And the Gemara infers:

Since it teaches

in the language of the beraita

“he purchased,” “he purchased,” it is evidently: by way of a purchase, yes.

That is, if he redeemed them by way of a purchase—if he purchased meat and the like with the produce—only then does the Sabbatical year transfer sanctity to its money. But if he did so

by way of redemption

and redemption,

no.

It follows that the beraita agrees with Rabbi Elazar, that the Sabbatical year transfers sanctity to its money only by way of a purchase.

A beraita was taught in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Both the Sabbatical year and second tithe can be redeemed onto domestic animals, wild animals, and birds, whether alive or slaughtered; this is the statement of Rabbi Meir.

And the Sages say: Onto slaughtered animals—

they can be redeemed,

whereas

onto living animals—

they cannot be redeemed,

and the reason is

a decree, lest

he keep them in his possession and

raise herds from them.

This is prohibited with regard to second tithe, because a person may not keep his tithes in his possession; rather, he is obligated to bring them up and eat them in Jerusalem. With regard to Sabbatical-year produce, the matter is prohibited for another reason: the Torah prohibited a person from increasing his wealth through Sabbatical-year produce. For this reason, the Sages prohibited commerce with it; rather, one must declare it ownerless so that everyone may benefit from it, and remove it at the time of removal.

Nevertheless, from the unqualified wording of the beraita it appears that one need not redeem specifically by way of a purchase; rather, whether by way of a purchase or by way of redemption, the sanctity takes effect upon the money, in accordance with Rabbi Yoḥanan.

Rava said: The dispute

between the Sages and Rabbi Meir as to whether it is permitted to redeem onto animals that have not been slaughtered applies only

to males,

as although they cannot reproduce, the Sages hold that it is prohibited to keep them, lest one come to keep females and raise herds from them.