Yerushalmi Maaser Sheni 2:3 ירושלמי מעשר שני ב׳:ג׳

MISHNAH: Of profane and Second Tithe coins that were strewn around, what one collected goes to Second Tithe until complete, the remainder is profane⁸⁴One assumes that the profane and the tithe coins are indistinguishable. What is collected first has to be sanctified as Second Tithe money by a declaration, and what had been Second Tithe coins and now ends up in the profane part is then automatically redeemed by the profane coins which ended up in the tithe part.. If he mixed them together and took out fists full, it is in proportion⁸⁵If the coins are not picked up as they fell but first are swept together with a broom to form a heap in which all coins are mixed, the coins taken out are separated into heave and profane according to the proportion heave and profane had before the accident. According to Maimonides (in his Commentary and his Code, Ma‘aśer Šeni 6:1) the proportional split in this case holds even if some coins were lost. In this case also, a declaration of substitution has to be made.. That is the principle: What is picked out is for Second Tithe and what is mixed together by proportion⁸⁶For all Second Tithe, not only coins. This is spelled out more clearly in the Tosephta, 2:4..
If a tetradrachma of Second Tithe was mixed up with a profane one⁹¹And it is not known which of the two coins is dedicated as Second Tithe. The farmer does not want to take both coins to Jerusalem., one brings coins in the value of a tetradrachma and says: The tetradrachma of Second Tithe, wherever it may be, is exchanged for these coins. Then he chooses the better of the two and exchanges it for them since they said, one exchanges bronze for silver in an emergency⁹²But not silver for silver. When the silver coin, the standard legal tender in the entire Roman empire, is spent in Jerusalem it is usually first converted into local bronze coin. Therefore, this exchange is legal under certain circumstances. But silver coins under normal circumstances are never exchanged into other silver coins and, therefore, such an exchange is never permitted. The bronze coins should not be kept as such because non-local bronze coins may not be accepted at full value in Jerusalem., not that it should stay so but that he should exchange them for silver.
The House of Shammai say, a person should not turn his tetradrachmas into gold denars but the House of Hillel permit it. Rebbi Aqiba said, for Rabban Gamliel and Rebbi Joshua I turned their silver coins into gold denars.

HALAKHAH: Rebbi Zeïra said, for the profit of the Second; maybe the rest will be lost and then at least those held in his hand will be kept for Second [Tithe]⁸⁷He explains why the person who does not first sweep all coins together must first collect for Second Tithe. The person who sweeps (and in the opinion of R. Jonah, the person who collects in systematic sweeps) does something first to avoid further losses and, therefore, can profit from more lenient rules.. Rebbi Zeïra said, and one has to spell out and say, if those at the bottom are from the Second, those in my hand are taken in their stead. Rebbi Jonah said, only if he collected from all around but if he collected in a straight line it is as if he had swept and taken out fists full.

⁸⁸The first three sentences are also in Demay 5:5. Notes 82–83. The discussion is about the principle, applied to produce, stated at the end of the Mishnah. Rebbi Yose in the name of Rebbi Pedaiah, Rebbi Jonah in the name of Ḥizqiah, there is no mixing except for wine and oil. Rebbi Joḥanan says, it can be mixed up to the size of olives⁸⁹Solid produce smaller than the size of an olive, e. g., grains, can be thoroughly mixed.. Our Mishnah disagrees with Rebbi Joḥanan: “If he mixed them together and took out fists full, it is by proportion.” He explains it, up to the size of olives. “What is picked out is for Second Tithe and what is mixed together in proportion.” Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun in the name of Rebbi Huna: The Mishnah comes up so: What is mixed and⁹⁰One should not read “mixed or taken out in fistfuls” but “mixed and taken out in fistfuls”. what is taken out in fists full in proprtion.

It was stated⁹⁴Tosephta 2:5. Ben Azai requires small change in double the value of the tithe coin.: Ben Azai says, two. Rebbi Zeïra said, in a dream I had Ulla bar Ismael ate fat meat⁹⁵R. Zeïra, the dreamer, took that to mean that Ulla was fed celestial fare which contains the secrets of the Torah.. The next day he came and asked him, he said to him, why two? He said to him, since you tell him so, he will push himself to exchange it⁹⁶If one exchanges for the exact value, the farmer will not see why he could not simply take one of the coins and declare it tithe money. But then the original tithe coin might be spent in a sinful way as profane..

Ḥizqiah said, when he exchanges it, he treats it as bad. But if he exchanges for it, he treats it as a good one⁹⁶If one exchanges for the exact value, the farmer will not see why he could not simply take one of the coins and declare it tithe money. But then the original tithe coin might be spent in a sinful way as profane.. But did we not state: “He chooses the better of the two and exchanges it for them⁹⁷The Mishnah seems to establish higher, not lower, standards for transactions involving his own Second Tithe.”? Why can he not take the worse [coin] and treat it as a good one? Rebbi Jonah said, I say that this one was Second Tithe⁹⁸The trick of Ḥizqiah is acceptable if a profane coin is turned into tithe money. But the moment it is dedicated as tithe, it has to be treated with the respect due the holy..

Did it not become profane anyhow⁹⁹Why does one have to insist that the bronze coins be changed into the present silver coin in the end? Why can the two silver coins not become totally profane?? Rebbi Jonah said, he should not intend to make it totally profane. You should understand that this is so since we have stated: “not that it should stay so but that he should exchange it for silver”.

Rebbi Ḥaggai said before Rebbi Zeïra, Menaḥem in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: In all cases where they said about demay that it can be exchanged¹⁰⁰As explained in Mishnah Demay1:2 that for tithe money of demay one may exchange silver for silver, silver for bronze, bronze for bronze, etc., for certain produce one may exchange it in an emergency¹⁰¹Not only the one case stated in the Mishnah here.. But did we not state: “One exchanges bronze for silver in an emergency”, therefore not silver for silver! Rebbi Abba bar Cohen said before Rebbi Jonah, Rebbi Aḥa in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: In all cases where they said about demay that it should be exchanged, if he transgressed and exchanged for certain produce it is exchanged¹⁰²While it is illegal, the exchange is valid. Only the case stated by the Mishnah is legal. This corrects the tradition reported by R. Ḥaggai. The difference between R. Abba bar Cohen and R. Jehudah ben Pazi is a minor point of grammar.. Rebbi Jehudah ben Pazi, Rebbi Simeon bar Abba in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: In all cases where they said about demay that it should be exchanged, if he transgressed and exchanged for certain produce they are exchanged.

It was stated¹⁰³Tosephta 2:7: “Rebbi Eleazar ben Rebbi Simeon says one should be able to exchange gold for silver just as one exchanges silver for bronze. Rebbi said to him: Why does one exchange silver for bronze? Because one exchanges silver for gold! Then one should not be able to exchange gold for silver since one does not exchange gold for bronze! Rebbi Eleazar ben Rebbi Simeon answered him: Certainly Second Tithe gold one exchanges for small coins in Jerusalem! When has this been said? For demay but not for certain tithe!” Since the Yerushalmi does not consider demay in this connection, the Tosephta cannot be the basis of the Yerushalmi.: “Rebbi Eleazar ben Rebbi Simeon says one exchanges gold for silver just as one exchanges silver for bronze¹⁰⁴Since this exchange (outside of Jerusalem) is authorized only in emergencies, the exchange of gold for silver also should be authorized only in emergencies.. Rebbi said to him: Why does one exchange silver for bronze? Because one exchanges silver for gold¹⁰⁵The opinion of the House of Hillel in the next Mishnah.! Should one exchange gold for silver¹⁰⁶The standard means of payment was the silver tetradrachma. Gold coins have to be exchanged by a competent money changer and bronze/copper coins are only local currency. In both cases one reduces the immediate availability of the money in Jerusalem and this should be avoided.? One does not exchange gold for bronze! Rebbi Eleazar ben Rebbi Simeon answered him: Certainly one exchanges Second Tithe gold for small coins in Jerusalem!” From the arguments of both of them one exchanges silver for silver and one does not exchange silver for bronze¹⁰⁷While this is the text in both mss. and the editio princeps, it is clear that one should read: “one exchanges silver for bronze and one does not exchange silver for silver.” An exchange of silver for silver would not accomplish anything..

Rebbi Joḥanan said, the House of Shammai said this only at the end, but at the beginning also the House of Shammai agree¹⁰⁸In this interpretation, the House of Shammai require that any coin of tithe money taken to Jerusalem should be a silver coin since it is written (Deut. 14:24–25): “If the way is too much for you that you cannot carry it all the way … then turn it into silver, take the silver in your hand and go to the place which the Eternal, your God, will choose.”
An echo of the discussion here is in Babli Baba Meẓi‘a 45a. In the final interpretation there, the reason of the House of Shammai is rabbinical, not biblical.. What is the reason of the House of Shammai? (Deut. 14:25) “Silver”, not gold. Say “silver” but not bronze! But did we not state¹⁰⁹Mishnah 2:8, seemingly about exchanging large coins for small change outside of Jerusalem. The interpretation turns the language of the Mishnah on its head and reads: “He who takes small coins of Second Tithe money and turns them into large coins,” which is permitted. This interpretation is accepted by Rashi (Bekhorot 50b, Qiddušin 11b) since nobody starts out exchanging produce for silver coins.: “If somebody gets change for coins of Second Tithe”? We wanted to say that the Mishnah means: If somebody takes¹¹⁰מצרף is the same as the corresponding Arabic صرف “to exchange money” in the sense of giving large coins for small, in contrast to פורט, giving change for large coins. (J. N. Epstein, מבוא לנוסח המשנה², p. 487.) a tetradrachma for coins of Second Tithe. How is that? The reason of the House of Shammai is that silver and bronze have the same rule¹¹¹It is unreasonable to expect the Second Tithe of one year to amount to a tetradrachma’s worth. Therefore, they must permit the original redemption in copper coins to be turned into silver but exclude gold coins.. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, both at the beginning and at the end does the House of Shammai disagree. What is the reason of the House of Shammai? (Deut. 14:25) “Silver” first and not second¹¹²We think that he takes the verse “then turn it into silver” to mean that redemption of Second Tithe is possible only with silver coin.. But did we not state: “If somebody gets change for coins of Second Tithe”? We wanted to say that the Mishnah means: If somebody takes a tetradrachma for coins of Second Tithe. How is that? The reason of the House of Shammai (Deut. 14:25): “Silver”, it should add up to silver¹¹³He really only insists on the second part of the verse, take the silver in your hand, that one should not go to Jerusalem unless he has at least a silver coin of Second Tithe money to spend there. But even if one has 25 silver coins to carry there, the House of Shammai will not permit them to be changed into a gold denar. The House of Hillel interpret כסף as “money” in all these verses..