תלמוד על כלאים 5:1

“Wheat and zĕwānîn are not kilaim one with the other.” Hence, with barley they would constitute kilaim¹¹The Hareubenis note that neither Cephalaria nor Lolium grow in barley fields since the larger leaves of the barley obstruct the sunlight they need for growth. Hence, the question is theoretical.. “Wheat and zĕwānîn are not kilaim one with the other;” could anybody err about something that is not food and state it as kilaim¹²Since one may not sow one’s field kilaim, the prohibition refers only to crops that are raised by the farmer and excludes weeds.? Rebbi Abba bar Zavda said, because there are places where they are collected as food for pigeons¹³This applies only to Cephalaria, not to Lolium. It might apply to blighted wheat.. Rebbi Abba bar Zavda said, this follows Rebbi Eliezer, as we have stated there¹⁴Mishnah 5:8. That text reads: “But the Sages say, nothing becomes forbidden unless it is allowed to grow.”: “If somebody lets thorns grow in his vineyard, they become ‘sanctified’, the words of Rebbi Eliezer. But the Sages say, they do not become ‘sanctified’.” Rabbi Abbahu said, the reason of Rebbi Eliezer is that at some places in Arabia one stores them for camels¹⁵There, thorns may represent a cash crop. (One might wonder why Arabia, not a place where kilaim are forbidden, should be of interest here.
But since practice does not follow R. Eliezer, a discussion is not necessary.) The statement is quoted in Babli Šabbat134b, in the name of R. Ḥanina.. Does this imply that the Sages think that there are no places in Arabia where one stores them for the camels? Let them check it out! The Sages say, where one stores them they are forbidden, but at places where one does not store them they are permitted. But Rebbi Abba bar Zavda cannot follow Rebbi Eliezer¹⁶Since practice does not follow Rebbi Eliezer in his disputes with the Sages, and our Mishnah is anonymous, the Mishnah cannot be explained as being R. Eliezer’s.! There, people do not transport horns¹⁷R. Simson reads קוֹצִים “thorns;” this is appropriate here. The two manuscripts of the Yerushalmi read קרנים “horns,” which is difficult but not impossible since most points of thorns are horn-shaped. from place to place. But here, people do transport zewānîn from place to place¹⁸At places in the Holy Land, zĕwānîn are an object of trade and, hence, a cash crop subject to the rules of kilaim. This was still found true by the Hareubenis in the early 1930’s..

Rebbi Joḥanan said, Rebbi Yose, Rebbi Ismael and Rebbi Joḥanan ben Nuri, all three said the same thing. Rebbi Ismael, as we have stated¹³Mishnah Idiut 2:4, of the statements about accepted practices collected when Rabban Gamliel was deposed and R. Eleazar ben Azariah was installed as patriarch. The garden is a small plot, on each side a vine is planted and their branches are trained over a trellis. For a situation comparable to the one here one has to assume that plot and trellis are enclosed by a fence ten hand-breadths high.: “About a small garden surrounded by a trellis, if there is room for the vintner and his basket on each side one may sow there, if not, it may not be sown.” Rebbi Jonah said, the vintner requires one cubit, his basket one cubit on each side. They wanted to say, for him who says one measures from the roots of the vine, all is in order. For him who says one measures from the bottom of the fence, do the stems not diminish the measure of four cubits¹⁴If one measures two cubits from each side of the stem of thickness t the distance of the end of the forbidden domain from the fence will be 4+t > 4 and R. Ismael cannot agree with R. Joḥanan ben Nuri that as soon as the distance is > 4 there are only isolated vines.? Explain it if they were clinging to the wall. But are there not only four and the rules of the trellis start with five? Rebbi Ḥananiah said, explain it that two vines are planted at a corner; if one stretches a rope one sees four intervals¹⁵There are two possible interpretations of this statement. The traditional one is that there is a single vine on each side and an additional one planted at one corner for a total of six. But in that case, there are five intervals; in addition, the comparison between the opinions of R. Jose and R. Ismael would not work! R. Ḥananiah must insist that the rules of trellis do not depend on the number of vines but on the number of spaces between them. In a linear order, for four spaces one needs five vines. But in a circular arrangement, four vines define four intervals. I prefer to read the statement as: “Any two vines form a corner, for a total of four intervals.”. Rebbi Yose, as we have stated¹⁶Mishnah 5:4.: “If there are less than four cubits one should not bring seeds there.” For him who says one measures from the roots of the vine, all is in order. For him who says one measures from the bottom of the fence, does the stem not decrease the measure of four cubits? Explain it if it was clinging to the wall. And similarly Rebbi Joḥanan ben Nuri here. It is reasonable to assume that Rebbi Yose and Rebbi Ismael will agree with Rebbi Joḥanan ben Nuri, but Rebbi Joḥanan ben Nuri will not agree with Rebbi Yose and Rebbi Ismael¹⁷R. Joḥanan ben Nuri might not agree that vines not planted in a straight line, even if strung on a trellis, ever need four cubits. But R. Yose and R. Ismael must agree that in the case of the Mishnah, the first four cubits are forbidden. R. Yose has to agree with R. Ismael since he requires four cubits even if the vines do not form a regular pattern, but we have no statement of R. Ismael if the stems of the vines do not form a square or at least a parallelogram.. Rebbi Yose will agree with Rebbi Ismael but Rebbi Ismael will not agree with Rebbi Yose.

If there were four and the ox may pass between them with its harness and two where the ox cannot pass with its harness, you consider it as if there were five. If there are five, we have the disagreement of Rebbi Simeon and the rabbis, as we have stated there⁴²Mishnah Kilaim 5:2, cf. there, Note 27. Here also, the ox and its harness need four cubits. The rabbis disregard the additional trees and only require one group yielding a talent. R. Simeon forbids ploughing unless one group produces a talent and the remaining three trees (of which two are planted too close together) produce ⅔ of a talent.: “A vineyard planted less that four cubits apart, Rebbi Simeon says that it is no vineyard. But the Sages say that it is a vineyard and one disregards the ones in the middle as if nonexistent.”